Octane Rating - Regional Variations

Regional Variations

The selection of octane ratings available at the pump can vary greatly from region to region.

• Australia: "regular" unleaded fuel is 91 RON, "premium" unleaded with 95 RON is widely available, and 98 RON fuel is also reasonably common. Shell used to sell 100 RON petrol (5% ethanol content) from a small number of service stations, most of which are located in major cities (stopped in August 2008). United Petroleum sells 100 RON unleaded fuel (10% ethanol content) at a small number of its service stations (originally only two, but it has now expanded to 67 outlets nationwide). All fuel in Australia is unleaded.

• Bahrain: 91 and 95 (RON), standard in all petrol station in the country and advertised as (Jayyid) for Regular or 91 and (Mumtaz) for Premium or 95.

• China: 93 and 97 (RON) are commonly offered. In limited areas higher rating such as 99 RON is available. In some rural areas it can be difficult to find fuel with over 93 RON.

• Chile: 93, 95 and 97 RON are standard at almost all gas stations thorough Chile. The three types are unleaded

• Cyprus: All fuel stations offer unleaded 95 and 98 RON and a few offer 100 RON as well.

• Ecuador: "Extra" with 87 and "Super" with 92 (RON) are available in all fuel stations. "Extra" is the most commoly used. All fuels are unleaded.

• Egypt: 80 RON is commonly used for all taxis and old cars and is the predominant rating in rural areas. 90 RON and 92 RON are available at almost all gas stations with a negligible price difference between them. 95 RON is becoming more common especially in the big cities and upscale suburbs. All fuels are unleaded.

• Finland: 95 and 98 (RON), advertised as such, at almost all gas stations. Most cars run on 95, but 98 is available for vehicles that need higher octane fuel, or older models containing parts easily damaged by high etanol content. Shell offers V-Power, advertised as "over 99 octane", instead of 98. In the beginning of 2011 95 RON was replaced by 95E10 containing 10% ethanol, and 98 RON by 98E5, containing 5% ethanol. ST1 also offers RE85 on some stations, which is 85% ethanol made from biodegradable waste (from which the advertised name "ReFuel" comes). RE85 is only suitable for flexifuel cars that can run on high-percentage ethanol.

• Germany: "Super E10" 95 RON and "Super Plus E5" 98 RON are available practically everywhere. Big suppliers like Shell or Aral offer 100 RON gasoline (Shell V-Power, Aral Ultimate) at almost every fuel station. "Normal" 91 RON is only rarely being offered, because lower production amounts make it more expensive than "Super" 95 RON, so it is often not offered any more. Due to a new European Union law, gas stations are being required to offer and sell a minimum rate of the new mixture of "Super" 95 RON with up to 10% Ethanol branded as "Super E10" since early 2011. Due to that process the big suppliers are discontinuing the average "Super E5" 95 RON with <5% Ethanol so cars without the capability for using E10 need to use 98 RON petrol instead.

• Hong Kong: only 98 RON is available in the market. There have been calls to re-introduce 95 RON, but the calls have been rejected by all petrol station chains, citing that 95 RON was phased out because of market forces.

• India: India's Ordinary And Premium Petrols are of 89–91 RON. The premium petrols are generally ordinary fuels with additives, that do not really change the octane value. Two variants, "Speed 93" and "Speed 97", were launched, with RON values of 93 and 97. India's economy-class vehicles usually have compression ratios under 10:1, thus enabling them to use lower-octane petrol without engine knocking.

• Indonesia: Indonesia's "Premium" petrol rated at 88 RON and being subsidized it cost only about US$0.50/liter. Other options are "Pertamax" rated at 92 RON and the "Pertamax Plus" rated at RON 95, which is the highest octane available for automotive gasoline in Indonesia.

• Ireland: 95 RON "unleaded" is the only petrol type available through stations, although E5 (99 RON) is becoming more commonplace.

• Italy: 95 RON is the only compulsory gasoline offered (verde, "green"), only a few fuel stations (Agip, IP, IES, OMV) offer 98 RON as the premium type, many Shell and Tamoil stations close to the cities offer also V-Power Gasoline rated at 100 RON. Recently Agip introduced "Blu Super+", a 100 RON gasoline.

• Israel: 95 RON & 98 RON are normally available at most petrol stations. 96 RON is also available at a large number of gas stations but 95 RON is more preferred because it's cheaper and performance differences aren't very wide and noticeable. "Regular" fuel is 95 RON. All variants are unleaded.

• Japan: Since 1986, "regular" is >=89 RON, and "high octane" is >=96 RON, lead free. Those values are defined in standard JIS K 2202. Sometimes "high octane" is sold under different names, such as "F-1".

• Latvia: 95 RON and 98 RON widely available.

• Lebanon: 95 RON and 98 RON are widely available.

• Malaysia: Had RON 92 until 2009. Replaced with "regular" unleaded fuel Ron 95 RON, "premium" fuel is rated at 97 RON(but for Shell 97 RON is V-Power 97, and Shell's V-Power Racing is rated at min 97 RON.)

• México: Pemex Magna (87 AKI) is sold as a "regular" fuel and is available at every station. And Pemex Premium (92 AKI) is sold at almost all gas stations. Both variants are unleaded.

• Montenegro: 95 RON is sold as a "regular" fuel. As a "premium" fuel, 98 RON is sold. Both variants are unleaded.

• Netherlands: 95 RON "Euro" is sold at every station, whereas 98 RON "Super Plus" is being phased out in favor of "premium" fuels, which are all 95 RON fuels with extra additives. Shell V-Power is a 97 RON (labelled as 95 due to the legalities of only using 95 or 98 labelling), some independent test have shown that one year after introduction it was downgraded to 95 RON, whereas in neighboring Germany Shell V-Power consists of the regular 100 RON fuel.

• New Zealand: 91 RON "Regular" and 95 RON "Premium" are both widely available. 98 RON is available instead of 95 RON at some service stations in larger urban areas.

• Philippines: A brand of Petron, Petron Blaze is rated at 100 RON (the only brand of gasoline in the Philippines without an ethanol blend). Other "super premium" brands like Petron XCS, Calex Gold, Shell V-Power are rated at 95-97 RON, while Petron Xtra Unleaded, Caltex Silver, and Shell Super Unleaded are rated at 93 RON.

• Poland: Eurosuper 95 (RON 95) is sold in every gas station. Super Plus 98 (RON 98) is available in most stations, sometimes under brand (Orlen - Verva, BP - Ultimate, Shell - V-Power) and usually containing additives. Shell offers V-Power Racing fuel which is rated RON 100.

• Portugal: 95 RON "Euro" is sold in every station and 98 RON "Super" being offered in almost every station.

• Russia and CIS countries: 80 RON (76 MON) is the minimum available, the standard is 92 RON and 95 RON. 98 RON is available on some stations but it's usually quite expensive compared to the lower octane rating fuels.

• Saudi Arabia: Two types of fuel are available at all gas stations in Saudi Arabia. "Premium 91" (RON 91) where the pumps are coloured green, and "Super Premium 95" (RON 95) where the pumps are coloured red. While gas stations in Saudi Arabia are privatized, the prices are regulated by the authorities and have a fixed at S.A.R. 0.45 (U.S. $0.12) and S.A.R. 0.60 (U.S. $0.16) per litre respectively. Prior to 2006, only Super Premium RON 95 was available and the pumps weren't coloured in any specific order. The public didn't know what Octane rating was, therefore big educating campaigns were spread, telling the people to use the "red gas" only for high end cars, and save money on using the "green gas" for regular cars and trucks.

• Singapore: All four providers, Caltex, ExxonMobil, SPC and Shell have 3 grades of petrol. Typically, these are 92, 95, and 98 RON. However, since 2009, Shell has removed 92 RON.

• South Africa: "regular" unleaded fuel is 95 RON in coastal areas. Inland (higher elevation) "regular" unleaded fuel is 93 RON; once again most fuel stations optionally offer 95 RON.

• Spain: 95 RON "Euro" is sold in every station with 98 RON "Super" being offered in most stations. Many stations around cities and highways offer other high-octane "premium" brands.

• Sri Lanka: In Ceypetco filling stations, 90 RON is the regular petrol and 95 RON is called 'Super Petrol', which comes at a premium price. In LIOC filling stations, 90 RON remains as regular petrol and 92 RON is available as 'Premium Petrol'. The cost of premium petrol is lower than the cost of super petrol.

• Taiwan: 92 RON, 95 RON and 98 RON are widely available at gas stations in Taiwan.

• Thailand: 91 RON and 95 RON are widely available.

• Trinidad and Tobago: 92 RON (Super) and 95 RON (Premium) are widely available.

• Turkey: 95 RON and 98 RON are widely available in gas stations. 92 RON (Regular) has been dropped in 2006.

• Ukraine: the standard gasoline is 95 RON, but 92 RON gasoline is also widely available and popular as a less expensive replacement for 95 RON gasoline. 80 RON gasoline is available for old cars and motorcycles.

• United Kingdom: 'regular' petrol has an octane rating of 95 RON, with 97 RON fuel being widely available as the Super Unleaded. Tesco and Shell both offer 99 RON fuel. In April 2006, BP started a public trial of the super-high octane petrol BP Ultimate Unleaded 102, which as the name suggests, has an octane rating of 102 RON. Although BP Ultimate Unleaded (with an octane rating of 97 RON) and BP Ultimate Diesel are both widely available throughout the UK, BP Ultimate Unleaded 102 was available throughout the UK in only 10 filling stations, and was priced at about two and half times more than their 97 RON fuel. In March 2010, BP stopped sales of Ultimate Unleaded 102, citing the closure of their specialty fuels manufacturing facility. Shell V-Power is also available, but in a 99 RON octane rating, and Tesco fuel stations also supply the Greenergy produced 99 RON "Momentum99".

• United States: in the US octane rating is displayed in AKI. In the Rocky Mountain (high elevation) states, 85 AKI (90 RON) is the minimum octane, and 91 AKI (95 RON) is the maximum octane available in fuel. The reason for this is that in higher-elevation areas, a typical naturally aspirated engine draws in less air mass per cycle because of the reduced density of the atmosphere. This directly translates to less fuel and reduced absolute compression in the cylinder, therefore deterring knock. It is safe to fill a carbureted car that normally takes 87 AKI fuel at sea level with 85 AKI fuel in the mountains, but at sea level the fuel may cause damage to the engine. A disadvantage to this strategy is that most turbocharged vehicles are unable to produce full power, even when using the "premium" 91 AKI fuel. In some east coast states, up to 94 AKI (98 RON) is available. As of January, 2011, over 40 states and a total of over 2500 stations offer ethanol-based E-85 fuel with 105 AKI. Often, filling stations near US racing tracks will offer higher octane levels such as 100 AKI.
• Venezuela: 91 RON and 95 RON gasoline is available nationwide, in all PDV gas stations. 95 RON petrol is the most widely used in the country, although most cars in Venezuela would work with 91 RON gasoline. This is because petrol prices are heavily subsided by the government(0.083$ per gallon 95 RON,vs 0.061$ per gallon 91 RON). All gasoline in Venezuela is unleaded.

• Vietnam: 92 is in every gas station and 95 is in the urban areas.
• Zimbabwe: 93 octane available with no other grades of fuels available, E10 which is an ethanol blend of fuel at 10% ethanol is avialable the octane rating however is still to be tested and confirmed but it is assumed that its around 95 Octane.