“Are you sure that RON 95 is enough? This is a turbocharged engine leh.” That’s a pretty common phrase when it comes to ownership of turbocharged cars like the recently-introduced Proton X50, as many will tell you than RON 95 just isn’t enough for your high-performance engine.
But is it really the case?
In a recent virtual interview with CEVT’s Director of Powertrain Strategy Dr. Håkan Sandquist that was hosted by Geely, he said that RON 95 is sufficient for the Proton X50’s 1.5-litre turbocharged three-cylinder petrol engine.
According to Dr Sandquist, the three-cylinder engines were developed and optimized to run on RON 92 fuel, which is one of the most common fuel type in China. Closer to home where RON 95 and RON 97 are more common, there are no issues fuelling the Proton X50 up with RON 95 fuel.
In fact, he added that there’s not much to gain when fuelling the Proton X50 with RON 97 fuel.
“Actually, the engine has been developed for RON 92, which is normal in the Chinese market, and it will run really well with RON 95. With RON 97, there’s no real benefit. It’s only if you would be driving very much in super-hot climate and very high loads. But I understand that normal driving would be perfectly fine with RON 95,” he said.
To recap, the Proton X50 is available with two 1.5-litre turbocharged three-cylinder engines. The first is a multi-point injection (MPI) engine that does 150 PS and 226 Nm, while the second engine is a direct-injection (DI) engine that does 177 PS and 255 Nm. Both engines are hooked up to a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.
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