I have a 2007 Honda Fit Sport MT. Is it ok to switch between 87 octane gas and 93 octane gas? Does it have any detrimental effect on the engine of the car? If yes, does anyone know why is it harmful for the engine? Will the car gain any horsepower?

 

It doesnt hurt your engine. I really doubt it increases hp to an amount that is noticeable.

 

Hurts your wallet.

Pointless going to a higher octane if the ECU isn't programmed to use it.

 

The others are right on. Zero benefit to anyone but the oil companies. Actually, in theory, you could actually have LESS horsepower output with premium vs. regular because premium is less volatile than regular gas, but you'd probably have to have rocket science stuff in your garage to be able to measure the difference.

Premium is commonly considered a 'high power' fuel because it's designed to work better in high compression engines than regular is, i.e. it won't pre-detonate (ping). The gas itself doesn't have any more energy in it though - it's the extra compression in those engines that does it, and they require premium to run properly at those compression levels.

If you have an engine that will not ping with regular gas like the Fit, premium won't get you any further/faster.

 

No problem in switching but I highly doubt you will see any performance gains.

 

Is the NA L series equiped with a knock sensor to control timing advance?
If so, then a higher octane may truly result in additional performance...

 

There is no performance locked into better fuel.

 

I agree that the higher octane will not result in better performance etc... My question is, does the higher octane burn any cleaner? Is it better for emissions etc? Or is this an urban myth as well as I have suspected it is...

 

I'd say myth.

 

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question90.htm

 

stick with one type of octane and one gas station. higher octane than the factory rating will not provide a better running engine and will even decrease gas mileage. the purpose of higher octane is to prevent knocks on higher performing cars as their ignition is more advanced. using high octane on a low ignition motor will retard the combustion and use more than neccessary fuel. no benefit at all.

unless u're boosted, stick with the factory rating. once u use 93 for a while, the engine adapts to it and cannot tolerate a lower grade fuel and wil cause engine knocking in the distant future.

try running 87 until empty and record the miles. then fill with 93 and run until empty and record miles. do this to see the results for urself. be sure u expose the same driving conditions for both. i've done this many times.

 

Use 87 octane (or 85 in high altitude) and it will be fine.

 

There was an article done in one of the major car magazines (Car and Driver, MotorTrend, Automobile Mag. or Road and Track) a couple years ago ( I think 2002) that had tried to figure out if there was a benefit to premium fuel versus regular. They did tests on several auto models that either recommended regular or premium fuel...I don't remember exactly which cars, only that they did a Honda Accord. The dynoed the cars and found that the Accord had no HP or Torque differences...and I believe it was a V-6...so in our Fit's I agree that you will not be able to tell any difference except in your wallet.

 

no, you need 100 octane race fuel for the Fit.

 

damn i have used 93 since i got it...now with 1000 miles and a full tank...after reading this i am going to 87...will that hurt my car now since i have been running 93???

 

your car will be fine...just switch now since you are WASTING money. If the car says "91" put it in, less octane will generally lower timing and HP. If it says "87" put it in, more = nothing but potential loss of HP...higher octane burns slower.

 

thanks for the insight