Honda Car Forum

*note to Kathy A: Why the hostility? I can afford the gas but I know nothing about cars and simply wondered why it had to have premium.**don't read things into posts that aren't there... (that was my point)

Poor perfomance, knock and ping, eventually need valve job (900) dollars. Always use synthetic fluids and premium gas on all older models as synthetic fluids give about 5% MORE H.P. and computer calls for it. You will be buying a new car if you do not use what the car needs.

The first 1,000-1,500 miles, probably nothing. After that, problems would probably start showing up in your injection system and with your timing. If it's happened already, just put in a fuel additive like STP, go through a full tank, take the vehicle to a service station for a fuel systems service treatment.

on most of those cars you can run a good mid grade of gas and never notice any difference in it ,running regular might cause it to spark knock a little,and loose performance,if i was going to try anything in it id try a good mid grade first that wont hurt it,this i know for a fact,and see how that does,if it does ok you can use it and it will help save you a few bucks on gas,good luck with it.

the knock sensor in the engine should retard the timing to where you'll be ok. put in like half a tank of regular, drive up a hill, if the engine pings or knocks, then you'll have to use premium.when you go for a smog check, fill the tank with premium a couple days before the inspection.

you need to use what your manufacturer calls for. I'm not sure if that earlier model has a knock sensor, but if it does it retards timing which causes less performance and less gas mileage. If it doesn't have a knock sensor, detonation will slowly damage your engine and destroy it. Stay with premium

if you can't afford the gas the car calls for, you shouldn't have bought it.always do what the manufacturer says to do for your car, thats what they give you manuals for.It's not hostility...it's the truth. You buy a car, read the manual or ask the dealer then put the type of gas in that the car calls for...People always think they can cheap things out, they can't. It's like buying clothes, you expect clothes from Wally World to be cheap and not to last long, but if you buy from Sak's, they better last and look good doing it.

It wont be that bad, it lowers your mileage and performance a little bit, but not much and your car might make funny sounds. Its best to avoid using regular when the car manual calls for premium, but its probably okay in the short term.

I have a 1994 Legend, and I always use premium. The car has dual knock sensors, so using regular gas shouldn't be a problem. If you start to hear any knocking thats the time to switch back to premium.I always use premium because when I don't I notice a decrease in performance and in mileage.