What is the difference between RON95 and RON97?

There have been plenty of debates over the two types of fuel that we currently get at our petrol stations, RON95 and RON97. Many have claimed that pumping RON97 would make your engine perform better, while opting for RON95 would not be good for your engine as it is cheaper and less powerful than RON97.Some have also claimed that RON97 has the ability to clean your engine better as this choice of fuel has better cleansing properties. Before we debate on this, let us first look at what RON stands for, and how different is RON95 compared to RON97.Understanding the basics always help, and trust me when I say that you would have a completely different idea of RON95 and RON97 once you have completely read this article!

RON, or in actual Research Octane Number, refers to the ability or the rating of the fuel to withstand auto ignition (also known as knocking) inside auto-combustion engines. The higher your RON figure is, the more difficult it is to ignite within your engine. Thus RON97 is more difficult to ignite compared to RON95, and RON95 is harder to ignite when we compare it to RON92. Usually high-performance vehicles are designed to run on higher octane numbers, especially sport and racing cars.

This is to ensure that premature ignition of oil within the engine does not happen, and the vehicle waits for the spark plug to ignite the fuel as per normally required. This situation could occur if your engine overheats or ignition timing is not proper. Early-ignition, which is called knocking, is unfavorable as it reduces the performance levels of the engine on the whole. High-performance vehicles operate at relatively higher temperatures, and are more prone to situations such as auto-ignition and premature ignition, thus the manual of these cars would recommend a minimum of RON97 for those engines.

In reality, the higher the RON number, the fuel would tend to burn less easily! And it would prove to be more expensive as well, thus always check your car’s manual and check what the requirements are. Most cars only require RON95, thus it is advisable that you pump RON95 instead of opting for RON97 and hoping that your car performs better (it does not work that way). RON97 is certainly not more powerful than RON95, nor would it be able to provide you with more power for your vehicle! If your car requires RON95 and you pump RON97, then you are practically throwing money away as you are not gaining anything from your actions!