Regular unleaded fuel only in NHC VTEC?

[razor4077]

During a recent visit to a Honda showroom, I was told by one of their sales reps that one should only use regular unleaded petrol in the NHC VTEC. Usage of higher octane fuels like Speed and Xtra Premiuim would apparently cause knocking.
Is this true? Has anyone experienced this knocking?
And if the sales rep was right, what's the technical explanation, and does this hold true for any other cars as well?

[vid6639]

did he try to sell you some fuel additive to use with the regular fuel? then it's probably to sell you the additive he told you.

There were also some cases of some fuel pumps getting conked on hondas due to some problem in Speed/power fuel. But this was a long time back.

Honda might be playing it safe. the HM guys also tell me also put only regular fuel. My car knocks with shell super but not with HP power. No knocking with Shell regular.

[razor4077]

Nah, she wasn't trying to sell me anything, so there must be something to it.
Won't a performance-oriented engine like a VTEC benefit from a slightly higher octane fuel? 97 may be a bit much I know, but what's wrong with 93?
And what explains the knocking?

[Jaggu]

remeber ol honda cars and dealers insiting on regular brew, in Crv its specifically says premium petrol only, at the filler cap as well as on the manual

[Zappo]

Razor buddy... this is old news. We have discussed it threadbare on this forum. Not only Honda. Even the dimunitive Tata tells you to fill only regular unleaded fuel in their vehicles. If you go upmarket Toyota, Honda and even Ford suggests the same.

There is definitely something to it since so many of them suggests the same. I believe it has to do with the fact that each brand of premium fuel has its own concoction of the brew which messes up the injectors and fuel pumps. Most manuals explicitly tell you what to mix to your fuel (the exact brand of the additive) and in what proportion. I guess after a few bad experiences manufacturers decided to play safe by explicitly asking not to try the non-tested brews.

[v.tec]

yes..if you put premium fuel in the nhc vtec..you will experience slight knocking and a big drop in FE...

[manikjeet]

We use to use premium fuel in our 04 NHC and it started to knock we took it to the dealer and they said to use normal fuel only

and same was said by toyota people to use normal deisel in the innova only

[iraghava]

I've always used premium fuels on my car & never had any problems with it & never has anyone from the dealership ever told me not to use them. Infact, IMO my car performs best when she's filled with 97-octane fuel, it does give a perceptible difference to the performance.

[razor4077]

@ishaan: maybe this isn't a problem with the OHC as much as it is with the NHC. seems some of the newer engines aren't too compatible with the premium fuels. ECU-related maybe?

[speedonline]

Originally Posted by iraghava

I've always used premium fuels on my car & never had any problems with it & never has anyone from the dealership ever told me not to use them. Infact, IMO my car performs best when she's filled with 97-octane fuel, it does give a perceptible difference to the performance.

Even my boss was told the same thing that dont put higher octane fuels as they might cause a problem as he just got the new civic

[unigen]

Hmmm... this is interesting. I've tried Speed97 in my scooter hehe. No probs running it. No change in top speed, but pickup has improved. I always use premium. But since last week I've been trying 97 octane. Hope it doesn't bust my bike or something. :-)

[anandpadhye]

I have been using SPEED/POWER/SPEED97 in my NHC Gxi for last 2 years.
No problems absolutely. No knocking.

[appuchan]

Been driving my SAntro and Verna on Shell Super and never had any issues. I felt the engine to be much more silent with good power delivery. Mileage also is better.

[csentil]

Well, sorry to repeat. I've also had my Honda dealer telling me to fill the normal unleaded petrol for the Civic. I asked him the reason, and he told me that when you go outstation, it might not be possible to get Speed/Power/Super and one might have to switch back to the normal fuel.

Filled her up with Speed only a couple of days back for the first time. Want to check if there's any change. Then I might decide.

[autoenthusiast]

Folks just my two cents on all these fuel options.

1. Regular fuel can always be used in your car, but make sure you regularly use a fuel additive like SystemG, this prevents the tar formation in the fuel lines and prevents clogging of injectors.
2. Never use SystemG all of a sudden in a car that was run for more than 15,000 KM on regular fuel, any tar formation may come loose and kill your fuelpump. Incase you want to start using SystemG, you can put in a fulltank of fuel and use double the quantity of systemG the first time.
3. Most of these fuels like Speed and so on contain similar fuel additives like SystemG, one of the reasons a lot of cars had fuel pump failures when they first started using these fuels. If you were on regular fuel earlier you have to make sure that you take your fuel tank to the bare minimum and then fill in a fulltank of these fuels.
4. The premium fuels are a different class itself, they are fuels with a higher octane level with the fuel additives.

I for one used to earlier go for the regular fuels and add SystemG, I now use IOL premium in my 2003 Santro Xing, have never faced problems with my car, neither do I get any knocking.