V-power V's regular fuel

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MonkeyMark
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V-power V's regular fuel

Post by MonkeyMark »

Morning all.

Out of curiosity, for those that use/ have used v-power or an equivalent, which engine did you use it in and what we're findings?

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Post by addo »

I've trialled the petrol version; not really any noticeable effect over everyone else's premium once climate and terrain were factored in.
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Re: V-power V's regular fuel

Post by Xaccers »

2.1TD, made quite a difference to it's oomph.
1.9TD it's what I normally use when mixing derv with veg in the winter or if I can't get to Costco for veg, car performs better on v-power than on normal derv.
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Shell V-Power Nitro+ Diesel

Post by evoke »

I've tried this out over the last couple of weeks. It is very expensive! However, i've noticed that my car does run quite a bit smoother now. Acceleration is also slightly improved. I'm not sure about extra miles per gallon yet, but, overall, i'm actually really happy with it.
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Re: V-power V's regular fuel

Post by daviemck2006 »

I've tried it in two petrol cars and one diesel. It made no appreciable difference to any of them, mpg or performance wise. Then I dont drive for performance despite owning a c4 vts! The handbook of the vts says use v-power or equivalent if available but it will happily run normal. I tried vpower a few times and normal shell and what surprised me was car felt better and gave me its best tank mpg on Asaa normal. I would have thought the vts with its variable timing would have shown the benefits. I tried it in my pug 107, but at three cylinder 1.0 litre it just cost more!!!!!!! Also tried it in the ex mini diesel, again I couldnt notice any difference, but then I did not drive it much. So for me i cannot see any benefits in using it, only costs more which in my case goes against the grain.
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Re: V-power V's regular fuel

Post by Hell Razor5543 »

I seem to remember 5th Gear doing some tests on the various fuels to see if there were performance differences. IIRC they reset the ECUs to allow them to 'look' at each of the fuels fresh (as well as draining the tanks between tests), as they will 'learn' the characteristics of the fuel, and adjust timings, etc. to improve efficiency. If you switch fuels it takes time for the ECUs to cotton on, especially if you have a near to 50/50 mix.
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Re: Shell V-Power Nitro+ Diesel

Post by mooseshaver »

I have gone through 3/4 tank and I don't know if its weather or the fuel but sometimes car hunts after first start at idle. Not noticed any more power. Car may be hanging onto gears instead of changing up.
I need to run my usual bp ultimate to check the mpg as the warmer weather has made it go up even when roofbars or roof box is on.
I've not driven this car in warm weather untill recently. But so far I am not impressed with the shell.
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Re: V-power V's regular fuel

Post by Fake Concern »

May as well put in my two penn'orth. When I had a Volvo V70 T5 using V Power made no difference to the feel or the MPG, however if I used supermarket fuel, it would take longer to start & run rough so I always used branded normal unleaded.
With the C4 VTS, when I first tried it, the recorded MPG was improved by about 2 MPG, didn't notice any difference in the "go". When I tried the new Nitro, I was disappointed, MPG went down & it ran a bit rough. I also tried Tesco 99, which made no difference I could tell.
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Re: V-power V's regular fuel

Post by bxzx16v »

I've always put Shell V-power/Nitro in my Zx16v and it runs great , I've found a good blast on the motorway helps . It certainly runs better than my Bx16v's I had years ago which hated cheaper fuels and you could certainly tell a massive difference if running on Esso/Mobil leaded at the time , I don't know what the Bx boys use now as I'm pretty sure they only ran on leaded , and some of the very late "cat" models would take unleaded ?

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Re: V-power V's regular fuel

Post by Mandrake »

I've noticed a big improvement going from BP Unleaded 95 to Shell V-Power (petrol) on my Xantia V6.

Not surprising as it has a 10.5/1 compression ratio so the knock sensor is really throttling the timing back on lower octane stuff, (confirmed watching a Lexia) and the engine is designed for 98.

My MPG in mostly stop start around town (30mph) driving with short trips has gone from an average of 19mpg (with a highest ever of 19.8mpg) to an average of around 22.3mpg in the same driving conditions.

The engine is considerably more willing and responsive at pulling below 2000 rpm as well, although I can't say I've noticed any huge difference at higher RPM.

As pointed out it does take an ECU a while to recognise an increase in octane - the best way to change is to run the tank down to the warning light with the old fuel then fill it right up with higher octane stuff, drive it a few miles to flush out any remaining fuel from the fuel lines then take the battery off for half an hour, this will clear the ECU's memory of the knock characteristics of the fuel forcing it to re-learn. It will eventually figure it out by itself but it might take half a tank of driving to do so...

Any car that isn't retarding the timing on lower octane fuel in theory won't see any improvement from a higher octane fuel, so it's only really cars with high compression ratios that will see a difference.
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