Acura TL and Premium vs Regular Gas

ficuss

I think you're confusing hot air with gasoline. they both come from South of the Border. The last time I checked, our local Citgo was manned by locals.. Why hurt them?

bejocund

I have a 2005 TL and it claims :

18 mpg in city
21 mpg mixed
26 mpg highway

I have 82,000 miles on my car and was wondering why I am getting

15 mpg city
19 mpg mixed

I buy grade 93 gas.

Maybe it is time to buy a new 3rd set of tires? Maybe something else is causing a drop in mileage? or buy new NGK Iridium spark plugs?

Although I hear that you don't need to change spark plugs til 100,000 miles for the '20 TL, but I've heard that NGK is best to change around 60,000 miles even though NGK's website says it depends on what your car manufacturer recommends....

Any insight on this ?

mikey38

driving habits perhaps? Do you shove your foot down on the accelerator? Do you keep your foot down when approaching a red light and go straight to the brake instead of coasting?

Low air pressure in tires?

charles12

I am the person got the 2008 TL with a lot of rattle noise and now experiencing another problem. Engine pinging - a very rare situation for TL based on limited discussion here.

I used 91 and 93 gas. the TL has 8000 miles. The pinging noise comes only after driving the car for 30 min or more (means hot engine). So the problem might be caused by the reason as habitat1 said "compression and temperatures before deto".

I talked to the dealer to see if this will eventually give damage to the engine. They said no and suggest to use injector cleaner to clean the fuel system. Will this help?

Any one has similar experience as I do - your suggestion?

Hate Acura car !!!!!!!

06tl

my friend - something is wrong with your 2008 - I have an '06 and use mostly premium, sometimes plus and occasionally regular. I have never experienced a ping, ever and actually have some nice pep with regular. There is something wrong and it needs to go back to the dealer - if you want to test, borrow a loaner '08 which is always run on regular gas, no ping. still love my TL btw and get 30mpg on the highway driving conservative..

laurasdada

I'll second your post, 06tl. I've always used Premium though. I'm lucky enough to be able to afford the extra .20/gallon (I just skip lunch every day! ). Or too scared to downgrade to 87/89 on a $30k+ car/engine!

charles12

I know there is something wrong there. I am testing different source of gas to see what is going to happen.

Talk to the dealer and he suggested to add injector cleaner. Just did that and have to wait to run a whole tank of gas.

I am definitely having enough with this car. For example, with so many rattle noise still not fixed a few weeks ago a wind noise comes from the passenger side at speed above 40. I tried to figure out the source by blocking the window using scotch tape (for office use) one at a time. I found the source and fixed it tentatively by myself (use scotch tap to block that area).

I do not think the dealer can fix all these problems unless you tell them exactly what/where is wrong.

That is why I would like to first try by myself and listen to your guys suggestion.

Anywhere TL is a very poor qaulity car no matter what you say about it.

upstatedoc

charles12,

Have you heard the expression, "You attract more bees with honey than with vinegar"?

There are many people on this forum that have a great deal of knowledge and would go out of their way to help you but when you come in here saying that their cars are "poor qaulity" (sic) and that you hate Acura you are going to be hard pressed to find anyone with any real interest in helping you.

There, I feel much better now!

charles12

upstatedoc,

I am an honest person to say what I feel. I can not say I love the car when I am not. I do love my lexus car and recommended it to many of my friends (5 brought lexus, no one got acura within the past 10 months).

The worst case is that I will trade in TL with an infiniti or IS350. I feel it is to soon for me to do the trade-in (within less than one year and less than 9000 miles).

I do agree with you that "You attract more bees with honey than with vinegar" - thanks.

On the other hand, I think I have much more experince on figuring out rattle noise than most of you. - not too bad.

Charles Jones

laurasdada

Good luck, Chuck. Sorry the TL didn't work out for you. Enjoy whatever warms the cockles of your garage's heart next!

Still diggin' my TL after all these years! (And, yes, I've had two rattles: sunroof and driver's side sunshade. Both fixed, no others).

masonjk

I also have a 08' TL and have had pinging issues since around 2,000 miles. I have taken it into Acura and they checked everything out and said everything was perfect. They gave me 44K to put in gas which I did. I still have pinging issues. I took it back again and they opened case up with Acura Tech line and was told to put top engine cleaner in car which they did. I still have pinging. I have put 93 octane in car from start. I now have almost 9K miles on car and continue to have pinging. I have waited for 1 month for Acura Tech line to respond to local dealer with suggested next step to take to resolve problem and today was told that they claim there is no issue.
The response I was given is it is normal for the car to ping and the engine was designed to have gas used, and most gasolines contain mixture in gas.

I have been a big Acura fan in the past and my family has purchased 11 Acura vehicles to date. However, I am very frustrated with their resolution to this issue. They should not put a vehicle on the road that will not be able to work well with gasoline offered in marketplace. If I had heard pinging when test driving the car I would not have purchased it!
I am at the point of needing to take legal action on this as I do not feel I should have to live with this problem, especially when purchasing a higher end vehicle. Pinging causes performance issues, and can cause engine damage over time...things I should not have to knowingly deal with from purchase of a new vehicle.
I do not think it is asking too much to not have a car that pings when I am doing everything asked by the manufacturer- I am using 93 octane ALWAYS! I have had oil changed (in fact early).
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated! I had hopes of keeping this car long term to pass onto my daughter, and in fact had front protection applied to car to help keep looking new...anyone in market for a 08'TL

charles12

Masonik,

I am sorry to hear that your car has pining noise and could not get it fixed. I believe that Honda car are generally good in quality (I used to have civic and accord) as most of people said here in this forum.

Maybe we are the few ones unlucky to get the cars with lots of issues.

After putting the engine injector cleaner and run different brand of gas for more than 5 weeks, the pinging noise in my car is gone. I am not sure if this is because of colder weather or gas quality. Where do you live?

I once called Acura at CA for my car's rattle noise issues, I got similar response from them saying that the car is designed to like that (sports car) and the rattle noise is normal.

Lesson learned is that test-driving a brand new car carefully even it is claimed high quality cars. 1% bad cars out of total is still considered to be good brand car (p-values < 0.01). We are the 1% ones.

masonjk

I am on East coast in MD. They have put top engine cleaner in it and still pings. I run 93 octane all the time, and have used Exxon, Citgo, Shell, BP. not sure if they are the problem or not. I can't believe Acura would put such a finicky car on the road as to mandate 93 octane from one specific gas company must be used. Weather here now is in 50s during day and I can hear it ping with steady acceleration- usually begins to ping around 35 miles/hour up to 45-50. I plan to still go back to Acura. letter received from Acura today indicates they consider this to be normal. My response to that is so they consider engine pinging to be normal, and we know engine pinging causes performance issues, and potentially engine damage over time. Nice to know they consider this normal!

gbosil

Charles

I have a 2007 TLS and it's as quiet as a mouse. Acura needs to replace your Lemon! :lemon:

charles12

gbosil,

That is very kind of you. Since Acura consider it normal, I do not expect them to do anything. I tried to put rubbers between the windshield and dashboard, it works for some noise. But I do not know how to fix those from doors and back near the windshield. There is a gap about 1/4 inch wide between the door handle panel and the door body on the passager side, from the gap I can see the inside and the wires there (poor assembly quailty). Rattle noise comes from the door (at least 2 locations there).

1 out of 10 times (from home to work 20 miles each way) the car has no noise.

Charles

charles12

Masonik,

Just want to follow up to see what they did for your car.

I most recently noticed abnormal engine sound + almost unnoticable pinging noise when I accelarated the car . I used Mobile gas for the last 2 tanks (I was told by Luxus dealer, when I do my maintaince for my 2007 RX350 there, that Mobile gas contains up to 10% ethnol. Suggest using NOCO or Quickfill Gas).

Do you think that any computer program problem causes the pinging?

masonjk

nothing done yet- have been traveling a lot and have not had a chance to get car back into acura. Hoping to later this week before doing road trip next week for 600+ miles.
Still pings...typically during steady (but not hard) acceleration at speed between 30-50 mph. I hear it happen when engine is cold and also after it is warmed up.

geojb3

This is exhausting reading ..... all this misinformation.
I worked for both Chrysler and GM and have a mech. eng. degree (no big deal).
Premium gas is marketing genius at its best. The oil execs luv all you premium gas buyers. They have pulled off the biggest scam on the public and have made billions, simply by using the word premium. "Premium" means "the best". WRONG. Unless your going to attach a 30' travel trailer to your BMW, Mercedes or your Chevy pickup and pull it uphill to Tahoe - You are absolutely wasting your money on premium. In fact, at Tahoe's elevation your premium will fail to burn 100%and cost you about 25% drop in efficency. I have never burned anything but the cheap stuff in my cars, except my '67 Rover 2000 which had a compression ratio 15:1 (after I got done with the rebuild). You burn premium in a Yamaha and Suzuki motorcycle that redlines at 11,000. Not in a car that redlines at 4500. Your compression ratio will dictate what you burn.

ohoh2

I am geting a 2006 Acur TL and the car has a 11.0:1 compression ratio and it is recommended to put 91 octane gas. Would you suugest that a lower octane will work just as well as the higher octane.

Lower octane will not burn at the correct temperature and might ruin the sensors and engine. That is what I have read.

Just a question.

smarty666

I drive a 2008 Base TL and have been using Hess 93 Octane gas for the last year; I've been getting a respectable 24 MPG with mostly rural town/city driving and about 28-29 MPG with highway/interstate travel; over the last two months I switched to Shell V-power after reading several articles on Edmunds, etc how Shell is a top tier fuel and they most people get their best gas mileage with them but I don't see that happening with me; I've had 6 fill ups with Shell V-power and have lost 2 MPG in all driving; I now get 22 MPG with mostly rural town/city driving and about 25-26 MPG with highway/interstate travel; has anyone else had this happen to them? I was going to give it another two fillups with Shell V-Power to see if the MPG improves but if it doesn't I'm going to switch back to Hess/Exxon/BP 93 Octane

bamp

I traded in my 2008 for the 2010 which was a mistake the cabin noise is overbearing, most recently I took the vehicle back to the dealer because I could hear the gas rattling in the tank in which I found out was something normal for the 2009 and 2010 and there is no fix so in essence I spent a little over 40k on a car in which the driver and passengers can hear the gas tank rattle which is very obvious. Acura or the dealer just looks for an excuse and goes with it the brand name and quality of the vehicle has gone downhill this comes from someone who has been driving a Honda and Acura since 1992.

graphicguy

smarty......I know for the longest time I tried different brands of gas in the hopes of finding that "right one" to give me better performance, and/or MPG. I found nothing significant going from one brand to another. These days, I get all of my gas at Costco, and go on my merry way.

bamp....surprised you think the new TLs are louder. I know the '09s and '10s I've test driven, even the SH AWD ones, are significantly quieter than the '05 TL I had, by a pretty large margin.

bamp

Graphicguy,
I know it was supposed to be much quiter but fill up the tank with gas and drive around make stops going forward and back you will hear the noise it makes the pasengers in the back seat can hear it more than everyone else. It is a flaw Acura is passing on as a regualr noise personally I never had a car that I can hear the gas tank while in the driver seat. So if you test drive have them fill up the tank with gas then go for it again trust me the noise is there.

rlonn1

My 2005 Honda Pilot had that gas tank sound.. Only once in a while did I even hear it.. With the XM radio on and Noise Canceling White Noise Generator of the Tech Package, the inside is VERY QUIET.. Only my wife and I drive the car, so I guess that is why it is not heard... 2009 TSX-2010 TL SH-AWD

rlonn1

Decided to make a few test runs, both my wife 2009 TSX and my 2010 TL. Both cars had about 3/4 of a tank of gas. From the drivers seat, I would give the edge to the TL for being very quiet...It was hard to make the gas move around just right, stop-go-stop go, rock the steering wheel, but you can hear it in the TSX but is is very faint. In the case of my TL, I just could not make it make a noise... Less or more gas may have resulted in different results, so with the radio turned down to zero it was very quiet in the cabin,, with the radio turned up to volume number 8, it just was quality music and a quiet cabin... So with just 110 miles on my TL, I am still amazed at how nice it rides and how QUIET it is inside the car.. Plan on taking a trip to Eastern San Diego County on a back road (94) that has a lot of turns to check out the SH-AWD a bit more.

smarty666

I should have put an update, but 4 months ago I went back and tried Shell again and I guess it just took longer for the car to get used to it but I am so glad I tried it again because I'm getting the best mpg in my TL that I have ever had for the last 4 months consistently!!

avg mpg has been consistently 25-26mpg, and I've gotten a couple of 30mpg readings on open highway and interstate!!!

very satisfied now!!!

rlonn1

OK, so Shell is good news. I have used Costco gas for ever. What Gas did you use in the past that was not performing as you would have hoped it wold?

smarty666

oh before Shell, I was using Hess and Exxon 93 Octane regularly!

enbeuu1

For me: I noticed there was a perception difference in driving the Honda V-6 in the Accord CPE; it was less "powerful" in the acceleration phase and powering through turns; two different chassis and weights; but my TL was "nicer" to drive with the larger pistons, premium fuel, and its V-6 with slightly higher compression ratios; the premium fuel was important for those impressions and is required for its higher compression ratios.
I'd certainly buy the Accord CPE with the Acura's V-6 in its engine bay rather than the one it's delivered: a dealer said if I bought an Accord CPE: I could "insert" a card into its fuel management system that might give the Accord CPE similar power: that's what was said.
I'll stay with my TL's V-6 and wait for the TLX next year.

defielding

I have a 2013 TL SH-AWD, tech package. Doesn't matter how much fuel or how little fuel, I have never heard the fuel sloshing around in the tank even in stop and go traffic.

philgoode

Interesting to read the comments of self proclaimed experts. I had an 03 Acura tl-s
and for the two years I had it I burned regular and got 20 in town and 30-31 on hwy.
Premium gas here Ga is .50 to a dollar a gallon more than reg making a 20 gal fillup
$10 to $20 more which gets costly over time. I never noticed any performance difference.

TrailRat

What I would actually like to get out of this discussion is related to the long term affect the lower octane would have on the engine. Some research I have found shows that Acura service departments state you must use premium to avoid long term engine damage. Not sure if this is propaganda or fact. When I bought the car 3 years ago, premium was only 25 cents a gallon more. Now, in my area near Akron, Ohio, it has stayed at 80 cents more. Makes a big difference when 87 is 3.20/gal and 93 is 4 bucks! So, does anyone have a definitive answer as to whether or not 87 octane damages the engine?

kyfdx

TrailRat said:

What I would actually like to get out of this discussion is related to the long term affect the lower octane would have on the engine. Some research I have found shows that Acura service departments state you must use premium to avoid long term engine damage. Not sure if this is propaganda or fact. When I bought the car 3 years ago, premium was only 25 cents a gallon more. Now, in my area near Akron, Ohio, it has stayed at 80 cents more. Makes a big difference when 87 is 3.20/gal and 93 is 4 bucks! So, does anyone have a definitive answer as to whether or not 87 octane damages the engine?

Does the owner's manual require Premium?
What about the label on the fuel cap?

If it says Premium required, then you can absolutely do long term damage to your vehicle by using a lower octane.

But, if it doesn't, you are good to go.

I feel your pain. It's typically $1.00 gallon more, where I live

thecardoc3

The octane requirement for a vehicle is directly related to the compression ratio of the engine. The higher the compression, the more octane that is required. When someone notices a performance difference between 87 octane versus 93 octane fuel what is happening is the engine controller is detecting detonation (pinging) and that occurs before the driver hears it. In order to try to prevent engine damage from detonation both the throttle opening is reduced, and the ignition timing advance is reduced (retarded timing). In some cases, the fuel trim is also driven richer or in GDI engines the fuel is injected in two separate events with the majority of it very late in the compression stroke. The combination of these actions can have a noticeable change in performance and fuel economy, so an engine designed for higher octane should get higher octane fuel regardless of its price. If the engine controller cannot prevent detonation of the fuel damage will result.

With an engine designed for lower octane, first the compression ratio is lower, so the engine is less likely to detonate on the lower octane fuel. The lower octane fuel produces more BTUs of heat per gallon than higher octane fuel, so an engine designed for it actually gets better fuel economy on lower octane fuel than the higher-octane fuel (the higher the octane the slower the fuel burns). If something is wrong with the engine, let's say carbon deposits in the combustion chamber causing detonation from slightly increased compression due to the smaller combustion area plus easier auto-ignition of the fuel. The engine controller's response is the same as above, reduce timing, reduce throttle opening, and richer fuel mixture when necessary.