Not All Vehicles Need High-RON Fuel, Here’s an Expert Explanation

Yogyakarta — Using high-RON petrol is not always required for all vehicle types. Car owners should still adjust the fuel type to match the engine’s compression ratio to make fuel use more efficient and avoid unnecessary costs. Jayan Sentanuhady, lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), says high-RON petrol is only compatible with high-compression engines. For example, a vehicle with a compression ratio of 9:1 can suffice with RON 90 petrol or even RON 88. Using high-octane petrol on a low-compression engine is not considered to provide significant benefits. ‘High-RON petrol will only be effective on high-compression engines, this is because the engine specifications support it,’ Jayan said. In addition, Jayan said high-RON petrol is indeed more suitable for modern vehicles. ‘In engines with high compression ratios like those widely used today, low-octane petrol can trigger knocking. The impact is not only reduced performance, but also increases the operating temperature, and in the long term can accelerate wear of components such as the piston and cylinder head,’ he said. If this occurs continuously, knocking not only reduces vehicle performance and makes engine noise harsh, but also has the potential to shorten the life of internal engine components. Regarding modern engine technology, Jayan added that today’s vehicles are indeed equipped with electronic systems to help reduce the risk of knocking. ‘ECU and knock sensors on modern engines can help reduce the impact of knocking by retiming the ignition. However, this capability is limited, so it cannot fully address the problem if the fuel quality used is too low,’ he said.