93 vs 95

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MikyMouse

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Hi all,

This may be a bit of a stupid question but, I've recently gotten myself a new petrol car after having driven only diesel and was wanting to know the differences / pros and cons of the different petrol types offered.
 
Pro: 93 is generally a few cents cheaper.
Con: 95 is generally a few cents more expensive.

I'm sure the smart people will be able to motivate a lot of stuff for your list, but I've never had any sort of change in mileage or performance using one or the other, so for me, cheaper = better.
 
@MilkyMouse you're asking which fuel that shiny new Fiat uses, use the highest octane available. It's recommended by your car's manufacturer.
 
Tip from the AA:**Unless your engine is turbo or supercharged, you should go for 93.
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Tip from the car's manual: Unless you want to potentially void your warranty, you should use what we say you should.
 
bheinche said:
@MilkyMouse you're asking which fuel that shiny new Fiat uses, use the highest octane available. It's recommended by your car's manufacturer.
Click to expand...

Hamster said:
Tip from the car's manual: Unless you want to potentially void your warranty, you should use what we say you should.
Click to expand...

Rickster said:
High altitude N/A = 93
High altitude T = 95

Costal = 95
Click to expand...

Looks like I'll be going 95 but I'll double check the manual. Thanks all for the input
 
In my experience,if you're driving a lower powered car for example a sedan under 100kw and you drive faster than an average old man then 95 octane should give you better power(and engine responsiveness) and fuel economy.

However I found that with higher powered cars 140kw and over in a sedan for example,95 actually just burns quicker,so not recommended unless you intend going racing on a track and you need the extra power/responsiveness.

If you are an old man or drive like one(I don't mean purely high speed,I'm talking about acceleration more specifically) then just always fill up 93.Don't even bother with 95 in this scenario.
 
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falcon786 said:
In my experience,if you're driving a lower powered car for example a sedan under 100kw and you drive faster than an average old man then 95 octane should give you better power(and engine responsiveness) and fuel economy.

However I found that with higher powered cars 140kw and over in a sedan for example,95 actually just burns quicker,so not recommended unless you intend going racing on a track and you need the extra power/responsiveness.

If you are an old man or drive like one(I don't mean purely high speed,I'm talking about acceleration more specifically) then just always fill up 93.Don't even bother with 95 in this scenario.
Click to expand...

The manual actually says 95 and higher, so I'll stick with that
 
For a turbo car i'd stick with only 95. none turbo 93 is usually good enough
 
I've found that with my beamer 95 gives better economy. Even when I am flooring it, still better economy than 93
 
Many people will make statements like:

  • 95 RON has more power than 93 RON. - This is false.
  • 95 RON will give you more power than 93 RON.
  • 95 RON gives better economy than 93 RON.

The last two are circumstantial. Why? 93 RON and 95 RON both have the same energy density. That is per cubic metre (or per litre if you prefer), they have the same amount of Joules in them when all other environmental aspects are equal. The difference between them is the amount of compression the fuel-air mixture can handle before it auto-detonates (premature detonation). That is the fuel-air mixture will detonate without a spark. In an engine this is exceptionally bad. This is referred to engine knock, and can damage your engine. Though most ECUs these days have knock sensors, and will adjust the engine's timing (where it will retard [slow] the timing) to compensate. This has the secondary effect of reducing power output and reducing engine efficiency.

What now? Answer - choose the right fuel for your engine. Rickster's post sums it up nicely.

At the coast, irrespective of whether you are running a low compression or high compression engine you need to use 95 RON. If you're in the interior of the country, then a low compression engine with 93 RON will be fine. If you're using a high compression engine you will need to use 95 RON.
 
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MikyMouse said:
The manual actually says 95 and higher, so I'll stick with that
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The manual probably also says you should idle your car at cold start up,doesn't make it right.;)

But yes the below is also true,although you're in JHB so it doesn't affect you.However somebody mentioned a fiat so I'm guessing lower powered engine,stick to 95 in that case

The_Traveller said:
95 is a must at coastal areas.
Click to expand...
 
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