Motormouth Online

High-octane fuel for a 19-year old car?

by Ferman Lao 18 Jan 2010

Hi, Ferman!

Good Day! Thanks for your column in Top Gear Philippines and to Top Gear itself. You are educating noob car owners like me a lot.

I would like to ask if it's ok to load up my 19-year old car with a high-octane gasoline like Petron Blaze (96 octane rating) or Shell V-Power (97 octane rating). I'm currently using Petron XCS with 95 octane rating. Will my car benefit (except my wallet) if I load her up with these high-octane gasolines?

Thank you and best regards,

Kiko

Hi, Kiko!

Octane rating refers to anti-knocking or auto ignition properties of fuel usually gasoline in spark fired engines, or engines with spark plugs. The higher the number, the more resistant it is and, contrary to popular belief, it burns slower or in a more controlled manner than a fuel with a lower octane rating.

Octane ratings of fuels are measured in a test engine using a mixture of iso-octane and heptane that has the same anti-knock characteristic as the fuel being rated. The amount of iso-octane by volume, expressed as a percentage, used would be the octane rating of the fuel. In the case of a 95 Octane rated fuel, it would have the same anti-knock properties of 95% iso-octane and 5% heptane mixture. Now this does not mean that the gas or fuel uses these two components but instead means that the fuel has the same anti knock properties or same amount of resistance to detonation only.

Whether your car will benefit from running higher octane or not is a matter of tuning.

If your car has no way to take advantage of the increased detonation resistance (i.e. not tuned for the better fuel quality) then it won't benefit you in any way at all. However, if your car has been tuned to take advantage of the better fuel quality, then definitely going with a higher octane will benefit your car both in power and fuel economy.

If your car is 19 years old, it most likely still has a distributor. Therefore, you should be able to take advantage of the higher octane fuel. A quick way to check if you can benefit from using a higher octane fuel is to fill up with it and see if your getting better fuel economy. If you don't get better fuel economy, then your better off sticking with the cheapest fuel that gets you the best mileage.

Best regards,

Ferman Lao

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Tags: Petron, Shell, high-octane fuel, gas

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COMMENTS

  • JCTP says Good Day Sir Ferman Lao sir ask ko lang po kung kelan kailangan na palitan ang timming belt and tire rod po salamat po sir ferman lao (23 January 2010)
  • dr.stephen_capiz says i think i've read somewhere that unless you race your car, stick to what your manual says about what kind of gas (& its octane rating)you should be using. (28 January 2010)
  • francis de jesus says hi sir, first off, thank you for your car and engine advice i have been benefitting from it a lot. now, my question is about turbo charging. i have a '95 corolla xe, with a 1.3 engine, can this handle a basic turbo? i don't race but its more for that 'fun factor'. i've already modified the exhaust and filters and just recently added a 'breather'. if it can take a turbo what other mods do i have to make? if not, what is the best way to raise the ante on my engine? thanks,a nd i hope that this will find you in good health and in the highest of spirits. God bless (05 March 2010)
  • ripcurl says Thanks for this sir Ferman . see you soon in Baguio (06 March 2010)
  • Paquito says Blame it on hyped up advertising ... still .... the best fuel for your car is the one that complies to the specifications stated in its (your car) owners manual ... Beyond that and you're just wasting good money. (28 April 2010)

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