2003 Acura CL 3.2L, Fuel Question

[Bobalos]

afternoon folks, we just bought a 2003 Acura CL with the 3.2L V6 in it (55,189 Miles).  I noticed while washing it, that it says to only put Super in it. 

Anyone with one of these old Honda's run regular fuel in them? 

Is there really a mileage hit? 

Bob

PS, There are no typo's above.  It truly only has 55K on the clock & its in as good a shape as you might imagine for sitting in a garage for 20 years. 

 

[LegitDuner]

I bought my daughter a 2003 Acura TL back in the day as her first car. She ran regular gas all the time and didn't ping or anything. Motor was still going strong at 220,000 mi..

I will tell you to watch out for the transmission. It's not if, it's when. They were all recalled but even the fix didn't fix them. A rebuild only lasted about 50k.

 

[Fireballsocal]

Running premium gives you the best performance. The knock sensor and associated tuning takes care of knock so yes, it's safe to run on regular but you aren't getting the experience honda engineers wanted you to have. 

 

[Bobalos]

I bought my daughter a 2003 Acura TL back in the day as her first car. She ran regular gas all the time and didn't ping or anything. Motor was still going strong at 220,000 mi..

I will tell you to watch out for the transmission. It's not if, it's when. They were all recalled but even the fix didn't fix them. A rebuild only lasted about 50k.

I own a dodge truck, I'm used to trans issues.  LOL.   Thanks for the input. 

Running premium gives you the best performance. The knock sensor and associated tuning takes care of knock so yes, it's safe to run on regular but you aren't getting the experience honda engineers wanted you to have. 

I'm guessing my wife will drive it most of the time, and she drives like and old lady and is cheap as hell, so getting her to put super in it might be a challenge.  If there is a huge mileage difference she might.  The tach on it won't ever get above 1/2 way with her driving it... 

Thanks for the input. 

I will do some mileage calculations and see if we see a difference.   

 

[LegitDuner]

I own a dodge truck, I'm used to trans issues.  LOL.   Thanks for the input. 

.   

This is a lot worse than that. The initial recall was because the transmission would lock up at freeway speeds. Then there's the clutch packs that wear out and plug the whole thing up in short order 

If I were you I would look it up on the internet see if yours was replaced due to the lockup issue you can tell by the bolts on the transmission. I would also suggest you look into the red line transmission oil flush schedule. People were extending their transmissions life dramatically by doing it. 

Have fun, they are peppy little cars!