Honda Car Forum

#31 (**permalink**) 19 Apr 2005, 07:30 pm

On Mon, 18 Apr 2005 19:48:35 -0700, "R. P." <r_pol12gar@hotmail.com>
wrote:

>"John Ings" <nodamned@spam.org> wrote:
>> Lately Honda seems to be engaging in a marketing ploy. Premium fuel is
>> expensive, and people aren't inclined to buy cars that need it, so
>> trusting to the efficiency of its engine knock sensors Honda has
>> recently been recommending regular gas for some of its products that
>> could really use premium! In those cars, the owner's manual says use
>> regular, but premium really will get you another ten HP or so! How do
>> you tell? Well short of a dyno test, check your compression ratio. As
>> a rough rule of thumb (there are a lot of variables) a 9.2 to 1
>> compression ratio Integra 1.8 litre engine only needs 86 octane, while
>> a 10 to 1 VTEC engine needs 91 octane to produce full power.
>>
>> See also http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/faq.html#premium
>
>Well, that link points out the difference of Octane rating specified by
>Honda and the Octane ratings posted on gas stations:
>
>I read my Honda's Owner's Manual and it says to use 91 "RON".

Where did you buy your Honda? Checking my daughter's 2003 Civic bought
in Canada, the owners manual states:

" Your Honda is designed to operate on unleaded gasoline with a pump
octane number of 86 or higher"

> Almost everywhere in the world, a gasoline is
>referred to by its RON rating. Here in North America however, the MON
>and RON are added together then divided by two to get what we call the
>Anti-Knock Index, or AKI, or "pump octane". So the formula is: (RON +
>MON) / 2 = AKI
>That's why 91 RON is the same as 87 AKI (pump octane).
>91 AKI would be more like 96 or 97 RON. Britain has recently
>re-legalized leaded gas, and "4-star" 97 RON is available once again.
>
>
>Personally, I like to use the medium grade gas for my '94 Accord LX that
>is posted as 89 at the gas pump, using the (R+M)/2 method of
>calculation. I figure that should be well above 91 RON that Honda
>recommends though I still sense some pinging on hot days. I'm not sure
>if it's because the pumps posted Octane numbers are inflated or the
>engine timing is off specs.

I think quoting a RON rating to customers who don't know what it means
is grossly misleading. I wonder where and when Honda did so, and for
how long?

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