Ok so this is a very factual post. I did a lot of research online on this. Cos I bought a car recently and was looking at what would be the best petrol to pump.
Here are the facts.
92 RON , 95 RON , 98 RON
Theoretically, they do NOT provide more energy than each other.
They do NOT have significantly better cleaning ability than each other.
A lower RON number will ignite more easily than a higher RON number.
So how does this all work in the car engine.
When you pump petrol, the car burns the petrol to move.
The petrol VAPOR is compressed. This creates a spark and the VAPOR is burned to produce energy to move the car. Note that the petrol VAPOR is burned.
Most cars need only 95 RON. Check your car handbook.
So what happens when you pump 92 RON into your car.
Remember a lower RON number will ignite more easily than a higher RON number.
So when the petrol vapor is compressed, the petrol MAY ignite too early. Meaning even before the compression cycle is complete, the vapor has already ignited. This MAY result in a knocking sound in the engine.
Basically a "pok pok pok" sound. This is bad for the engine. You MAY also lose fuel economy.
This is why you generally shouldn't use lower RON number than what the handbook recommends.
So when do you use higher RON numbers like 98?
In higher performance cars. the compression ratio is higher. is 1 unit of VAPOR may be compressed to 1/12 of the original volume. As usual, you DON'T want the VAPOR to ignite too early. The higher the compression ratio. The easier it is for the vapor to ignite. You want the vapor to be compressed to the optimum volume before the ignition. Thus, you use higher RON to prevent pre-ignition.
The point is. Higher RON doesn't mean more power or burns better or cleans better. It just means that it doesn't ignite so easily.
You want a petrol that your car is optimized for. Which is whatever is stated on your handbook.
ALL petrol have cleaning agents to remove deposits from your engine. Some have slightly more some have slightly less. It is not significant.
So if your handbook requires 95 but you use 92, you may get engine knock which may damage your engine.
If you require 95 but you use 98, it will damage your pocket.
If you use VPOWER... never mind. What are you doing on this blog again?
NOTE. I mentioned MIGHT damage your engine if you pump 92 when you require 95. This is because cars have an anti-knock system. Not all cars have them. The super old cars don't have such a system. So this anti knock system will help to prevent knocking in the car engine. So IF your petrol pre-ignites, the engine will adjust for the pre-ignition and retard the ignition timing to prevent the knocking.
MEANING... there is pretty much low or no difference between 92 and 95 except in terms of price. 98 is generally used for higher performance cars. However, even with the anti knock system, please just follow the handbook and what is recommended.
I've tracked the kilometer per liter and the dollar per kilometer for all 3 types of fuel on my Toyota Altis.
98 RON is extremely expensive per kilometer.
95 RON runs for longer as compared to 92 RON
92 RON is cheaper but runs less kilometers
For my 1.6L Toyota Altis, 92 RON vs 95 RON has the same price per kilometer traveled. So I use 95 RON for my car.
That's not all...
I also compared different brands of fuel. Well I only compared SPC vs Shell as these 2 have promotions on my credit cards.
SPC is cheaper per liter after all the discounts and rebates on credit cards.
Shell Fuel save 95 is more expensive than SPC 95 per liter after discounts and rebates.
HOWEVER, for my Toyota Altis, the dollar per kilometer is cheaper if I use Shell Fuelsave 95.
I save around 8% per kilometer traveled. Even though Shell is more expensive per liter after all the promos.
So for me it's Shell fuelsave 95 all the way.
This is not a promotion for Shell. I really tracked my mileage and costs of petrol and drove around normally without high acceleration. This may only be good for me and my style of driving I highly recommend you to do your own independent testing if you want to determine the most economical fuel for your vehicle.
*Side note, I do feel a higher acceleration when using Shell VPOWER. It appears that they add other acceleration additives to improve the pick up rate. But I'm not going to do any research on this as it is too expensive and beyond the scope of this blog.
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Here are the facts.
92 RON , 95 RON , 98 RON
Theoretically, they do NOT provide more energy than each other.
They do NOT have significantly better cleaning ability than each other.
A lower RON number will ignite more easily than a higher RON number.
So how does this all work in the car engine.
When you pump petrol, the car burns the petrol to move.
The petrol VAPOR is compressed. This creates a spark and the VAPOR is burned to produce energy to move the car. Note that the petrol VAPOR is burned.
Most cars need only 95 RON. Check your car handbook.
So what happens when you pump 92 RON into your car.
Remember a lower RON number will ignite more easily than a higher RON number.
So when the petrol vapor is compressed, the petrol MAY ignite too early. Meaning even before the compression cycle is complete, the vapor has already ignited. This MAY result in a knocking sound in the engine.
Basically a "pok pok pok" sound. This is bad for the engine. You MAY also lose fuel economy.
This is why you generally shouldn't use lower RON number than what the handbook recommends.
So when do you use higher RON numbers like 98?
In higher performance cars. the compression ratio is higher. is 1 unit of VAPOR may be compressed to 1/12 of the original volume. As usual, you DON'T want the VAPOR to ignite too early. The higher the compression ratio. The easier it is for the vapor to ignite. You want the vapor to be compressed to the optimum volume before the ignition. Thus, you use higher RON to prevent pre-ignition.
The point is. Higher RON doesn't mean more power or burns better or cleans better. It just means that it doesn't ignite so easily.
You want a petrol that your car is optimized for. Which is whatever is stated on your handbook.
ALL petrol have cleaning agents to remove deposits from your engine. Some have slightly more some have slightly less. It is not significant.
So if your handbook requires 95 but you use 92, you may get engine knock which may damage your engine.
If you require 95 but you use 98, it will damage your pocket.
If you use VPOWER... never mind. What are you doing on this blog again?
NOTE. I mentioned MIGHT damage your engine if you pump 92 when you require 95. This is because cars have an anti-knock system. Not all cars have them. The super old cars don't have such a system. So this anti knock system will help to prevent knocking in the car engine. So IF your petrol pre-ignites, the engine will adjust for the pre-ignition and retard the ignition timing to prevent the knocking.
MEANING... there is pretty much low or no difference between 92 and 95 except in terms of price. 98 is generally used for higher performance cars. However, even with the anti knock system, please just follow the handbook and what is recommended.
I've tracked the kilometer per liter and the dollar per kilometer for all 3 types of fuel on my Toyota Altis.
98 RON is extremely expensive per kilometer.
95 RON runs for longer as compared to 92 RON
92 RON is cheaper but runs less kilometers
For my 1.6L Toyota Altis, 92 RON vs 95 RON has the same price per kilometer traveled. So I use 95 RON for my car.
That's not all...
I also compared different brands of fuel. Well I only compared SPC vs Shell as these 2 have promotions on my credit cards.
SPC is cheaper per liter after all the discounts and rebates on credit cards.
Shell Fuel save 95 is more expensive than SPC 95 per liter after discounts and rebates.
HOWEVER, for my Toyota Altis, the dollar per kilometer is cheaper if I use Shell Fuelsave 95.
I save around 8% per kilometer traveled. Even though Shell is more expensive per liter after all the promos.
So for me it's Shell fuelsave 95 all the way.
This is not a promotion for Shell. I really tracked my mileage and costs of petrol and drove around normally without high acceleration. This may only be good for me and my style of driving I highly recommend you to do your own independent testing if you want to determine the most economical fuel for your vehicle.
*Side note, I do feel a higher acceleration when using Shell VPOWER. It appears that they add other acceleration additives to improve the pick up rate. But I'm not going to do any research on this as it is too expensive and beyond the scope of this blog.
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