Stereotypes about the Soviet era linger for some car owners. Many believe that Western options are always superior to anything domestic.
It’s common to hear that abroad sugar tastes sweeter, roads feel smoother, and fuel quality seems higher. People also claim that our AI-95 is the same as their AI-91. Is there truth to this?
Expert opinion
Mikhail Kolodochkin, columnist for “Behind the Wheel,” weighs in:
It is real. Yet this does not imply that our fuel is worse—only that it uses different measurement methods.
In the United States, the Anti-Knock Index (AKI) for octane is defined as the arithmetic average of the research octane number and the motor octane number.
Estimates comparing Russian and American indicators show the following relationships: AI-92 corresponds to AKI 87; AI-95 corresponds to AKI 91; AI-98 corresponds to AKI 93.
When an American vehicle manual specifies 91 octane, drivers here might be guided to use AI-95. The quality of fuel is not the sole factor; measurement frameworks play a key role.
The specialist explored these ideas in depth in the piece “5 common misconceptions about gasoline (there are dangerous!).”
A visual credit: Depositphotos