[acura_buyer]

Thank you All! I went ahead and made the purchase 2020 MDX Tech Package for $44k OTD. Added the 4 year Maintainance package on top of it for $1K. Really excited to start learning more about the car.

Qn abt the gas octane rating. The dealer told me they filled Premium gas - 91. And told me I can switch it down to regular 87 or 89, if i want to. What's the general recommendation based on experience in this group?

 

[mrgold35]

Congrats on the new ride! Any mods planned?

Asking which is better 87 -vs- 91 is a huge debate that doesn't have any right or wrong answers. I use 91 Octane because I gas up at Sams/Costco and they don't have mid-grade and reg gas is 86 Octane.

I haven't heard of any Acura 3.5L DI engine experiencing any short/long term issues with 87/89 Octane fuels. As long as you do the routine maintenance and use top tier or highly rated fuels, you're fine to use +87 Octane.

 

[datechboss101]

Thank you All! I went ahead and made the purchase 2020 MDX Tech Package for $44k OTD. Added the 4 year Maintainance package on top of it for $1K. Really excited to start learning more about the car.

Qn abt the gas octane rating. The dealer told me they filled Premium gas - 91. And told me I can switch it down to regular 87 or 89, if i want to. What's the general recommendation based on experience in this group?

Congrats!

Depending where you live, Wawa and Costco have Top Tier gas label on their pumps and on their websites. I use 87 unless theres a shortage or I just want all 290 HP at the crank, then I use 93. You will not have any knocking issues or anything if you use 87.

 

[ZitoMD]

Thank you All! I went ahead and made the purchase 2020 MDX Tech Package for $44k OTD. Added the 4 year Maintainance package on top of it for $1K. Really excited to start learning more about the car.

Qn abt the gas octane rating. The dealer told me they filled Premium gas - 91. And told me I can switch it down to regular 87 or 89, if i want to. What's the general recommendation based on experience in this group?

I for one, am not going to risk a Performance or Warranty issue over a $4 difference per fill up. People we bought a (MSRP) $50k car, just saying, I can’t understand why this comes up so often. The $20 extra bucks per month should be a no brainer especially when the Owner’s Manual and the sticker on the fuel filler door states 91. Issue is around here you get either 89 or 93. So I just go with 93.

Sure it will run on lower Octane but then the anti-knock ECU adjustments kick in. Reduced engine performance and whatever else can happen will. (I am no engine expert) Whatever tweaks they made to get what little performance the MDX has, was done so with the 91 Octane rating. (And this SUV needs all the help it can get.) Also for nothing else, the higher octane fuel has additional additives over the 87/89 to protect your engine and reduce carbon buildup resulting in better performance for a longer time.

After seeing it “wake up” an old and tired BMW 530, I became a believer in Shell’s 93 Octane. I know run that in all my current cars and motorcycle regardless of whether it is “required” or not. From the Ford Fusion to the BMW X5, including the MDX we just purchased, will only ever drink Shell’s 93 if I can control it.

 

[acura_buyer]

Congrats on the new ride! Any mods planned?

Asking which is better 87 -vs- 91 is a huge debate that doesn't have any right or wrong answers. I use 91 Octane because I gas up at Sams/Costco and they don't have mid-grade and reg gas is 86 Octane.

I haven't heard of any Acura 3.5L DI engine experiencing any short/long term issues with 87/89 Octane fuels. As long as you do the routine maintenance and use top tier or highly rated fuels, you're fine to use +87 Octane.

Thank you! No mods planned immediately, but definitely something I want to look into in the next month or so.

 

[acura_buyer]

Congrats!

Depending where you live, Wawa and Costco have Top Tier gas label on their pumps and on their websites. I use 87 unless theres a shortage or I just want all 290 HP at the crank, then I use 93. You will not have any knocking issues or anything if you use 87.

Thanks! I think Valero around where i live had the Top Tier label. I will keep that in mind.

 

[acura_buyer]

I for one, am not going to risk a Performance or Warranty issue over a $4 difference per fill up. People we bought a (MSRP) $50k car, just saying, I can’t understand why this comes up so often. The $20 extra bucks per month should be a no brainer especially when the Owner’s Manual and the sticker on the fuel filler door states 91. Issue is around here you get either 89 or 93. So I just go with 93.

Sure it will run on lower Octane but then the anti-knock ECU adjustments kick in. Reduced engine performance and whatever else can happen will. (I am no engine expert) Whatever tweaks they made to get what little performance the MDX has, was done so with the 91 Octane rating. (And this SUV needs all the help it can get.) Also for nothing else, the higher octane fuel has additional additives over the 87/89 to protect your engine and reduce carbon buildup resulting in better performance for a longer time.

After seeing it “wake up” an old and tired BMW 530, I became a believer in Shell’s 93 Octane. I know run that in all my current cars and motorcycle regardless of whether it is “required” or not. From the Ford Fusion to the BMW X5, including the MDX we just purchased, will only ever drink Shell’s 93 if I can control it.

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Thank you. Interesting perspective. Other than performance and potential engine wear, is there a noticeable difference in mpg when you use 9/93 vs 87/89 on the MDX?

 

[datechboss101]

Thank you. Interesting perspective. Other than performance and potential engine wear, is there a noticeable difference in mpg when you use 9/93 vs 87/89 on the MDX?

No, but it honestly depends on how you drive.

 

[ZitoMD]

Thank you. Interesting perspective. Other than performance and potential engine wear, is there a noticeable difference in mpg when you use 9/93 vs 87/89 on the MDX?

Use an app such as Fuelly. Run the same fuel for a month to get your average. Then change to the other Octane for a month and get your average and compare those numbers. As DaTechBoss mentioned it is how YOU drive that will be the biggest determining factor. For me, I get +3 combined in my numbers on my BMW X5. Can’t say yet for the MDX as we just took delivery on it 12/31 and I haven’t put any fuel in it yet.

 

[jefferson88]

Thank you. Interesting perspective. Other than performance and potential engine wear, is there a noticeable difference in mpg when you use 9/93 vs 87/89 on the MDX?

No difference in real world mpg for me. I have owned my 3.5l MDX for just over a year now. I only used 91 up until August of 2020, then switched to 87. Same performance, same great gas mileage. This engine makes 280 HP on 87 octane in the Honda Pilot, Ridgeline, Passport, and Odyssey, compared to the MDX's 290 on premium. Paying 60+ cents more per gallon for 10 extra HP is not a smart financial choice for me because I burn up 2 tanks/week cruising on the highway. I always used Top Tier gasoline though.

 

[acura_buyer]

Thank you all for the inputs!