Honda Car Forum

What octane should I use for my 2003 Honda Civic LX sedan? The manual
recommends 87. Will higher octanes make any difference? Will they do any
damage?

"Randy Given" <GivenRandy@aol.com> wrote in message
news:EEx2b.25788$Zw4.5398@lakeread03...
> What octane should I use for my 2003 Honda Civic LX sedan? The manual
> recommends 87. Will higher octanes make any difference? Will they do any
> damage?
>
>

Higher octane will...

make no difference, except deplete your wallet faster. Higher octane only
benefits cars designed for it (i.e. those with higher compression ratios).
Higher octane only means the fuel is more resistant to detonation... so for
cars w/ high compression, you use high octane to prevent premature ejac... I
mean premature detonation :-) On your car it will neither benefit nor
harm.

In article <fIx2b.12656$8i2.998@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink. net>,
"93 Fox" <no@way.com> wrote:

> "Randy Given" <GivenRandy@aol.com> wrote in message
> news:EEx2b.25788$Zw4.5398@lakeread03...
> > What octane should I use for my 2003 Honda Civic LX sedan? The manual
> > recommends 87. Will higher octanes make any difference? Will they do any
> > damage?
> >
> >
>
> Higher octane will...
>
> make no difference, except deplete your wallet faster. Higher octane only
> benefits cars designed for it (i.e. those with higher compression ratios).
> Higher octane only means the fuel is more resistant to detonation... so for
> cars w/ high compression, you use high octane to prevent premature ejac... I
> mean premature detonation :-) On your car it will neither benefit nor
> harm.
>
>
>

Too high of an octane seems to make lean burn engines run poorly. I
don't know if the 2003 LX uses lean burn or if it's still just the HX.

In article <EEx2b.25788$Zw4.5398@lakeread03>,
"Randy Given" <GivenRandy@aol.com> wrote:

> What octane should I use for my 2003 Honda Civic LX sedan? The manual
> recommends 87. Will higher octanes make any difference? Will they do any
> damage?
>
>

Octane is simply an indication of the fuel's ability to resist
pre-ignition or knocking. If your car is doing neither, then higher
levels of octane make no difference to the car. The only damage will be
to your pocketbook, if you spend 20 cents more per gallon than you have
to.

> Gas Industry did a number on consumers..... wasting 20+ cents per
> gallon on a daily basis for nothing...........

Do you have that URL? It would be interesting.

By the way, I might have been "included" on my previous car, but it DID make
a difference for that particular car. Hopefully not necessary on new car
(have not quite used full tank yet).

Randy Given wrote:

>>Gas Industry did a number on consumers..... wasting 20+ cents per
>>gallon on a daily basis for nothing...........
>
>
> Do you have that URL? It would be interesting.
>
> By the way, I might have been "included" on my previous car, but it DID make
> a difference for that particular car. Hopefully not necessary on new car
> (have not quite used full tank yet).
>
>

I've always been a fan of just keeping records. Log your fill ups and
gas mileage. I've found 87 (mid grade) to give me about 3mpg more than
85 and 91 is no better than 85.

BTW: 29mpg average summer mileage on Shell and Conoco - 91 Integra 4dr GS

> I have used nothing but high octane in any car I have owned since 1981 and
I
> have never heard a ping ever...I have made the choice to pay more for that
> occurrence, or should I say non occurrence.

A Civic, will not ping with 87 neither as it was designed to use 87. It
doesn't compress enough to make it ping.
He didn't ask what people use, he asked if it will change anything to use
highet octane gas.
And the answer is, the price is the only change and that doesn't really fall
into benefits.

On 8/27/03 10:20 AM, in article biieml$5ql$1@dns3.cae.ca, "Paul Bielec"
<me@no.spam> wrote:

>> I have used nothing but high octane in any car I have owned since 1981 and
> I
>> have never heard a ping ever...I have made the choice to pay more for that
>> occurrence, or should I say non occurrence.
>
> A Civic, will not ping with 87 neither as it was designed to use 87. It
> doesn't compress enough to make it ping.
> He didn't ask what people use, he asked if it will change anything to use
> highet octane gas.
> And the answer is, the price is the only change and that doesn't really fall
> into benefits.
>
>

I also mentioned some higher octane have more detergents in them and that
could keep fuel injectors cleaner. That is a benefit.

Regarding what I answered, I fully explained to him the benefits of what I
"do". I said that if one uses high octane there is pretty much no chance of
pinging...and that there is a small chance of pinging with the lower octane.
There is a chance of it pinging with low octane...some cars ping and some of
those are also designed for low octane. If what you say is true then no cars
designed for low octane would ping, but some do. I stand by what I advised.

> If what you say is true then no cars
> designed for low octane would ping, but some do. I stand by what I
advised.

He is talking about a 2003 model.
Modern car have anti-knocking sensors and the ECU modifies the timing if
pinging occurs.
In a 2003 Civic (I used to own a 2001) there is definitively no knocking
using 87 octane fuel.
If there was, it means there is the problem with the engine and the car
should be services instead of buying more expensive fuel.
In an older car, residue in the cylinder can cause the mixture to explode
prematurely. Basically, it the car has been serviced properly and the engine
is ok, there will be no pinging.
Now, he asked if he would benefit from using higher octane fuel and said
something like:
"oh you know, I always put more expensive gas just in case"

Paul wrote in part:
>In an older car, residue in the cylinder can cause the mixture to explode
prematurely.>

Careful. Ping/knock/detonation is when the fuel explodes instead of
burning/expanding very rapidly. A smack insead of a very fast push.

Preignition is when the fuel air mixture burns prior to the spark. Can be
caused several ways.

Two events are different although often related. The octane rating of a fuel
is simply and solely the fuel's resistance to detonation.