For what it's worth, this is what Honda says in the 2004 OM.

 

IMO the less ethanol content the better and use top tier gasoline whenever possible

 

More ethanol is bad for your engine regardless of any octane increase.

How to Protect Your Car From Ethanol Damage

There are many things that can cause damage to your car. Here are a few preventative measures to help protect your car from ethanol damage.

www.bellperformance.com

 

More ethanol is bad for your engine regardless of any octane increase.

How to Protect Your Car From Ethanol Damage

There are many things that can cause damage to your car. Here are a few preventative measures to help protect your car from ethanol damage.

www.bellperformance.com

Well if you were driving modern vehicles you wouldn't have to worry about it.

 

 

For what it's worth, this is what Honda says in the 2004 OM.
View attachment 153509

Thanks I did read that in my OM. I was thinking that the book was written before they had the 15% stuff. I'm going to stick with the 87 Octane

 

Long discussion about performance and suitability of ethanol from late last year.

The simple answer to all your questions is "It depends." Read the thread to sort out what might make a difference for you.

There are lots of places in the high-elevation west selling 85 octane fuel with ethanol. My first gen does fine on that.

 

Thanks, after reading these replies and doing some more research I'll stick with the 87 octane. If I have to do some higher elevation or heavy towing, I'll throw in some 89 or 91.

 

You will experience about a 35% loss of fuel mileage going from no ethanol in the fuel to E85. You will notice some loss of power as well. A few years ago, I drove a motor pool vehicle that we had to fill with E85 when it was available. The Jeep got 16 mpg with regular unleaded and 11 with E85.

The less ethanol the better your mileage and power will be.

Ethanol has less energy available per unit volume than regular unleaded. Less energy density. The more dense the fuel, the more energy available.

By the way, octane is basically a measure of volatility, or how easily it will vaporize or evaporate, not density although the higher octane fuels generally are more dense.

 

What @jaussiln says. If you look at the EPA MPG numbers the E85 MPG numbers are definitely far worse than "normal" gas...

Never tried E85 but have tried Ethanol free, but not long enough to notice any difference.

 

OK, I can be convinced that EVs are the near-term future, and hydrogen will remain a niche until another Henry Ford builds a technologically superior and cost-efficient hydrogen car so that BEVs are once again supplanted.

Welp, better keep my Pilot extra well maintained because it may be awhile.

 

[Double post]

<- Imagine if we could harness that energy.

 

In any case, if and when any of us do decide to go electric, I hope your electricity rates compare favorably to mine.

Comparison of electricity prices

This page presents the residential electricity rates for various North American cities, using comparative indexes.

www.hydroquebec.com

 

You know this one of my pet peeves so I'll throw in my 10 cents here (2 cents after taxes) - While I am the cheapest SOB you'll ever meet, I never understood the logic of not using premium gas in your car - yes, it's more expensive but not that much more expensive, and the benefits far outweigh the additional cost. The current average cost of gas across the country is $3.27 for regular and $3.89 for premium, so $0.62 more per gallon x avg. 18 gallons refill = $11.16, so for a couple of 6-packs you get a much better running vehicle and the wife appreciates the bit of loss in girth around our middle right.

 

If you vehicle was not designed to run on premium, what benefits are you thinking you get?

 

You mean this article?

Is Premium Gas Worth It? We Test High Octane on 4 Popular Vehicles

We tested higher octane fuel than manufacturers require on the Honda CR-V, BMW M5, Ford F-150, and Dodge Charger to see if it impacted acceleration or MPG.

www.caranddriver.com

“Honda CR-V

MARC URBANOCAR AND DRIVER
Even as it's sucking down as much as 18.5 psi of boost, the CR-V's 1.5-liter inline-four isn't interested in 93 octane. Honda asks for 87 octane and makes no claims that raising the fuel octane will lift performance. Based on our testing, premium fuel might as well not exist in the CR-V's world.

MARC URBANOCAR AND DRIVER
We could see this coming. During a similar Car and Driver test 18 years ago, an Accord powered by a 3.0-liter V-6 made more power and accelerated quicker on regular fuel than on premium. The modern CR-V, with half the displacement but rated at just 10 fewer ponies, makes the same argument: don't waste your money on premium. Switching from 87 octane to 93 yielded a 7-hp gain on the dynamometer, but that advantage was lost in the noise at the track. There, the CR-V's zero-to-60-mph and quarter-mile times both tracked a tenth of a second slower on the expensive stuff. While fuel economy at 75 mph ticked up from 27.3 mpg to 27.6 mpg on premium, that's a 1 percent improvement for a 21 percent higher cost.
Honda built its reputation on a line of unassuming, egalitarian motorcycles in the '60s. Nearly 60 years later, the company's identity is still predicated on the same sensible and modest ethic, right down to the fuel that you put in the tank.”

Another good article.

https://www.cars.com/amp/articles/if-my-car-recommends-regular-gas-is-it-good-to-use-premium-occasionally-1420684149356/

 

I like this explanation on the use of high octane gasoline! Thanks!

The only guaranteed result of using premium gasoline in an engine designed for regular-grade fuel is that you will spend more money on gas. As far as any tangible benefits to filling up with pricier gasoline, the chances are slim to none.

If your engine runs fine on regular, filling it with premium is unlikely to boost acceleration or fuel economy by more than insignificant amounts. No matter what you’ve heard, premium-grade gasoline won’t do more to clean deposits from your fuel injectors or other parts of the fuel system because today’s regular gas contains the same detergent additives.

The main difference with premium is its octane rating — 91 or higher compared with 87 for regular octane. The higher octane gives premium gas greater resistance to early fuel ignition, which can result in potential damage, sometimes accompanied by audible engine knocking or pinging. Higher octane allows engines to have higher compression ratios (for a more energetic explosion), more advanced ignition timing or forced-air induction like turbochargers or superchargers. They perform best when fed premium fuel.

But if the vehicle manufacturer says your engine needs only 87-octane regular, that is what you should use. The higher octane of premium gas won’t make your car faster; in fact, the opposite is possible because higher-octane fuel technically has less energy than lower-octane fuel. It’s the fuel’s ability to be compressed more without pre-igniting that results in more power when used in the appropriate engine. Premium gas is not “stronger” gas.

If you burn premium because you think it makes the engine peppier, that is probably psychological: “I’m paying more for gasoline, so I must be getting more.” Some motorists claim they get better fuel economy with premium, but some of that could be due to favorable weather conditions (such as warm weather instead of cold) or other factors.

If you use premium fuel because your engine knocks on regular, you are treating the symptom, not the cause. Something else might be causing the knock, such as carbon deposits or hot spots that should be diagnosed and treated by a mechanic.

Premium gas can cost 20 to 60 cents more per gallon depending on where you live. Paying more to pump premium gas into a car designed for regular gas will have a low return on investment.

Cars.com’s Editorial department is your source for automotive news and reviews. In line with Cars.com’s long-standing ethics policy, editors and reviewers don’t accept gifts or free trips from automakers. The Editorial department is independent of Cars.com’s advertising, sales and sponsored content departments.

 

No matter what you’ve heard, premium-grade gasoline won’t do more to clean deposits from your fuel injectors or other parts of the fuel system because today’s regular gas contains the same detergent additives.

The same additives, perhaps, but not necessarily in the same concentration.
For example, premium-grade Shell V-Power NiTRO+ has seven times the cleaning agents required to meet federal standards.
Shell V-Power NiTRO+ Premium Gasoline

 

I thought the manufacturer's put that to rest?

 

I just think there's a societal consensus not to give any under fourteens any more bad ideas than they already might have or "challenges."

 

Wow this thing is still going.

My Civic Si called for premium when I had it, so I put premium in. My '06 Accord with the same engine family (K series) but a substantially different tune and lower compression ratio called for regular, so that's what I fed it. Just do what the damn manual calls for in each car and I promise it will be happy. Engineers aren't as dumb as everyone thinks.

"challenges."

My 8 year old is no longer allowed to say that word. We stopped Youtube Kids years ago but a lot of her friends watch it still and all they talk about are these stupid challenges. "Who can sit in a car the longest". Who can stand on one leg the longest? Who can impale themselves with the largest stick? Pure idiocrasy.