How Much Difference Do High Octane Fuels Make To Power Outputs?

In this segment the Fifth Gear lot have plucked from their archives, Vicki Butler Henderson investigates "posh petrols" to see how much of a difference they can make to power outputs

Matt Robinson

13 May 2016

To find out more about the differences between high and low octane fuels, check out our guide from Engineering Explained.

Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.

Comments

What she forgot to mention were the cleaning properties. And over time Shell V Power will help stop build up of carbon deposits and keep your engine running better!

i used V Power for my BMW 325i E46 everyday, and one day i took it to my in-laws’s workshop for regular inspection, and the engine was cleaner than Hammond’s teeth. and i noticed that the power delivery is better than the budget fuels, and somewhat a bit more fuel-efficient, even though i drive like my beard was on fire

There is no reasonable point to fill a “normal” car with RON 98 when it was designed for RON 95. The higher octane number will improve the knock resistance, but that barely makes any difference if the engine is set correctly. A basic 4-cylinder non-turbo engine will make no difference in power between RON 100, RON 98, RON 95 or even the E10 dishwater, at least no difference that justifies the price. For engines with a relatively high specific power output (Golf GTI, Fiesta ST for example), RON 98 is reccommended, but for daily drivers… you’ll just fill your car with money for no actual result.

I wouldn’t say those cars have particularly high specific output. Maybe the Golf R and the A45 AMG.

If the octane is higher than it should be you’ll actually lose power.. but if you are turbo/high compression, or aggressive timing you are wasting your money.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPPkPAbzwbU

iam a simple guy . If I see GTI , I press like

Also, in some countries they mix less ethanol to higher octane fuels, so for an older car higher octane is the way to go if you want less junk in your petrol.

They should try RON 100 from Petron, a Philippines company for comparison.

What they didnt mention is how octane and fuel consumption works, high octane fuel in an engine that can utilize it to max get a lower fuel consumption vs low octane fuel and the difference can be so great that its actually cheaper to run on high octane….but the difference is very small thou