The government through the Finance Ministry has proposed a new petrol subsidy system. The plan applies to RON95 petrol only for motorcycles below 125cc and cars below 1500cc.
The Finance Minister, YB Lim Guan Eng made the announcement when he tabled the 2019 Budget in Parliament earlier today.
He also revealed that the move will cost RM 2 billion, covering some 4 million car owners and 2.6 million motorcycle owners. The subsidy will allow for a maximum of 40 litres for eligible motorcycle owners, and 100 litres for car owners.
No mechanism has yet been revealed on how the plan will be implemented. However, we expect the Road Transport Department (JPJ) to contact those eligible. They will then be provided with a subsidy card.
We will leave it to your opinion whether the announcement is good news or otherwise. In our opinion, the proposed plan should benefit motorcycle owners who are not well-to-do. It means those who have the means will support the less fortunate. The current blanket subsidy system benefits everyone, by contrast. That explains why the government suggested motorcycles below 125cc, instead of for example, below 250cc.
The announcement is currently a proposal, as the budget needs to be approved by the majority in Parliament. Let us see how it turns out should the proposal make it through.
We’re so used to listening to the term “high octane” especially when TV networks or event managers using that term to imply an exciting event: “Get ready for high octane racing at the Malaysia MotoGP!” the announcer screams.
It’s probably from this kind of “nurturing” that we mistakenly associate higher octane fuels with big performance.
But, does higher octane fuel really guarantee enhanced performance? How is a fuel’s octane, called Octane Number, rating determined, anyway?
We first need to understand about “engine knock.”
Let’s assume a cylinder fills with a volume of 650.5cc of fuel/air mixture from the intake stroke. The piston now rises back up to TDC for its compression stroke, squeezing that mixture into a smaller and smaller space of just 50cc (the piston crown is typically less than 1mm below the cylinder head). This is how we derive at an engine’s “compression ratio” as seen in the spec sheet. We divide the volume at BDC with the volume at TDC: 650cc/50cc = 13/1, denoted as a ratio of 13:1.
A higher compression ratio (higher cylinder pressure) is directly related to power and thermodynamic efficiency of an internal combustion engine, allowing it to extract more energy from a given amount of fuel.
However, the temperature of fuel/air mixture rises as it’s compressed, making it easier to combust efficiently. (In fact, diesel engines work by compressing air to extreme compression ratios, heating up the air enough to ignite when diesel is injected into the combustion chamber.)
With the pressure and heat building up, the fuel/air mixture may spontaneously combust before the spark plug emits its spark at the correct moment. This uncontrolled combustion, called pre-ignition, produces compression pressure waves that bounce back and forth in the combustion chamber, leading to an audible knocking or pinging. Left alone, engine knock is devastating to the engine, as the rising piston attempts to resist the force of the still expanding pressure of combustion, besides the abnormal heat produced. (Please be aware that “pre-ignition” and “detonation” are two different phenomenas.)
A dirty engine with a thick layer of carbon deposits on the piston tops and valve surfaces actually increases the compression ratio. Besides that, the heated carbon will contribute to local hotspots, further raising the chances of pre-ignition.
Modern engines are typically equipped with knock sensors. They send the information to the engine ECU which then alters the ignition timing, fuel injection timing or fuel/air mixture ratio, to combat the knock. Consequently, engine performance and efficiency suffers.
So how do we avoid engine knock without having the ECU knocking back on our enjoyment?
That is why the manufacturer of high performance motorcycles recommend higher octane fuels, in order to avoid pre-ignition and knocking, and the ECU from intervening.
Does that mean higher octane fuels mean higher quality? Not necessarily so, honestly. Most, if not all, petrol grades of the same friendly neighbourhood petrol brand may already contain virtually the same fuel-system cleaning, combustion enhancing, etc., additives.
A fuel’s octane determines its resistance to pre-ignition, nothing more.
So why do motorists swear to being rewarded with a better performance when they used higher octane fuels? Psychology? Maybe.
However, there are test data that reported increase in performance as a result of using higher octane fuels, such as those reported by Petron regarding their Blaze RON 100 petrol, recently. (Please click on the link below to know more.)
Tested: Petron’s Blaze 100 fuel – Does it make a difference on motorcycles?
Again, a higher RON rating doesn’t make the fuel contain more energy. For the sake of enlightenment, MotoGP rules state the minimum of RON 95 to a maximum of RON 102.
It is due to the absence of knock, which implores the ECU to run the optimum fuel mixture injection timing and amount, and ignition timing among other factors, allowing the engine to produce a “better performance.”
Stay tuned as we explain the process of how the octane or the RON number we see on the pumps is determined, in the next edition.
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Speed demons in Malaysia have been kept at the edges of their seats when news first broke about a new high octane fuel that was to be introduced soon.
There were talks of it being akin to racing fuel and such, and it was the Honda fan boys and their high compression machines and the turbocharged overlords who were the most excited.
So today Petron Malaysia finally introduced the first ever 100 Octane fuel in Malaysia, officially calling it the Blaze 100 Euro 4M.
The car boys are rejoicing, but what does it mean for Malaysian bikers? Can our machines actually run this new high performing juice?
We have been talking to various manufacturers over the past week and the simple answer is yes. The not so simple answer is, call your dealer, you might have to get your machine tuned. The straightforward answer is if you are riding a kapcai for your daily errands, you don’t need high performance fuel.
There have been cases reported in Australia where fuel lines were clogged by a yellow sludge type material which built up in the fuel tank and then spread through the entire fuel system. This happened after using a particular brand’s RON98 graded fuel. But research showed this could have happened due to the usage of fuel additives such as an octane booster, which reacts badly with the high solvency of a high octane fuel regardless of brand.
So stay away from octane boosters if you are going to be using high octane fuel.
Most bikes need a minimum of RON 95 grade fuel, and Malaysian bikes have been specially tuned to run on our low grade fuels. So there is a possibility that your machine will have to be tuned to run on high octane fuel such as Petron’s RON 100 petrol.
But keep in mind that most modern motorcycles run a high compression ratio, and that basically means that the higher the octane in the fuel, the better your engine will perform.
In the week leading up to the launch of Petron’s Blaze 100 Euro 4M fuel, we took the liberty to ask some of the industry leaders on whether or not their bikes were suitable to run the high grade petroleum.
Dato Malique of Triumph Motorcycles Malaysia had this to say when I asked him for his opinion, “100 RON is not necessary for road bikes. Triumph bikes are tuned to accept fuel from 87 RON (e.g. useful for when you ride/ adventure in countries with poor fuel Q) up to 98 RON. Like most vehicles the tune is up to Premium 98 RON. We can use 100 RON and get more power by advancing the ignition timing but we are not racing. High compression engines and Turbo cars benefit most from high Octane fuel as it is more stable and less likely to pre detonate. You can time your burning more precisely for most powerrrrrrrrr.”
Sashi Ambi, Head of Corporate Communications for BMW Malaysia responded to our email query with a simply straightforward and reassuring, “Yes. Our bikes are capable of handling the fuel so owners should not have a problem.”
But a simple search online will reveal that some bike owners have had problems in extracting the maximum potential with high octane fuel, especially those running low compression ratios and even fibre glass fuel tanks (for custom bikes). So best do your research or ask your dealer if you are still not sure or you would be doing nothing more than burning a hole in your wallet for as much performance as the cheaper RON 95 grade fuel.
And if you want to see how your bike performs on the best performance fuel currently in Malaysia, you can get Petron Blanze 100 Euro 4M petroleum at the following stations and it costs RM2.80 per liter:
Petron ML3 Federal Highway (towards Subang before the Batu 3 toll on Federal Highway)
Petron Taman Tun Dr Ismail
Petron Damansara Kayu Ara
Perron Kesas West Bound
Petron Jalan Maarof
Petron Sg Besi Toll South Bound
Petron Skudai Toll North Bound
Perron Linkedua South Bound
For more information about the fuel, you can call 1300-228-211.
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