RON 95 or RON 97? which one better?

“Should I use RON 95 or go for the more expensive RON 97 fuel?” That’s a very common question among our readers and general Malaysian motorists alike. More recently – with fuel prices coming down and the difference between the two less significant than before – the issue has become more pertinent then ever.

Needless to say, there are countless theories on this matter scattered across the Internet: some for, and others against the use of higher-RON petrol fuels. 

We at paultan.org thought it would be much simpler – not to mention conclusive – to just compare the two fuel grades directly, head-to-head against each other.

So RON 95 vs RON 97 – which one’s better, or rather, which one should you use? We gathered two units of the Volkswagen Polo Sedan and two Jetta TSIs to find out.

Why two pairs of vehicles, we hear you ask? Well, you’ve heard it all before: modern, more technologically advanced engines respond more to higher-grade fuels, you get bigger gains with a turbocharged engine compared to a naturally-aspirated one, so on and so forth. So, we though we’d cover both bases at once.

The Polo Sedan with its naturally-aspirated 1.6 litre MPI (multi-port injection) engine represents traditional, old-school vehicles, while the 1.4 litre twin-charged (turbocharged and supercharged), direct-injection TSI motor in the Jetta plays for the other team here.

First up, the test itself. We arranged a lengthy 230 km-odd route, including heading into the Kuala Lumpur city centre on a regular working week day (during rush hour, no less), then on to equal shares of both highways and twisty backroads to Tanjung Malim and back.

Heavy stop-wait-and-go traffic, clear and busy highways, tight B-road stretches – we 

covered them all, and then some. It’s as real-world as it gets, we think, as far as single-day fuel tests go, encompassing all variations of driving conditions in Malaysia.

Before we started, we had emptied all the cars’ fuel tanks as much as we dared to, and filled them up with their respective fuels the day before the test. The cars were then driven around for a bit to get the engines accustomed to each fuel type. To maintain absolute parity between the vehicles, each car’s tyres were also pumped up to the recommended pressures.

On to the actual fuel test. For consistency’s sake, each car was filled up to the brim using the three-click method (wait for the fuel nozzle to automatically stop, repeat three times after 10 second intervals) with the same re-fuelling kiosk.

So we now had one Polo Sedan running on RON 95 fuel, with the other on RON 97. Ditto with the pair of Jettas. Off we went, then.

The four vehicles travelled in a loose convoy throughout the entire journey, each taking turns to lead. We changed drivers at the halfway point (between each pairs) to eliminate the effects of different driving styles (and the drivers’ weights too, of course). The air-con settings were kept identical between the two pairs too.

To keep the test as “real-world” as possible, the drivers followed the natural flow and speed of other road users, which meant that we kept a minimal distance to the car in front during traffic jams, and cruised between 100 to 130 km/h on the fast lane through clear highways. It wouldn’t have been realistic any other way, right?

At the end of the route, the convoy covered exactly 236.7 km of mixed driving conditions. Each car was then re-fuelled to the brim again with the same process described above (identical three-click method, using the same petrol kiosk) to see the exact amount of fuel used.

The results are as such: the Polo Sedan on RON 95 used precisely 18.160 litres of fuel, while the one on RON 97 used 17.612 litres. Those figures correspond to 13.03 km per litre (7.67 l/100 km) for the car on RON 95, and 13.44 km per litre (7.44 l/100 km) for the RON 97 test car. That’s a difference of 3.15% in favour of RON 97 (using RON 95’s number as the baseline).

As for the Jettas, the RON 95 car used 17.505 litres (averaging 13.52 km per litre or 7.40 l/100 km), compared to the RON 97 test car’s 17.857 litres (13.26 km per litre or 7.54 l/100 km). The difference stands at -1.92%, in favour of RON 95. And yes, this surprised us too.

Refer to the table above for the full results. In short, with the Volkswagen Polo Sedan 1.6 MPI, using RON 97 fuel brings a fuel economy gain of 3.15%. The Jetta 1.4 TSI, on the other hand, suffered a small deficit of 1.92% with the higher-grade fuel.

Now, the cost factor comes in. As things stand right now, RON 97 fuel (RM2.00 per litre) carries a 17.65% premium over regular RON 95 (RM1.70 per litre). Even allowing for a 5% margin of error either way, this test suggests that the cheaper fuel is still the way to go from a financial point of view.

As for claims that higher RON fuel offers better engine performance, it has to be said that none of the four drivers felt any discernible difference between the two fuels. Read into this what you will, of course, but based on our results, it looks like the paultan.org crew will continue to feed our personal cars with RON 95 fuel. Over to you: do you use RON 95 or RON 97, and why?

Read more: http://paultan.org/

'I paid US$4.8mil to buy 26¢!'

A US collector pays US$4.8mil (RM17.3mil) for two vintage coins with a total face value of only US$0.26 – say what?

Kevin Lipton is a happy man for two reasons. The first is a rare 1792 American penny that he shelled nearly US$2.6mil (RM9.4mil) to own. It’s the most ever paid for a one-cent piece at auction.

Named after its engraver, Robert Birch, the so-called “Birch Cent” was among the first pennies struck for the US, part of a series of prototype coins. Only 10 are believed to exist and collector Lipton says the coin he purchased is in the best condition of those 10.

“I felt elated, just wonderful,” says Lipton, 55, of Lipton Rare Coins Inc, on Jan 12. He won the bid for the Birch penny at the Heritage Auctions sale in Orlando, Florida on Jan 8. “I thought the coin would bring more money. This was a really good buy.”

One side of the Birch Cent features the profile of Lady Liberty with flowing hair and the motto “Liberty Parent of Science and Industry.” The other side says “United States of America” and gives the denomination “One Cent” within a wreath.

Penny for your thoughts: Above and below, the two faces of the so-called "Birch Cent" that sold at auction for US$2.6mil, making it the most valuable one cent coin in the world. Minted in 1792, only 10 of these coins are believed to remain in existence. – Reuters

“It’s a gorgeous coin, breathtaking,” says Lipton. “And the history is important. This is our earliest depiction of what we thought of ourselves as a nation.”

Jim Halperin, co-chairman of Heritage Auctions, says the US$2,585,000 Lipton paid for the coin tops a record set the day before at the same auction. That coin, a 1793 “chain cent” named after the chains around the denomination, fell under the hammer for US$2.35mil. Before that, the record was US$1.38 million, also for a “chain cent” that was sold in 2012.

Halperin says the auction brought in a total of US$80mil over five days, with rare coins a hot commodity these days. “The economy is pretty good right now and there isn’t a lot of other things to put your money in. People recognise that diversity is a very good financial strategy. And coins are just cool,” he says.

Lipton, who plans to hold onto his new purchase for himself for now, says he was so excited to get the coin that the next day he spent another US$2,232,500 for the “Wright Quarter,” America’s first quarter – the second reason why he is a happy man.

“For 26 cents,” he says, “I spent US$4.8mil.” Priceless. – Reuters

ADMIN- admin juga ada sumber yang mempunyai syiling lama yang dikatakan mengikut pegawai Muzium Terengganu lebih kurang zaman kegemilangan Batu Bersurat Terengganu iaitu yang bertarikh 1349 M, 400 tahun lebih tua dari yang dilelong di atas. Nantikan artikel berkenaan syiling berkenaan akan diterbitkan dengan gambar syiling sekali.

'Candy Crush' maker sees up to $7.6 billion IPO valuation

(Reuters) - King Digital Entertainment Plc, maker of hit mobile phone game "Candy Crush Saga", expects to be worth up to $7.6 billion when it goes public this month in the United States, amid concerns about its over reliance on the game.

King will hope to benefit from its focus on the estimated $17 billion market for mobile game apps and avoid the fate of rivals such as Zynga Inc, which has struggled to make its games as popular on phones as they are online.

"Candy Crush," which involves moving candies to make a line of three in the same color, was the most downloaded free app and top revenue-grossing app in 2013. The game accounts for nearly three-quarters of King's revenue.

Dublin-based King said on Wednesday it expects to price its IPO at $21-$24 per share, valuing it at up to $7.6 billion - slightly higher than Hasbro Inc, the 90-year old maker of Monopoly, Scrabble and Nerf.

"I think the bankers have priced the deal in a way so that initial investors can realize a first-day pop in the stock," said Josef Schuster, founder of IPOX Schuster, a Chicago-based IPO research and investment house.

Twitter Inc's successful IPO in November and a surge in Facebook Inc's shares have fueled speculation that other tech firms could go public, including music-streaming service Spotify, lodging website AirBnB and mobile payments company Square.

However, Schuster and other analysts questioned if King could maintain its breakneck growth rate.

"I think the valuation of a P/E ratio of 13 for a high-growth company is indeed reflecting a skepticism about the ability to continue growing at such a rapid pace," said Jay Ritter, a professor and IPO expert at the University of Florida.

"The ability to come up with future games and get people to pay for the game is a big question mark."

Riccardo Zacconi, who has led King since co-founding the company in Sweden in 2003, will hold a 9.5 percent stake in King after the IPO. Zacconi, 47, worked with online dating site uDate.com Ltd till it was bought by InterActive Corp in 2002.

ANOTHER ZYNGA?

"Candy Crush" launched on Facebook in April 2012. The game was released on Apple devices in November that year, followed by an app for Android devices a month later.

The game has been downloaded more than 500 million times since its launch. The basic games are free, but players must pay for add-ons or extra "lives".

Such stellar popularity has helped King's revenue grow to $602 million in the fourth quarter of 2013 from $22 million in the first quarter of 2012.

But most of that growth was fueled by "Candy Crush" rather than any of the 180 games King provides through mobile phones, Facebook and its own website.

King, which had 665 employees at December 31, has focused on launching more games on mobile platforms, a market that analysts expect will grow to $17 billion this year from just $6 billion in 2010.

Zynga's stock price has halved since its IPO in 2011 as the popularity of "Farmville" waned, while Finland's Rovio has struggled to replicate the success of "Angry Birds".

Zynga acquired mobile game developer NaturalMotion for $527 million and cut over 300 jobs this year, in an effort to narrow its focus to mobile gaming.

To be sure, King's revenue for the quarter ended December 31 declined 3 percent from the preceding quarter, which the company said was due to a fall in "Candy Crush" gross bookings.

However, bookings rose for its other games such as "Pet Rescue Saga" and "Farm Heroes Saga". About 73 percent of total bookings in the quarter came from mobile users.

King's five games for mobiles have drawn a "substantial fan base" Zacconi said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. (http://r.reuters.com/bar57v).

"The opportunity in front of us is exciting: mobile usage is exploding and games are commanding the lion's share of time spent."

NYSE DEBUT

King's IPO is scheduled to be priced on March 25, two underwriters told Reuters. The stock will start trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "KING" on March 26.

Of the 22.2 million shares on sale in the offering, the company will sell 15.5 million, while stockholders, including Apax Ventures, will sell 6.7 million shares, King said.

Unlike most other tech companies that have gone public recently, King is profitable, has no debt and generated positive cash flow from operations for each of the last nine years. It posted profit before tax of $714.3 million in 2013.

In February, an average of 144 million daily active users played the company's games more than 1.4 billion times per day.

At the top-end of the planned range, the IPO will raise as much as $532.8 million, slightly more than the $500 million placeholder figure it disclosed in its first public filing in February.

Entities related to Apax will own 44.2 percent of the company following the offering, according to the IPO filing.

JP Morgan, Credit Suisse and BofA Merrill Lynch are lead underwriters for the offering.

(Additional reporting by Neha Dimri in Bangalore; Editing by Maju Samuel and Savio D'Souza)

@Reuters

TIPS: Creative Ways to Earn Money from Your Home

It’s always a great idea to look for additional sources of income, but if your full-time job makes it difficult for you to get a part-time job, then your options for added revenue seem to be limited at best. It’s a fortunate thing that, given the connectivity provided to us by the Internet and other resources available nowadays, we can actually achieve a lot of things professionally without having to leave your home. These potential jobs are arguably more enjoyable than typical employment, which means that aside from earning additional money, you can also develop a potentially fulfilling pastime to help you mentally and socially. Here are some creative ideas you may want to consider if you want to work out of your own home:

Freelance Writer

With online marketing and content writing, as well as search engine optimisation (SEO) skills being more in demand, freelance writing has become a rather lucrative side job. With only a stable internet connection and a willingness to unleash your creative side mixed in with a mind for business, it’s easy to make freelance writing a financially sound part-time career that can potentially become full-time, depending on your skills.

Trainer

If you’ve made it a point to take care of your health and even have a knack when it comes to teaching and motivating others, then maybe you’d want to explore the possibilities of working as a personal trainer on the side. Many people desire to work out and generally improve their health and looks but have reservations about actually going to the gym. After all, it’s a little hard to go to the gym and see all the healthy and buff people working out. Personal trainers that can provide training at home is the usual preference for those who still have a long way to go to becoming fit.

Product Tester

Being a product tester is a really cool job particularly because you get to try out new products even before they hit the market. Companies are always looking for input from the general public when it comes to launching new products, and that’s why product testers exist. These jobs pay a decent amount of money (depending on the company producing the product for testing) and a lot of times, you get to keep the product for yourself. Most of all, you really don’t need to exert that much effort into it. Just use the product as instructed. When it comes to part-time jobs you can do in your home, product testing is perhaps on top of the list of easiest jobs to do.

Tutor

Not as lucrative as freelance writing, nor as glamorous as a personal trainer position and not quite as fun as product testing, but being a tutor is definitely the most rewarding job you can do out of your own home. While the pay is usually dependent on the number of students you have, imparting knowledge is emotionally fulfilling and mentality stimulating. Essentially, teaching keeps you sharp, and this kind of mental sharpness can help you with your main job as well.

Medical Transcriptionist

Albeit not as exciting as the other jobs mentioned, if you’re a budding med student or someone who has a knack for—and a genuine interest in—medicine, then being a medical transcriptionist will work for you. A medical transcriptionist transcribes the recordings doctors make, as they interact with patients.  What’s cool about this job is that not only do you get some extra money in your pocket, but you also get a chance to expand your network if ever you are on the lookout for a career in the medical industry.

There are always more ways to make more money. All it takes is a little extra effort and creativity, and, even if you do have a limited amount of free time, you can make it work. Working from your own home is ideal because it allows you to earn money on the terms of your existing schedule and even opens up the door to new, more rewarding employment opportunities. Let these jobs help you become a generally better professional and your career and finances will certainly flourish.

CompareHero is the leading Malaysian financial comparison platform, aimed at helping Malaysians save time and money. Visit CompareHero here.

TIPS FINANCIAL: This is Why You’ll Never Be Rich

While the title seems kind of harsh, maybe it’s time for a little brutal honesty. If you’re at a certain age and you’re not rich yet, then chances are, if all things remain constant, you’ll never be rich. The operative phrase there is “if all things remain constant.” Have you ever had those days when you’d look at yourself in the mirror and see you for who you are: a smart, talented individual who should be rich but isn’t? Don’t fret, because everyone has had those days. The thing here to keep in mind is that there are things you need to change if you do want to be rich. If you’re happy with your finances the way they are, then by all means, keep on doing what you’ve been doing, but remember, things can always get better.

There are plenty of things you could improve on in order to achieve that next financial level, and here are some of them:

Horrendous Spending Habits

If you spend impulsively as though you’re already rolling in the big bucks, then chances are, you’re going to be stuck in a financial rut for a long time. Personal finance management is what separates the financially successful from the monetarily mediocre, and it’s high time you took a good, long, hard look at your spending habits. If you spend more money than you make on a regular basis, then chances are you’ll be living from paycheck to paycheck for a very long time. Wisening up and controlling your spending would go a long way in determining whether or not the possibility of you ever becoming rich.

Lack of Financial Goals/ Planning

A plan always has two integral parts: a goal and the steps to be taken to achieve that goal. It’s hard to craft any workable plan without a specific goal, and it’s impossible to achieve any goal without a logical plan. If you claim to be sick and tired of waiting for your next paycheck, a salary that’s going to be spent almost entirely on bills and debt payments, then what specifically do you want instead? And don’t just say you want to be rich? Vague goals are impossible to plan for. Think about the specific state you want your financial life to be (be it being debt-free, or having a promising retirement fund, or just being able to afford that new car that’s coming out next year) and then work towards getting it. What’s the most effective way of reaching that goal? Is that course of action possible given your current circumstances? If so, go for it. If not, revise the plan. Basically, a plan gives you direction. Not having a plan means you’re directionless, and in personal finances, a lack of direction means either your finances stay in place, or they just get worse.

Prioritising the Image of Being Rich to Actually Getting Rich

Putting up the image of success is indeed required to actually attaining success, particularly if you have a business or investment and you’re looking for people to back you. However, there’s a big difference in conveying an image of success to creating the illusion of being wealthy—the biggest one being that the latter is actually going to stop you from being rich. Maintaining an image of wealth is going to take a whole lot of money. Ditch the need to look rich, roll up your sleeves and start working harder and smarter for your wealth, and with consistency, prudence and a minimal amount of luck, you wouldn’t need to put up an image of being rich at all.

Choosing Easy Over Right

Financial success is always tied into professional success, unless you win the lottery. If you don’t have that kind of luck, then you might have to have a more focused look on your career. People who tend to do things the easy way (taking shortcuts, procrastinating, putting in the bare minimum of effort) are going to have to get used to getting by on their basic wages. Drive yourself to be better at your job in order for you to be truly successful. Always strive to be the best at what you do. Constantly improve yourself. Set a higher standard for yourself and your employers would find it difficult not to notice you.

Summing all of this up, the reason you’re not rich, and the possible reason you’ll never be rich, lies with you. It all begins with a distinct choice of improving yourself and your life, followed up by action consistent to those goals, and your dreams of financial supremacy would become a glaring reality.

CompareHero is the leading Malaysian financial comparison platform, aimed at helping Malaysians save time and money. Visit CompareHero here.

TIPS FINANCIAL: 10 Steps to Making Better Financial Decisions

In everything we do, there are always consequences. The gravity of these consequences usually rests on the kind of decisions we make. If we make the right ones, we get the right consequences. The thing is, decision-making is a fairly common thing. We are all faced with countless decisions every day, from the potentially life-changing to the downright arbitrary. In order for us to ensure a certain quality of life, we have to make decisions of a certain quality. How do we do it? Here are a few pieces of advice.

Keep emotions out of it.

No good can ever come from a decision made under emotional duress. If ever you are in a state wherein you are extremely emotional, avoid making decisions that carry really heavy ramifications. These are decisions that involve your finances, your career, your personal relationships, or even your physical health. Unless you are sure you can be completely objective about a major decision, then just forego the decision-making until you have calmed down.

Take some time.

No matter how certain you may think you are about a particular decision, always take some time to think about it. Sleeping on it is a very effective way of taking a step back and ensuring you have a clear head when you ultimately make your choice. Resting up before making a decision prevents the possibility of making choices influenced by fatigue. Fatigue makes people rush through the decision-making process in order to just put the discussion to an end. A fresh mind in the morning has a better shot at making a rational, informed decision.

Practice some conviction.

When making decisions, especially ones that involve your finances, it is important to prevent wavering whenever anything challenges that decision. Let us say you have decided upon a budget that you plan on using in order to improve your financial situation. A lack of conviction makes it hard, impossible even, for you to follow through on any of your plans or decisions, preventing you from achieving any of your goals.

Understand how much control you actually have.

Rational decisions are ones made with a full understanding on the scope of control one has over any given situation. Let us say you are out to fix your credit card debt. What are the specific factors you can control? What are the ones you absolutely have no control over? You cannot control the addition of interest towards the money you owe, but you can control paying that debt, how much you pay, how often you pay, how often you use the card, and others that can improve your credit record. The point is, your decisions should revolve around things you have a direct influence on and leave very little, if any, to chance.

Be willing to adjust your decisions.

If you pursue a course of action and it turns out to be wrong beyond any doubt, be willing to accept that and then make a better one. Allow yourself the luxury to change your mind so you can properly adapt to new information and changes in your situation.

Embrace silence.

Take the time to make your decision free from any distraction. Amidst quiet, whatever form it may take for you, is the ideal setting for you to make important decisions. A place, time and state of mind, wherein you can emotionally free yourself from bias and mentally free yourself from uncertainty, is highly recommended when you are planning to make a major decision. Distractions lead to clouded judgment and hasty choices, two things that may give your more problems than solutions.

Consider everything.

When you are making a crucial financial decision, be sure to take every detail into consideration. From every ringgit you make down to the last ringgit you spent, to all of your transactions involving money and obligations that require you to pay, everything. When you are trying to make a decision that would solve your money problems, it is best to make an informed decision, and an informed decision is one wherein every angle has been covered.

Keep your eye on the prize.

Whatever decision you make, it has to be in line with whatever you claim you want to achieve. Whether it is getting a promotion or just clearing yourself of debt, a singular focus on your intended goal goes a long way into helping you achieve it.

Prioritise.

Determining where every aspect of your finances stand in the hierarchy of importance to you helps you make a decision that effectively takes on your bigger problems first.

Do it for you.

Lastly, in any decision involving your improvement, do not do it for anyone but yourself. Whether it is financial or otherwise, do it for you alone.

CompareHero is the leading Malaysian financial comparison platform, aimed at helping Malaysians save time and money. Visit CompareHero here.