2006/2007 Civic Unleaded Fuel

[stix]

Hi guys,

My dealer told me that my 2007 civic runs on regular unleaded fuel but my friend tells me that i should pour premium unleaded. Apparently the efficiency that i will get will balance out the price?

Has anybody tried using premium unleaded for the 2006/2007 Civic?
What have you noticed and what do you recommend?

[markCivicVti]

I use premium... but for no reason.

Apparently any gains of power or economy you might feel is purely psychological.

I use premium fuel purely because it's my first brand new car and I just want to baby it a bit until I'm used to it.

The car is designed to run on lower octane fuels so just use it.

[Frost_FD]

I use BP ultimate from the beginning of its life. I notice alot more power and the extra KM you get out of it evens up the extra cost. Overall its a bonus for you and the environment

[markCivicVti]

I use BP ultimate from the beginning of its life. I notice alot more power and the extra KM you get out of it evens up the extra cost. Overall its a bonus for you and the environment

How can you notice the power and economy if you've used it from the beginning of its life when you would have nothing to compare it to?

[Frost_FD]

Well i used to drive my bros DC2 Vtir and when he changes petrol i can notice the difference.

As for my car, i have used vortex 98 and it gives me less punch then BP ulti

[markCivicVti]

^ Why would different brands of the same octane fuel make a difference?

Anyone?


IMO it's purely psychological. I could be wrong.

[oniononline]

I'm using Shell V power, sometimes unleaded, but I can definitely tell the car has more power with Vpower, especially going up the hill(a few hills between work and home) with unleaded, I can't go up with 4th gear, no problem with V power.

And I can also shift and maintain the speed with lower RPM (4th gear from 55 km, 60 km/h @ 18~1900 RPM).

So low RPM = using less fuel?

[Frost_FD]

Trust me there is a difference in using higher octane fuel and it saves more on fuel consumption

[dmx]

i always use unleaded, till someday i tried V-power (shell), and also premium unleaded from caltex.
honestly, only can feel the engine runs smoothly, but for power, don;t feel.
now switch back to unleaded.

[Frost_FD]

Try BP ultimate and let me know, remember it takes 1 full tank to wash the old petrol out =P

[buddah51au]

Any difference in power and or ecconomy between standard 91 RON and 95 or 98 RON is negligible. I have used nothing but standard unleaded (91RON) from the local woolworths station (2415.29 Lts) - 35,204km. Hard to beat that sort of ecconomy

[dmx]

Try BP ultimate and let me know, remember it takes 1 full tank to wash the old petrol out =P
ok, next time i'll try it.
anyway, i tried 95 ron and 98 ron already.still feel no diff

[oniononline]

The best way to find out is to find a high slope hill (with road of couse), try go up the hill with say 60 km/h and record the gear and RPM required. Now refill high octain fuel for two tanks then try the same hill with same speed again, you should notice lower RPM is required to maintain the same speed, maybe a higher gear too.

Lower RPM = less fuel required = fuel saving

[denot]

ask buddah there... he is the fuel consumption guru... :p and yeah, its no different... I use Optimax before and it, somehow, consume more than the Caltex normal unleaded. I think its depends on how you drive as well...

[Frost_FD]

Well i have noticed it when driving my bros DC2, when its loaded with premium which is 95 oct it isnt too rev friendly, it takes alot more time to get the revs up. As for BP ultimate the revs climb faster there for making your car faster. Also my cousin drives a dc2 aswell and we have dragged at a rolling start of 60 - 140 and i beat him cause his on normal unleaded.

I guess its just how well you know your car =)

[markCivicVti]

Get off them pills frosty! :P


I'd like to see some proper tests conducted on this topic.

Dyno on 91Ron then after a tank or two of 98Ron dyno it on that.

The harder thing to test would be fuel economy.

[denot]

Get off them pills frosty! :P


I'd like to see some proper tests conducted on this topic.

Dyno on 91Ron then after a tank or two of 98Ron dyno it on that.

The harder thing to test would be fuel economy.

which one to test first? 91Ron or 98Ron? when you try to finish the 1st tank, does the tank has to fully empty (not any fuel left)? do you trash the car after the 1st dyno? etc etc... :p

[stix]

i'm gonna run 3 tanks unleaded, 3 tanks premium, and 3 tanks ultimate.
will try and record km, litres, and any other noticable differences.

ohh and onions hill experiment too
=)

[gumbii]

every since i got my fd1 i always poured either bp ultimate or shell vpower.

for the last 2 weeks however ive been using 91 cos my local petrol station ran out of 98 on tuesdays...so far it 'feels' weaker and not as smooth.

also the other thing i noticed is that i get more mileage from vpower then ultimate. if they are both 98 i cant understand why..only thing that comes to mind is that the BP station i go to is dodgey and adds ethanol or other stuff to water down their fuel.

slightly off topic but do any of you fd1 guys notice that after your car reads less then about half tank on the odometer the car gets really sluggish..like it doesnt wanan rev..is this some fuels saving trigger?

[denot]

i'm gonna run 3 tanks unleaded, 3 tanks premium, and 3 tanks ultimate.
will try and record km, litres, and any other noticable differences.

ohh and onions hill experiment too
=)

or we can try bring our car to a meet @ a petrol station, switch cars and then fill the tank with whatever we want. return the car to the owner, and ask them if they can tell which petrol we use (this will distinguish the "psychological" problem)

[Frost_FD]

every since i got my fd1 i always poured either bp ultimate or shell vpower.

for the last 2 weeks however ive been using 91 cos my local petrol station ran out of 98 on tuesdays...so far it 'feels' weaker and not as smooth.

also the other thing i noticed is that i get more mileage from vpower then ultimate. if they are both 98 i cant understand why..only thing that comes to mind is that the BP station i go to is dodgey and adds ethanol or other stuff to water down their fuel.

slightly off topic but do any of you fd1 guys notice that after your car reads less then about half tank on the odometer the car gets really sluggish..like it doesnt wanan rev..is this some fuels saving trigger?

Yes it does feel sluggish!!! thats why it feels better once i have a full tank!!

[disappointed]

The best way to find out is to find a high slope hill (with road of couse), try go up the hill with say 60 km/h and record the gear and RPM required. Now refill high octain fuel for two tanks then try the same hill with same speed again, you should notice lower RPM is required to maintain the same speed, maybe a higher gear too.

Lower RPM = less fuel required = fuel saving

Are you for real onion? There is a mechanical connection between speed and revs. 60 kmh will always be the same revs in a given gear, ALWAYS. Not even zero gravity will change that.... Some how changing the final drive gearing, by changing tyre circumference or gearbox or diff gears will change the revs at a given speed in a given gear.

[disappointed]

i'm gonna run 3 tanks unleaded, 3 tanks premium, and 3 tanks ultimate.
will try and record km, litres, and any other noticable differences.

ohh and onions hill experiment too
=)

You really need to allow your engine several thousand kays to run in before doing consumption tests, if not your results will be wrong. Start your testing after say 10000 km.

[TheGoodDeal]

More Power & Economy??? When using Higher Octane Fuel then recommended. It’s just Petrol company marketing & consumer psychological

Here some search on Google:

http://autorepair.about.com/od/generalinfo/a/aa060504a.htm
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-high-octane-fuel.htm
http://www.wanderings.net/notebook/Main/IsHighOctaneGasWorthTheMoney?q=is-high-octane-gas-worth-the-money
http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/high-octane-gas-myth.html


and more… if you Google with “Higher Octane Fuel”

[buddah51au]

The best way to find out is to find a high slope hill (with road of couse), try go up the hill with say 60 km/h and record the gear and RPM required. Now refill high octain fuel for two tanks then try the same hill with same speed again, you should notice lower RPM is required to maintain the same speed, maybe a higher gear too.

Lower RPM = less fuel required = fuel saving

RPM v SPEED in any gear is governed by gearbox and diff ratio and has absolutely nothing to do with fuel used weather in be a low quality fuel blend or aviation gas. Ill informed comments like this do nothing to help others.

[cracker]

sum guy had a spreadsheet of his vti-l auto on ozhonda...and it showed that bp premium was the most fuel efficieant 4 city driving

[oniononline]

RPM v SPEED in any gear is governed by gearbox and diff ratio and has absolutely nothing to do with fuel used weather in be a low quality fuel blend or aviation gas. Ill informed comments like this do nothing to help others.

Are you sure mate? : ) Please read the manual again and it'll tell you why lower RPM by using higher gear would save fuel.

Anyway, it is common sense too, RPM = rev /minute of the engine, each rev consumes fuel, lets say 1 injection of 1 unit of fuel(made up). 100 rpm = 100 unit, 1000 rpm = 1000 unit of fuel / minute.. do you think by driving 60 km/h in 3rd gear at 3000 RPM = same fuel consumed in 4th gear @ 2000 RPM ? If you are still not convinced, please try it yourself, drive in 2nd gear @ 60 km/h for 1 tank. And please do not argue until you tried this method.

[markCivicVti]

^ first of all buddah is a retired mechanic - he knows his stuff.

Secondly - you are now talking about gear changes effecting economy and nothing to do with the actual octane of the fuel used.

Thirdly you explained it in a way that sounded like you were going up the same hill in the same gear on both fuels noting down the RPMs - you said "maybe" even needing a different gear. Either way wtf are you using different gears to compare power... when on both fuels you can use the same gears... and don't give me crap about how on regular unleaded you cant do it in gear x but on premium you can.

Also it depends on how fast you entered the hill at this time, aircon, passengers, luggage, how full the fuel tank (weight), whos dead body is in the trunk etc.

[oniononline]

^ first of all buddah is a retired mechanic - he knows his stuff.

Secondly - you are now talking about gear changes effecting economy and nothing to do with the actual octane of the fuel used.

Thirdly you explained it in a way that sounded like you were going up the same hill in the same gear on both fuels noting down the RPMs - you said "maybe" even needing a different gear. Either way wtf are you using different gears to compare power... when on both fuels you can use the same gears... and don't give me crap about how on regular unleaded you cant do it in gear x but on premium you can.

Also it depends on how fast you entered the hill at this time, aircon, passengers, luggage, how full the fuel tank (weight), whos dead body is in the trunk etc.

1) Mechanics != Expert in physics?! Actually probably don't need to be expert to understand for same speed, lower RPM in higher gear would save more fuel. It is also listed in the Civic manual, I can post the exact page number if you want too. I can't believe a mechanic is saying same fuel is used for high and low RPM for same speed... classic.

2) In order to drive in higher gear in low RPM for say 60km/h. You need more torque/power generated for every injection. With Shell's V-Power fuel, with my own experience, I find the car is easier to travel the same hill in a higher gear for the same 60 km/h. Now please try it your self before you speak. I did it and just sharing my own experience. NOT talking about craps in theory.

3) I hope you understand the energy transformation from type of fuel used to power output, which is with higher power generated in every fuel injected explosion, you can drive with the same speed with lower RPM, thus, at some stage, you can use a higher gear, eg: use 4th gear to maintain 60km/h up a high slope hill rather shift down to 3rd gear.

4) All true for what dead body or what brain or what speed to enter, they all need to take into the consideration. So please make sure when doing your testing, keep all these variable the same. And my test was done with all the same variables, enters the hill @ 60 km/h, same car, and I'm the only driver from and to work, no dead body of any species in the boot (not yet, maybe soon if anyone insist high RPM = same fuel used with low RPM for same speed). And between daily travel from home to work, there are like 20 hills to go up and down for me. I think my experience with worth to share.

5) Ok, try this, drive 4th gear @ 45-50 km/h to see if your engine knocks or not with regular unleaded. Then after 2 tanks of V power, try the same thing. And please be honest with the result.

6) Please share with your own experience and not what you think or your theory of other person's thoughts.

[markCivicVti]

So are you saying premium fuel can have lower rpms than running the same gear on unleaded? If you are I disagree.

Or are you just saying premium fuel will allow you to use a higher gear without the engine 'struggling'? This I'm now undecided on.

"I hope you understand the energy transformation from type of fuel used to power output, which is with higher power, you can drive with the same speed with lower RPM, thus, at some stage, you can use a higher gear,"

[oniononline]

So are you saying premium fuel can have lower rpms than running the same gear on unleaded? If you are I disagree.

Or are you just saying premium fuel will allow you to use a higher gear without the engine 'struggling'? This I'm now undecided on.

"I hope you understand the energy transformation from type of fuel used to power output, which is with higher power, you can drive with the same speed with lower RPM, thus, at some stage, you can use a higher gear,"

Pease try 2 tanks, maybe only costs you extra $5 for a month.

Just realized, budda has auto, bad luck, can't choose which gear to use. For all the manual Civic driver, try the hill method and please share your experience.

[disappointed]

Onion, you are changing your story as you go along. Re read your posts and you will see. You obviously do not know how an engine works, here are some examples...An engine makes its most power and torque at a certain rpm. In a 4 cyl engine, it is usually fairly high, above 4000rpm. The engine will run its sweetest at max torque. Injectors dont just open and close, the opening of the injector can vary in length. The timing of the injector can change as well as ignition timing. All cotribute to efficiency and power of the engine. With all this info I can tell you that going up a hill in a lower gear at higher rpm can infact be more efficient than going up the same hill at the same speed in a higher gear and lower revs.

[buddah51au]

Fuel usage at a given speed will vary depending on the load placed on the engine. example.....struggling up a given hill in say 5th gear @ 2000RPM under high load would consume more fuel than using 4th gear @ 2500RPM with a lower load placed on the engine. Depending on the torque characteristics of the engine it could be more economical to even use 3rd gear @ 3000rpm with the engine under even less load.

Also bear in mind that continually driving with the engine under high load causes excessive wear on internal components, so if you want long life out of a drive train high load situations will be avoided.

By the way i can choose the gear i wish to use with the exception of 4th gear, and i do manually select gears quite often

At an average of 0.07 CPL for premium unleaded would add about $11.00 per month to my fuel bill, and as i have an average of 6.861 Lts per 100km over 35,500km I don't see the need to waste money

[buddah51au]

If anyone would like to see a spread sheet on my fuel usage send me a private message, or chat with me on ym....same id

[Whispaa]

Well, today was the first time I couldn't find myself BP Ultimate or V-Power :(

Is 91RON ok to use with the Sport?

I've notice others using it for the VTI/VTI-L, but just wanted to make sure.

Also, I couldn't find the engine number anywhere! Must be going blind o.0

[bodaas]

if you wanna use high octane,to feel more power and
to do proper way, you should reset your "advance timing", change spark plug
just go to mechanic, or Do it yourself


i thnk a lot of engine modif people in here, prolly they should tell you

[jcpabc]

I compare the V-Power and the BP Ultimate. The BP is powerful than the V-Power. That's my conclusion.

[Whispaa]

I was really more concerned with whether or not the 91RON would affect my engine?

[bodaas]

the best way is read the manufacturer recomended fuel
if it says unleaded, should be no problem

only most performance car, it says premium unleaded

also, there wont be a problem if you use premium. it keeps clean your fuel injector,
about the power, there wont be much different unless if you reset your advance timing, change better spark plug (iridium) like most performance car it use, so better ignite the fuel and match up the timing

[cracker]

i second the bp being better then v-power

[Whispaa]

Thanks bodaas!

Was only concerned because it had recommended RON levels I think, and I couldn't for the life of me, locate the bloody engine number.

The manual didn't suggest it needs Premium so hopefully it should be ok.

Besides, I don't think the sport is a performance car :p