Shell..only,Chevron in a pinch always 93

 

i believe when I open my fuel door it says "premium fuel only", which means there is no choice aside from 93

 

I go with 89 most of the time, 93 or 91 when I'm going to the track.

 

Nice....^^^^

 

If you run anything less than 91 you'll, at the very least, be replacing you O2 sensors at about 60,000 miles at a cost of about $700 or so.

 

Why not spend the extra few more cents to put premium in all the time? Your cars worth it.

 

sunoco ultra 94 here in ontario
v-power 93 is the alternate if sunoco isn't close

 

My *assumption* is that Honda has designed the car to reliably run at optimum ignition advance on something less than 91 octane (the recommended octane). If ping is detected, I would assume that ignition timing is retarded a bit.

How would running 89 octane would lead to premature O2 sensor death?

How many O2 sensors on cars running 91/93 need replacing ANYWAY at 60k miles?

 

I suspect Honda designed the car to drop into a limp mode with the onset of detonation. This probably resets eventually but I don't know how long that would take. While in limp or low-octane mode I suspect the timing is VERY conservative. Also I suspect if you are running in that mode you might just as well run regular (87 octane) as mid-grade (89) and save 10 or 15 cents a gallon.

I also suspect it still isn't good for the engine over the long haul.

 

For all the speculation about how much damage will be done using lower octane, there isn't a whole lot of real information it seems. More speculation on my part, but my suspicion is that if they recommend 91 octane, most likely it'll run just fine on 90, possibly 89 even, without retarding the ignition timing. And if the timing is retarded a smidge, I don't see how that would hurt anything other than reducing power and mileage a smidge.

By running 89 instead of 93 octane, I am able to buy a bottle of tequila with the savings after only ~20 or so fill-ups!