I just got back from a 2 hr test drive of a 2003 TL with 52,000 miles
I plan to buy this car tomorrow if everything else checks out fo
$17,100. The current owner said he always used regular (Octane 87) gas
I know the computer will change the timing to avoid knocking, but wil
this, in the long term, cause engine problems and vibration and futur
problems? Also the front motor mount was broken - could motor vibratio
from low grade gas cause this

On the test drive I got 29 mpg with the ac on. Also, a 0 - 60 mp
acceleration test gave only 9.4 seconds - rather slow. Could the timin
adjustment cause the car to run this slow? would the gas milage go u
and acceleration be better with a higher grade fuel

Thanks for any advice on this, Ric
yes the vehicles on board computer will retard the timing a little to avoi
knocking but as far as knowing if it will have a negative affect on anything
in a long term is hard to say. with the vehicles on board computer tweaking & adjusting timing and fuel mixture it should even on a low 87 octane shoul
still run pretty smooth and not vibrate so bad that it damages a moter mount

but then again i wouldent completly rule it out either or it may of been faulty too as far as your gas mileage and performance is concerned that can get better once you switch over to a premium 94 octane fuel something good to use
if you live in u.s.a  chevron with techron is a very good one sunoco, shel
start using high quality fuells and let us know

--
johnin

The use of lower than specified octane gasoline rarely causes long term
problems for modern engines because of the use of knock detectors. It can be
a very bad thing in engines without knock detectors because of the amount of
damage that can be done. See http://tegger.com/hondafaq/premiumgas.html for
a better overview.

The motor mount is not going to be because of the gasoline, but if the
tranny is a manual it may be an indication of harsh shifting - dumping the
clutch when the engine is revved too high. That would make me worry about
the clutch and maybe even the way the car has been treated overall.
Combining harsh treatment with cheaping out (as seen in the gasoline area)
is a bad idea. In this vein, have you removed the oil filler cap and peeked
inside the valve cover with a flashlight? Where the oil has drained away
from the rocker assembly you should see silver metal. The more brown it is
(not because of remaining oil film) the poorer the oil upkeep has been. Some
brown varnish is acceptable but in a 2003 it should be only the lightest
tinge. Failing that check disqualifies the car when I'm buying. Ditto for
any trace of rust in the cooling system, either when you look in the coolant
reservoir or (if the engine is cool) if you remove the radiator cap and run
a finger around the inside of the radiator neck. Anyway, for examples of
what you should see check out
http://tegger.com/hondafaq/sludge/philip-264455-open.jpg and
http://tegger.com/hondafaq/sludge/integra-b18a1-200k-mi.jpg from
http://tegger.com/hondafaq/sludge/nosludge.html . If you see something like
the picture on the right side of that page don't even think of buying it.

Low octane gasoline will definitely slow down the full throttle
acceleration, as the knock sensor is pretty heavy-handed in retarding the
timing if it hears a ping. After all, it has an engine to protect. It
usually won't affect the throttle response in normal driving. Many people
report better fuel economy when running premium in an engine that is
designed to use it, and most report enough better economy to make up the 6%
price difference. If premium brings the 29 mpg up to 31 mpg you are paying
the same amount for gasoline.

Mike

I would ask the owner when they are using regular instead of premium.  If they
say they are doing it to save money, then I would run away.  You have to wonder
if they didn't try cutting other corners, like regular maintenance, to save
money.
-------------
Alex

Hmmm, someone buys an expensive new car and then run the cheapest gas
they can find ??????   I would keep looking.  You should be able to find
excellent pampered used TLs around.  A pampered car is the one you want,
not the car of a cheap skate.

John