Does it matter which petrol you ask the garage attendant to put in your car? The best petrol for your specific car depends on the type of engine and where in South Africa you drive. Using the wrong petrol can cause serious wear & tear on your engine, because a higher octane rating in fuel reacts differently in some types of engines.
Learn the difference between regular 93 and premium 95 and get some context as to why you can’t just use any petrol when filling up. Referring to your car owner’s manual is a good start, but your location also plays a factor.
If you know a little bit about how engines work, this article will help you choose your fuel correctly—and even show you how to save on your fuel bill.
The main difference between 93 and 95 is that premium 95 is a higher octane petrol. The higher octane rating means it reacts slower in engines and withstands higher heat. 95 also takes more of a refinement process when being produced, making it a little bit more expensive than 93.
But the more important differences show in how they react at different above-sea levels and what this means for your car or bakkie.
Using the wrong petrol in your car can cause a knocking sound, as well as rapid engine wear. That’s because some engines have high compression ratios that require the fuel to react more “patiently” when fuel is squeezing into the engine.
Car engines with low compression ratios are perfectly suited to receive 93 unleaded petrol. Low compression means they don’t need fuel that reacts slightly slower when exposed to high heats. So if you live 200 km or further inland, and have a regular hatchback or SUV, your car is well suited for regular 93 petrol.
Using 95 when your owner’s manual suggests 93 won’t make any difference to your engine or wear it out faster. All it’ll do is cost you more. Premium 95 unleaded petrol also won’t give you any extra power (as some might claim), nor will it give you more efficient fuel consumption or better mileage.
Some sedans and other high-performing sports cars, trucks and vans should use premium 95 petrol. The engines are stronger and require a fuel type that’s more stable when squeezing into the engine. However, if you live near the coast, you should use premium 95 as a standard of practice.
Because the air is thicker at coastal regions like Durban or Cape Town, the pressure on car engines is higher. There’s a risk of auto-ignition at the coast if you use a “less patient” fuel like 93, so premium 95 is recommended if you live within a 200 km radius of the ocean.
Leaded petrol is no longer manufactured anywhere in the world because it’s very detrimental to the environment. A helpful study showed that the chemicals released in the air from leaded petrol weren’t just bad for the planet, but bad for us humans too.
The main difference between petrol and diesel is that diesel is a lot thicker and requires a completely different method for igniting within the car engine. Petrol needs a sparkplug to ignite, but diesel only needs high pressure and extreme heat. That’s why you can’t use the wrong fuel in the wrong engine.
The problem with putting diesel in a petrol engine is that it won’t ignite via the sparkplugs. That’s because diesel doesn’t evaporate into a gas state as quickly as petrol does, and the spark plugs need the flammable vapour to cause combustion. It’s also a very oily fuel, and will end up coating your sparkplugs with a residue that will render them ineffective.
Petrol in a diesel fuel engine can actually cause a catastrophic explosion because instead of a sparkplug, diesel engines use high pressure and heat to ignite the diesel in a very particular way. Petrol is too thin (and vapourising) to work in that type of engine, so the result will be an uncontrolled combustion that will ruin the car engine.
Diesel vehicles tend to deliver much better efficiency compared to petrol vehicles. The consistency of diesel lends to its ability to burn its fuel slower while providing more torque. At the moment, diesel is more expensive than petrol, but the types of vehicles that use it are likely to get better mileage.
That being said, this efficiency is relative. Remember that diesel vehicles are often heavier (think of trucks, vans and heavy luxury cars), so they require more torque to move at relatively acceptable speeds. Some diesel vehicles also carry loads, which call for more power!
There are certain driving habits you can practice that will cut your petrol use, but one of the best ways is to use technology as a way to objectively monitor your driving and your routes. Regardless of whether you use regular 93 or premium 95 petrol (or if you even know the difference between the two), Cartrack has solutions that can reduce fuel use for motorists in SA.
Cars that consistently travel on optimised routes use less fuel over time, and these savings show up at the end of each month. Even a few hundred rands worth of savings per month amounts to thousands as the years roll by.
The Cartrack app gives you real-time route updates that are more accurate than traditional navigation apps.
When you know what you’re doing to use excess fuel, you can easily make changes and save big on fuel consumption. Driving any car, regardless of the fuel type it uses, can be done cost effectively by:
Cartrack gives you telemetry data that shows what you can do to get more kilometers from your car fuel tank.
Your fuel spend should also be tracked using digital means that provide accuracy and easy-to-reference details. Distinguishing between business and pleasure when using your car helps you make better claims from SARS and provides you with archived records of every cent you spent on fuel—and how far it got you.
Cartrack’s digital fuel logbook is way more organised than manual logbooks, and has special features tailored for the South African motorist.
Keeping your car in tip-top shape is one of the best ways to burn less fuel. Working sparkplugs, well-inflated tyres and a healthy engine will not only extend the life of your car, they’ll also result in more kilometers per litre of fuel.
Cartrack gives you alerts that let you know when your tyres, engine, battery or car components need attention.
Businesses have multiple opportunities to burn way less fuel across their fleets. Cartrack has seen fuel savings of up to 24% in some companies that use our systems, proving that fuel monitoring ultimately pays you more than it costs. Our solutions are appropriately focused on fuel savings, so when you get data, we show you how to act on it to become more efficient.
Managing the idling of your drivers will go a long way to cut your fleet’s fuel bill. If a vehicle isn’t moving, it should be burning fuel. Discuss a switch off strategy with your drivers where anticipated idling reminds them to switch off for 10 seconds or more, and enforce those rules with customised idling alerts from Cartrack’s FleetWeb platform.
If you can get your drivers on board with better driving habits, you’ll be amazed at how quickly your fuel costs go down. Each driver has a specific problem they’re struggling with in terms of fuel use; and this could be anything like idling, speeding, aggressive cornering or route deviations.
The coaching solution from Cartrack allows you to spot certain patterns and address them with each driver so they can focus on individualised improvements.
Sometimes you’ll notice it, sometimes you won’t. Fuel that mysteriously disappears is being paid by someone—and it’s likely your company. Fuel fraud and outright theft occurs in ways that are designed to go under the radar, but nothing escapes a detailed and meticulous digital monitoring system.
Cartrack’s fuel monitoring software will flag anomalies between what’s been paid and how much fuel actually went into the tanks of your vehicles.
You’d think that a few kilometers saved here and there wouldn’t make much of a difference to your fuel budget. You may even think that one road is the same as the next. But when you combine weeks & months between multiple vehicles, you can save thousands by picking the smartest routes for each of your drivers.
Route optimisation from Cartrack is an AI-powered planning application that uses real time information to ensure the most fuel-efficient routes are always selected and communicated to your drivers.
Eminent Star Ready Mix is a cement logistics company in Singapore that grew quickly as demand for their ready-mixed cement began to increase. After implementing Cartrack’s software and IoT devices, they saw a 23% increase in fuel efficiency and a 43% reduction in their drivers speeding!
No matter how big your fleet is, or what fuel types your cars or trucks use, we can help you save on your fuel budget. We can also make sure your drivers always use the right type of fuel in every vehicle.
Talk to a consultant to see a demo of our fuel saving technology, and make the move to better petrol & diesel consumption today.
93 or 95 petrol: which is better for your car and what’s actually the difference? Learn about the different types of vehicle fuel in South Africa.
