Fuel with higher octane content is playing a key role in optimising engine
performance by allowing a more optimal spark timing which leads to increased
engine efficiency and lower CO2 emissions.
In a previous study the impact of octane was investigated with a fleet of 20
vehicles using market representative fuels, varying from RON 91 to 100. The
resulting data showed a clear performance and acceleration benefit when higher
RON fuel was used.
In this follow-up study 10 more vehicles were added to the database. The vehicle
fleet was extended to be more representative of Asian markets, thus broadening
the geographical relevance of the database, as well as adding vehicles with
newer technologies such as boosted down-sized direct injection engines, or
higher compression ratio engines. Eight different fuel combinations varying in
RON were tested, representing standard gasoline and premium gasoline in
different markets around the world.
The new results augment our previously published octane study and result in a
vehicle fleet dataset comprising 30 cars from 18 different automotive
manufactures.
Two key metrics were investigated; the time to accelerate under wide open
throttle between two speed gates and the maximum power output at fixed engine
speed.
For all fuel combinations tested, the fuel with higher RON showed an improvement
in fleet average power. The five new gasoline technology vehicles showed a
higher octane response than previously tested vehicles. The vehicle with the
highest compression ratio technology showed the largest and most consistent
octane appetite.