When it comes to cars, everyone appears to be very concerned with
fuel economy and performance. Recent fluctuations in petrol prices have
further scintillated such conversations among Malaysian drivers.
So, which type of fuel offers the best mileage and performance? More importantly, how do we measure that and why does it matter?
Our recent article on
RON97 versus RON95
has received overwhelming response from our readers. Majority of the
feedback is against the article perpetuating that RON97 petrol does not
actually give you more financial leverage than the cheaper RON95. We
have dug deeper, and ran some tests with the help of automobile experts
to measure the changes in horsepower and torque that entails the
respective usage of the two fuel types.
How we did it: The “dyno” test
No Myvis were harmed in the making of our experiment
Here’s the dyno hooked to our car
For the purpose of this experiment, our experts used a dynamometer
(dyno). A dynamometer is sort of like a treadmill for cars and is used
to measure primarily horsepower and torque.
The reason why we use a dyno test is because it lets you test a
vehicle in a controlled environment, limiting the number of variables in
your test such as different road conditions, traffic or even driving
styles.
To ensure our results were as consistent as possible we also used the
same car and the same driver to conduct all the tests (no it wasn’t
me).
Before we started, we drained a stock Myvi 1.5 completely off fuel,
before filling it up with exactly one litre of RON97. Granted, you will
definitely not drive like this most of the time on the streets, but
again, we are trying to prove this test scientifically and therefore
removing as many variables as possible.
Everything about V-Power seems fast! it even looks fast
Is RON97 really better than RON95? We let the experts put it to the test
In this dyno test, the engine is revved to its maximum capacity
repeatedly (for multiple tests) until the fuel tank is completely empty
to calculate the amount of mileage*, horsepower and torque the engine
can produce with one litre of RON97.
We repeated the exact same process with RON95 petrol afterwards. The output is measured and plotted on a graph. Our verdict?:
We came, we saw, we tested and here are the final test results! Read on for a more detailed explanation below.
1) RON95 gives you more mileage
Surprisingly, and contrary to popular belief, our dyno test revealed
that RON95 actually gives you about 9.4% more mileage than RON97. While
we drained the Myvi completely off fuel, there is a possibility of
“old” fuel left in the fuel lines, but this should not affect the test
results significantly.
Our dyno was not set up to measure mileage and we used the in-car
tripmeter to measure this and we will admit that it was not the most
accurate way to measure mileage in this scenario.
We tried to be as consistent as we could with each test run. However,
it is worth noting that variables in real-life such as the load on your
car, road conditions and even air resistance will cause this particular
result to differ even more.
Even with the different variables, taking everything into account and
giving the test a 5% margin of error, RON95 still gives you quite a bit
more in fuel economy (especially considering it’s quite a bit cheaper
than RON97).
2) Less than 1% horsepower difference between the two fuels at their PEAKS
Many people believe that engine performance and horsepower can be
improved by using fuel of higher octane than what is specified by the
engine manufacturer. Some even claim they experience a faster and
smoother ride with the more expensive RON97.
While our dyno test demonstrates that our Myvi’s engine does indeed
produce more horsepower with RON97 than with RON95, the difference is
less than 1% and only occurs at about 6.3k RPM. This means it is
unlikely have a noticeable effect in your daily driving experience.
We maintain that switching to a higher octane fuel has no proven
effect on your engine performance and cannot help your engine develop
more horsepower. Yoda, your fuel is not.
3) RON95 gives you more torque
An interesting result that we were not expecting: Our dyno test
results showed than RON95 petrol produced slightly more torque than
RON97.
Though the difference is very minimal, a Myvi on RON 95 would beat
one running RON 97 in a short sprint. However, the slight difference in
torque is unlikely to bring about a noticeable impact on your daily
driving experience.
Which fuel is better?
While our findings consistently indicate that using RON97 petrol does
not give you better mileage or produce any performance-enhancing
benefits, it is worth noting that the Myvi 1.5 we used has been
optimised for RON 95 fuel usage.
Referring to the graph above, RON95 consistently produces higher
horsepower from RPM 2 to 6.3, where RON97 picks up at a short interval.
The net effect is that you’re actually getting less power from your car
by running it on RON97 versus RON95.
Conversely, if you do drive a car that specifically requires you to
use RON97 (like the Suzuki Swift Sport), NOT using this premium fuel
would likely cause your car to perform less efficiently.
The key takeaway here is, unless your car’s engine specifically
requires RON97, there is really no point in spending more on premium
fuel as it does not really give you an added performance advantage.
As of January 2017, under the managed float system, the price
difference between RON97 and RON95 is a mere 30 sens for every litre, or
RM15 for every 50 litres. Though the prices were much cheaper in the
month before, the price difference was 35 sens per litre, or RM20 for
every 50 litres in December 2016, when prices of RON97 and RON95 were
RM2.25 and RM1.90 respectively for the month.
The same amount of RON97 and RON95 petrol had cost just RM112.50 and
RM95.00 respectively in December 2016 – about 6.7% and 1o.5% less than
what we are paying in January 2017.
RON97 currently costs about 14.3% more than RON95, so it really does
not make much financial sense for consumers to pay this premium if their
car does not require it, and also given the fact that using RON95 for a
RON95 engine will give you more horsepower, torque and mileage.
As the saying goes, “a penny saved, is a penny earned,” and saving a
few bucks in fuel may just mean you will be able to have more on your
plate of mixed “economy” rice (whose prices aren’t going down, by the
way).
Reference
https://www.imoney.my/articles/is-ron97-really-better-than-ron95-part2-tried-and-tested
https://www.imoney.my/articles/is-ron97-really-better-than-ron95
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/petrol-stations-run-out-of-ron97
http://www.nst.com.my/node/58757
http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/12/03/RON97-shortage-not-our-fault/
http://paultan.org/2014/12/02/shortage-ron-97-fuel-reported-first-time/
http://www.carreviewsncare.com/ron97-and-ron95-facts/
https://my.news.yahoo.com/dealers-dark-over-ron97-supply-225900323.html
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/the-real-difference-between-ron95-and-ron97-besides-the-price
http://www.auto.my/top-3-car-maintenance-myths/
