Do you use premium fuel in your Civic?

[tanalasta]

One of the reasons for buying a Honda Civic is that the specs state 92RON rather than the premium fuel required in the Euro.

But the question remains: Do you find yourself using premium fuel (e.g. Premium Unleaded, Optimax, BP Ultimate) anyway? And do you notice any performance or efficiency gain?

I'm interested in the Honda Civic 8th Gen but all comments welcome.

[tRipitaka]

less pollution, more performance

[dc2dc2dc2]

yeah...u should use it in ur new car main advantage is that it burns much cleaner.... better for ur engine & also the environment =]

[[[d a n n y]]]

i have to
due to having a jap sepc motor

[Bob san]

i drive a 8th gen 06 VTi civic.

yer using 98 octane fuel makes ur car feel a little more responsive compared to 91 fuel. i usually use shell optimax. have tried using BP ultimate but IMO it really feels like the same thing.

[Limbo]

yes only optimax for my ek4 as it requires premium as standard!

Only from one shell and only optimax, unless i'm not in the area and then only a reputable looking station with 98 ron.

I'm alittle careful on my car only the best

[Alpine]

BP Ultimate for my '99 'Vic.

[Fr3aKi3]

I've got a 99 Civic Gli, doesn't even have Vtec... lol

BUT i still use premium 95 or 98, if the price is right that is.
There may not be much difference in power but there is a definite difference in torque, it's much more willing to accelerate and doesnt seem to struggle as much.

You've got the new civic, the ECU has been programmed to run on 92RON fuel and it'll run fine with it. Fill it up with 95 or 98RON fuel and you'll notice the difference.

I fill up with PULP when i can, cost a bit more but also gives better fuel economy. With premium there's effort in getting the car moving compared to normal fuel, less time/mashing (lol) on the throttle = better fuel economy.

[Bob san]

hmm btw has anyone tried shell extreme 100?

it looks tempting but its 20c extra

[yeehou]

hmm btw has anyone tried shell extreme 100?

it looks tempting but its 20c extra

I dont mind using that if it can cover more kms than other

[JaCe]

The normal unleaded (91?) works fine in the 06 Civic- with current fuel prices and my need to save money, PULP and 98 is something which won't be happening anytime soon.

[dan_lee]

hmm btw has anyone tried shell extreme 100?

it looks tempting but its 20c extra

i was told its 3c extra on top of the usual optimax price...so i guess that'll vary between 11-13c more than regular '91.

off the top of my head, i think its just optimax topped up with 10% ethanol.

[civicCXI]

i've asked this question b4, but no one answers me and this topic came up again, so here it goes.
I normally use regular unleaded, if i wanna change to premium or even ultimate, can i just spray away or there is something needed to be set 1st ( the ecu or whatever) before i change into premium/ultimate???

[EK4R]

depends on your motor. i use BP ultimate or Synergy 8000 over Shell Optimax simply because shell has more addictives in the fuel, i prefer a pure source :)
its been covered in this forum also, search for it if u want. i duno the link

BUT if u want to...

save money, no performance = use 91 octane

alternatively you could use United Fuel (Melbourne) which i believe are 95 octane rating and cost 4cents less than your local 91 fuel. However it contains 10% Ethanol, older cars are not made for, but should be fine with newer model cars. i used it on my 92 stationwagon and its still running fine.

save money, alittle performance = use 95 (i dont see a point in this might as well use 98)

performance, extra KM, environment = use 98

the extra KM dont adjust for the extra 10cent per litre you pay compared to 91octane fuel, but you get other goodies along with it like performance and saving the environment

with fuel regarding the shell extreme 100 octane, i heard it could be just addictives and added octane boost, dont qoute me on it but i read it in this forum somewhere, best to do a search. Many articles were written on it, Supercars use this kinda fuel i believe.

[NogZ]

CivicCXI,

No need to adjust the ecu (!), I believe you have read an article that modifies/adjusts the ignition.

Higher octane (e,g 98) burns more progressively (and thus slower than 91). With engines tuned to 91 unleaded, it usually doesnt reach full burn at the top of the compression stroke. Therefore it needs to ignite earlier to reach full burn at the top of the stroke and use the extra energy.

You dont need to adjust the ecu, and you will still gain a bit of power advantage and mileage using 98 RON.

What you should keep in mind though is that its not good to mix 91 RON and 98. Do not fill up 98, then 3 days later top up with 91. Stick with it for at least a month or something

All of the mechanics that I have used have always recommended using higher octane rating

[bennjamin]

CivicCXI,

No need to adjust the ecu (!), I believe you have read an article that modifies/adjusts the ignition.


Yup. From my experience (IE not what is 100% fact) if I use unleaded my stock 92 Si goes like a bomb and runs iffy. If i use 95+RON it runs quite smooth and after a tank or two , returns much better fuel economy and performance.
For the extra price i think its much more worth it. Even on stock oldish cars like mine.

[EK9_boi]

What about Optimax Extreme? what's everyone's take on it?

[JaCe]

I know this is kinda lame and a bit unrelated, but the other day I put in regular 91 octane unleaded at BP in North Rocks- but what I can't figure out is why my acceleration suddenly became sharper and more responsive. Normally I use regular unleaded from Caltex; so I'm wondering if BP uses a better mix (or less ethanol perhaps?). Anyone else experienced this?

... i'm also going to put 98 in my Civic sometime... just to try it.

[EK4R]

you mite want to try it for atleast 2 tanks for the ECU to adjust to ur new fuel.

[JaCe]

I wonder how noticable the difference will be...

... but it still doesn't explain why this BP 91 Octane made my car feel alot better than regular Caltex Unleaded.

[EK4R]

maybe its all in your head...u think its doin something when its just normal :P

[marte]

i prefer BP fuel over Caltex. It gets me more KM's and better performance. For my car in specific. Where as my WRX likes Shell.All* cars are differant.

[adza33]

i always use BP Ultimate 98RON in my 94 civic, helps with a little better performance and definately increases my fuel economy by about 50km's!!

Costs more but i'd rather pay more than buy the same octane with ethanol (from united) for a bit cheaper....i heard ethanol can slowly destroy your engine....... maybe with alot older cars but still.....

[saxman]

I would love to see a dyno showing power gains from switching to a higher octane fuel without adjusting timing. The butt dyno is not accurate and loves to see gains that aren't there.


For max power, you want to run the fastest burning fuel that allows peak pressure to occur at the proper position to tdc of the piston, without causing knocking. Going to a higher octane, without advancing the timing, will cause peak pressure to occur at the wrong time, causing a loss of power. All a matter of physics...


physics > butt dyno

[BLKek]

i've asked this question b4, but no one answers me and this topic came up again, so here it goes.
I normally use regular unleaded, if i wanna change to premium or even ultimate, can i just spray away or there is something needed to be set 1st ( the ecu or whatever) before i change into premium/ultimate???

I asked my local mech this question also relating to oils, he recommended I gradually stepped up, for example:

Current engine oil -> semi-synthetic (perhaps for 2 oil changes) -> Synthetic

same with the fuel:

regular -> couple tanks of premium -> then onto the ultimate/optimax etc..

However I mostly only run premium and then ultimate etc once in a while, mainly due to costs, I've also noticed a notable difference in odor from the exhaust from the various fuels.

[tseesinngwailo]

Nothing but the champagne of petrol for my B16A Integra haha I find that I can easily get 500Klm and more in CITY driving, lost my license before getting a chance to do long distance test, but in 4 weeks i will be driving again, am counting the days, cause I fought the law, and the law WON!
But seriously, the fuel is more expensive but makes the car run so much better, even in my wife's Civic I run the better fuel, the standard pump fuel is for Hyundais hahaha