RON92 vs RON95 vs RON97 petrol grade

You might have seen numbers like RON97 and RON92 at your neighbourhood petrol station. Fuel with a RON97 rating is more expensive, RM1.92 per liter at time of writing with the lower RON92 rating going for RM1.88.

Have you ever wondered what they mean? Why is RON97 more expensive than RON92, and can you use RON92 to save on fuel costs?

Let’s have a discussion. What petrol do you use regularly, and why do you like your choice of petrol? Or are they all the same to you?

RON97, RON92, who is this RON person?

You might have seen numbers like RON97 and RON92 at your neighbourhood petrol station. Fuel with a RON97 rating is more expensive, RM1.92 per liter at time of writing with the lower RON92 rating going for RM1.88. Have you ever wondered what they mean? Why is RON97 more expensive than RON92, and can you use RON92 to save on fuel costs?

RON stands for Research Octane Number, a rating used to measure a fuels knocking resistance in spark-ignition internal combustion engines. Before we attempt to understand this mumbo jumbo, we have to know what knocking is. Knocking is what happens when parts or all of the air-fuel mixture prematurely ignites before the flame from the spark plug can reach it. This can be caused by ignition timing that is too early or engine overheating, where the heat from the cylinder itself causes the mixture to combust before the spark plug can burn the mixture. This causes a decrease in performance and might also harm the engine.

It is a misunderstanding to think that RON97 fuels produce more power than RON92 fuels, even more so with the fact that in reality a higher RON number means the fuel burns less easily! RON refers to the ability of the fuel to resist knocking and nothing else.

By pumping the RON97 into a car which engine only requires the RON92, all youre going to get is an emptier wallet – hardly counts for performance gains via weight reduction!

Engines are designed to have a minimum RON rating for its fuel. Do check your service manual for the minimum RON rating that it requires. For engines that require a minimum of RON92, you might as well pump RON92 fuel and save abit of money since RON92 is cheaper by 4 cents per liter. Another common minimum RON rating is RON95, but since we do not have RON95 fuel in our market, we have to use RON97 fuel for the engine. These engines normally have higher compression ratios, like the one found in the Satria GTI so it needs higher knock resistance to withstand higher compression.

If you find that your engine can use RON92 petrol and decide to save abit of money, do check out if a petrol stations RON92 petrol is leaded or unleaded. All RON97 petrol is unleaded, but some RON92 petrol might be leaded although this is very very rare. Buy me a teh tarik with the money you save, thanks!


The announcement today is about the present grades of RON92 (also referred to as 'Regular') and RON97 (Super), which have been at the petrol pumps for decades, will be replaced by RON95 and RON97.

RON92 (Regular) is suitable for many modern engines and even the latest Honda models such as the Civic and CRV sold in Malaysia are tuned to use RON91, so RON92 is not a problem. In fact, some Honda models sold in Indonesia are even tuned for RON88. All Perodua models are tuned to run on RON90 and that is a very large number of cars on our roads.

Many motorists have not purchased cheaper RON92 even though their car engine may be able to use it either through ignorance, lack of understanding and even being discouraged by pump attendants who often call this grade of fuel 'Lama' (old).

It would also be useful to make it very clear that leaded fuel is no longer sold at the pumps in Malaysian stations. A law was passed some ten years ago on this but it seems that many motorists still believe that Regular RON92 petrol contains lead (petrol dengan plumbum).

The proposed new grade of RON95 is, nevertheless, a good compromise and should be fine for the majority of cars on Malaysian roads. This grade has been a popular one with Japanese manufacturers, possibly because in Japan, their Regular grade has been RON95 for a long time.

There are often misconceptions with regard to the technical aspects of high and low octane fuel so here's what it is all about. Firstly, if your car's engine is tuned and recommended by the manufacturer for a minimum of RON92, then you are not going to get increased performance using RON97 or RON99. Just because the octane is higher does not give you more 'power' because it does not work like that in combustion.

There was also mention that RON95 will be of a 'lower quality' than RON97 and this is probably what is causing concern among motorists. The quality will be lower only if the additive package is minimal compared to the higher octane fuel which petrol companies have typically promoted more strongly (eg. Shell promotes V-Power).

If the engine is tuned to run with RON93, then you cannot use a number lower. So, RON92 is out and you would have to use RON97. But when RON95 is introduced, then you can use it. How would you know what is the right RON for your engine? This information is usually stated in the Owner's Manual and the minimum RON is specified. There may also be a sticker on the fuel lid cover which indicates the correct RON.

What's important is that you do not use an octane lower than that specified.

**selamat berSAVING la ye, for sure lepas ni mmg banyak barang akan naik,,huhu