Joining an elite list of nations on the planet, India now has something called 100 Octane petrol. That comes courtesy of the country’s flagship oil company – IndianOil – which will sell it under the tag XP100. If that sounds gibberish to you, don’t fret as it would to many out there. To put it in simple words, it is the best petrol one can purchase on Indian soil. The per litre cost? Hold on to your chairs – it is Rs 160. For reference, regular petrol has 91 Octane, and it costs about half as much.

Yes, you nailed it! The masses wouldn’t prefer purchasing the newly introduced fuel for obvious reasons. The thing is – it isn’t meant for the majority of motorists. XP100 has been conceived for those who have performance cars. The 100 Octane reading simply means those cars can finally unleash considerably more power, release fewer GHG (Greenhouse Gases) emissions, return better mileage and increase the engine’s life. In short, it is a win-win situation.

In phase one, IndianOil will provide XP100 in 10 cities – Delhi, Noida, Gurugram, Mumbai, Pune, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Agra and Jaipur. The list will get five additional names in phase two – Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad Bhubaneswar and Chennai. If you haven’t noticed it yet, IndianOil is primarily targeting metropolitan cities where sales of high-performance cars are higher.

So, what type of cars will benefit the most from XP100? Let’s take the first recipient as an example – a Ford Mustang GT. It has a 5.0-litre V8 which pumps out 396bhp/515Nm, while a 6-speed automatic handles transmission duties. With XP100, the two-door coupe will not only run smoother, thanks to the reduction in engine knocking but also reach closer to its potential all-round performance. Some other examples include the Mercedes-AMG G 63, Porsche 911, Nissan GT-R, Audi RS Q8 and the BMW M5 Competition.