Since RON95 is the cheaper option, it makes sense to run the car on RON95.
The age-old question comes up time and again though: is RON97 better than RON95?
It all depends on your definition of ‘better’.
Better for your engine or better for your drive?
The vantage point from the top of Lukut Fort, Negeri Sembilan.
The former takes a longer time to assess while the latter, is more immediate.
I haven’t used RON97 since the price went up a while back and I’ve been happily using RON95 ever since.
Recently, I took a drive down to Lukut and Port Dickson for a day just to get away from the bustling city life of Kuala Lumpur.
It was an average of 90km one way and on the way over, I turned off the Seremban exit and went through the quiet winding roads of Sendayan before turning off to the Port Dickson highway.
I had under a half tank of RON95 in my almost eight year old Honda City with a 1.5 litre engine under the hood.
That was enough to get me to my destinations but I had to fill up on the way back.
So I stopped over the Shell filling station and topped up with Shell V-Power, its brand of RON97.
The author's Honda City at the Lukut Fort and Museum, Negeri Sembilan.
Sure enough, the car behaved differently. It was more eager on the road and not as sluggish as before. It pulled away faster when I was overtaking and the car felt smoother too.
As long as the traffic was clear on the highways, driving outstation or long distance was really satisfying...until I reached KL and faced the ever present heavy traffic.
That’s when RON97 is negligible - when you are just stuck in traffic.
I came to the conclusion that if I am driving outstation, I would fill up with RON97 and spend extra at the petrol station.
It makes driving more pleasurable and I came away impressed with my old car.
