I grew up in the 80s’ and this past weekend was a scene out of the movie Mad Max.

Even though this area is over 700 miles from Houston, we are seeing very low supplies of gasoline at our local gas stations. About ten days ago, the oil refineries in Houston had to temporarily shut down because of the expectation and danger of Hurricane Ike. As we all know, this caused a ripple effect in the price of gas across the U.S. This past weekend, in Middle Tennessee, many gas station owners opted to not buy fuel because of the higher wholesale price that they would have to pay and then pass on to the consumer. They knew that with the recent price drop in a barrel of oil,  when those Houston refineries did come ‘back on line’;  the gas station owners could buy the gas cheaper and avoid being accused of price-gouging. Once this was reported in the local Nashville, TN news, the fear of limited local gasoline supplies spread and many panicked drivers over-reacted and rushed to the gas stations…not needing gas but to simply top off their fuel tanks. This concentrated traffic to the fuel pump ran most of the gas stations dry by Friday afternoon. The few stations that did have gasoline, had very long lines. Many of these lines were 30 minutes to an hour wait, and had at least two police officers to keep the peace…yes, there were some fights reported at the pumps.

Currently, many of the gas stations have received a delivery of gas and only a handful of stations are out. However, many of the gas stations only have regular 87 octane….No mid grade 89 octane or super 93 octane.

Our blog readers who have Honda and Acura vehicles that call for “premium gas” can relax….You can burn 87 octane in your Acura and Honda vehicles. While our Service Department does not recommend the use of 87 octane gas in most Honda or Acura vehicles, it will not cause damage to the engine.

Honda and Acura engines are very high compression engines. American Honda can get a lot of power out of a little engine thru high compression and a short piston stroke. The recommended use of 93 octane is because of the desired stability of 93 octane gasoline over 87 octane fuel, especially in higher temperature conditions and higher engine RPMs.

The computer in your late model Honda and Acura vehicles will make the necessary adjustments in the ignition timing to allow the consumption of the lower octane fuel…..but don’t expect really good MPG (miles per gallon) while using the cheaper gas. While burning 87 octane fuel, you will see the reduction in fuel efficiency and performance……I promise that after using the lower octane fuel, many of you will never complain again about that extra .20 to .25 cent cost per gallon for the 93 octane gasoline.

Finally, one political note. Here we are, just a few weeks from a major election. I do not know about you, but I am voting for the folks who support our nation being fully self-sufficient on our own energy sources.  In my humble opinion, this is as important to National Security as growing our own food. If it was food supply instead of energy supply, would we ever consider relying on a foreign power?