Not jumping through hoops, just taking advantage of the situation. Kroger's is a mile and a half from where I live. The neighbor lives in the apartment across the hall. Mutual advantage. The Mapco Express (less that half mile away) gives 3 cents per gallon. A mile extra for at least 7 cents/gallon is NOT a hoop.

Unlike a long passed friend, I won't spent a half gallon of gas to save 3 cents on a can of peas. (And gas was then 35 cents per gallon).

 

Sorry I find this funny coming from the guy who talked about disabling DRL and auto door locking to save wear and tear.

 

If you use premium you wont need to add fuel cleaners. All Honda engines can benefit from higher octane but it also depends on how you drive. I would use caution when listening to any thing the Gov. says about anything. How much stock do you have in the oil company's? Learn how Honda tunes its motors and see for yourself there is a benefit. The automakers have been fighting for higher octane to reach the 50 mpg plus goals and the Gov wants to use more ethanol that lowers the mpg. 93 is not high octane by the way and if you were talking about 100 octane race fuel I would agree with your some of your statements. Unleaded goes as high as 125 octane just like the leaded versions and that is high octane.

 

"If you use premium you wont need to add fuel cleaners."
You don't need to add "fuel cleaners", whatever that might mean. The octane rating of the fuel doesn't change that simple fact.

"All Honda engines can benefit from higher octane ..."
Not really.

 

The recommended Blue Planet gas, 87, which is conveniently sold at a local station which regularly publishes a $1.00 discount coupon for gas purchases. When combined with my .05 per gallon discount using their credit card, I usually pay .15 less per gallon on each fill-up.

 

I said that because the main reason you're paying more for premium is due to the fuel cleaner additives. They are different then what is used in regular. Octane costs only a few cents more per octane.

Honda motors are tuned for 91 premium gas from the factory. Honda ecu is tuned to find MBT timing and will add fuel until it reaches that timing. I get about 20-30 percent better mpg under the conditions I drive with premium. Knock happens 4-6 degrees before you hear it and by time you hear it, its super-knock.

Your car is only going to detune so far before damage happens. That does not mean you cant use 87 octane but that is the lowest octane and the motor needs cleaning to maintain the use of 87 octane. Honda is already lowering compression ratios.

Regular by the way had an octane of 89-90 and not 87. 87 was called economical when introduced and compression rations were in the 8 to 1 range.

 

Yeah, I just saved $0.60/gallon by jumping through a one mile hoop. A little over 8 gallon fill up or about $5. I wish I could find some more $5 hoops.

 

Higher octane does not mean different additives. And what are "fuel cleaner additives"?

Where do you get this dubious "information"?

 

Why do you think all gasoline types and brands are the same? It would be nice if you researched things before you say things. All premium gas here is either top tier or advertise better additives with the premium brands. There is a list of fuel additives on the EPA site which some are certified. Any of them are either in the gas or you add at different amounts as injection cleaners and they also be of different types and quality. https://www3.epa.gov/otaq/fuels1/ffars/web-addt.htm


Reading for the last 30 years and not the advertising but engineering patents copies.

Its up to you as a customer to investigate and figure out what works best but first you have to learn how your car works and as a consumer what your choices are. I seen about 4-5 percent difference in my Fits fuel trims which since its a 4 cylinder motor its a 16-20 percent difference in better mpg. In my Civic its about 1.5 percent per octane which is about 30-35 better mpg. MPG tests is done with 91.5 octane indolene clear and is why your mpg will drop below the EPA mpg.

 

I don't. Straw man.
Self-contradictory.
And where on that list does it say that higher-octane fuel has different additives?

 

I ran a tank of 91 Nitro+ from Shell. Did not notice any difference in power delivery (6MT). I did get better fuel economy though: ballpark between 5 to 10%. Got 500kms instead of the usual 450kms per tank. Shell claims it's better quality gas. My shell gas station uses the same pump handle/hose to feed all grades they provide, so I don't know if it's just snake oil coming out, or actual better quality gasoline. I sure hope it made my fit happy.

So I will be running a tank of this shell non-ethanol magic every december, as a gift to my little trusty GK.

 

All of this sounds like 1st world problems. Down here we have one brand of gas, Pemex, and two grades, regular and premium. My owners manual and the dealer both told me to use premium.

 

According to Wikipedia, Mexico uses the same measurement scale as the US (R+M/2). So according to the US owners manual 87 octane is fine. I am surprised that you woudl say to use a higher octane. I have bought gasoline many, many times in Mexico and I have always used 87 octane in various vehicles. I use to fill up in Mexico before crossing the border because gas was cheaper there. I have not been there for a long time and I think this is no longer true.

With your first of the year deregulation and 20% gas price rise, (I think the current price in Mexico City is around $2.75 per gallon) saving a few pesos might be worth switching. I could not find the current price difference between 87 and 92 octane.

Use whatever makes you feel comfortable and can afford.

As a side note, A few gasoline retailers here have dropped selling anything other than 87.

 

I've been making trips between Charlotte and Augusta, Ga dealing with my aging mom. Found a Shell station in SC that sells ethanol-free for only about 15 cents a gallon more than 87 octane E10. Doesn't quite pay for itself, but noticing a little uptick in fuel mileage with the straight gasoline, as is expected. It's fun experimenting....

 

I don't buy any particular brand of gasoline. Walmart and Kroger are low cost local stations that I buy when they are convenient. I didn't buy the Fit because it needs pampering. It is a great car to get from point A to B. People and reviewers knock the car for what is not suppose to be. Be serious, consider it an economy car and you will love it for what it can do.

 

Amen, bro, amen. Kroger's here gives gas discount points based on purchases in the store, 10 cents/per $100. I've had as much as 60 cents per gallon knocked off ... makes a big difference, even on a 9 gallon fill-up. My neighbor who has no car lets me use her card since I take her to the store. With my own merger purchases, I've never gotten less than 30 cents/gallon discount. Mapco below me only offers 3 cents/per gallon.

When the Civic first came out, it would tolerate almost anything that would burn. With direct injection, Honda's are a little more picky. The cars are NOT prima donnas on gas or oil (S2000s and HP Acuras being exceptions). I used to say, jokingly, that a couple of cans of beer in the tank could get you to a nearby gas station.

 

Just a note,, there is no difference in quality between 87 and 92 octane, it all starts as the same fuel and the additive package makes the octane jump.

As noted earlier octane = burn rate. 87 burns faster than 92. (Only talking pump gas here..) slower ignition = less ability to knock/detonate/ping.

So if the car makes full power on 87,, 92 is truly burning money...

Now I do jump to 92 in extremely hot weather, it does drop the engine internal temps on all 4 of my cars to run 92 over 87 in hot weather. (Over 95F)

Cheers

 

No benefits to using higher octane in this car. You're just wasting money.

 

11.5:1 compression... Premium since my first fill up. Here in South Florida it gets hot. Heat causes pre-detonation which knock sensor picks up and tells ecu to retard timing. Pulling back the timing lowers power. I drive hard and I auto-x so performance is first. Mpg's are greater for me on premium based on my driving style and where I live. Some people may not notice the difference. To each his own.

 

I will generally just look at Gasbuddy and pick the cheapest 87 octane on the way to where ever I am going at the time. In my area, pretty much all of the stations are 'Top Tier' and no real (IMHO) difference in quality.

As far as I know, other then Shell Premium (93 octane?) there is nothing that is ethanol free around here.

As I only recently got my Fit, I will continue with 87 for now and maybe consider doing a test with premium after about 15,000km or so. But I honestly don't think that any improvement in mileage will be able to offset the cost difference for me. Right now, I can get 87 for 99.9c/l while premium is 115.6c/l.

Assuming a usage rate of 6.25l/100km and a range of 600km (rough estimates from what I have been seeing so far), 87 octane would cost me about 37.45CAD while premium would cost 43.35CAD.

Premium would have to decrease my usage to 5.4l/100km to break even, which I am not sure would happen.