Shell V power

[Ed Doe]

As Smartbear said; fuel of a higher octane permits the car to run more ignition advance without triggering knock sensors. This translates into an increase in power. On engines without a knock-sensor, there is little point in running it for power gains, but on these cars there will be a difference however small.

I've only ever run my cars on Shell Vpower, and will continue to do so. Call me OCD, but I'd rather the car has the best fuel in the same way I'd rather it has the best oil.

 

[New2Zed]

Wow! some of you guys must be putting perpetual motion juice in your tanks by mistake

 

[Garvin]

There was a very detailed report on tesco Momentum 99 RON some while ago. I copied it's I will try and find it. It's on an old laptop and I need to import some legacy data.

I tend to think that if the BMW say 95 RON, anything above is just guilding the lily as the electronics will just back everything off?

We are only playing a hunch when we say the car feels better , unless somebody has done a back to back dyno run of course. As for MPG I've never had identical journey in a car yet. Something is different every time.

As above post says, just debating!

Adaptive engine ECUs will not "back everything off" but will make the most of the higher octane and provide more power for the same amount of fuel with advancing the ignition timing at higher revs. The noticeable difference in normally aspirated engines can be pretty marginal but it can be significant in turbo engines. Therefore, under identical conditions the higher octane fuel should give you more mpg - whether that is outweighed by the higher price is very debatable.

 

[Ed Doe]

^^ Yeah price vs economy increase is highly debatable! But then I doubt many of us have a Z4 for economy?! I certainly don't!!!

 

[hopz121]

I run it in my 2003 3.0i Z4 and find it runs smoother and i get slightly better MPG, it does cost a fair bit more though in london its 8p more per litre which does add up!

 

[ZedFourM]

The biggest difference between Shell V-Power Nitro+ (to give it its full name) and other petrols isn't so much the difference in octane, as the far superior detergents which are included - according to Shell, at least.

I'm sure that evo magazine did an engine tear-down of two engines which had done similar miles/journeys, and the engine which had used V-Power was noticeably cleaner inside than the other one.

It's the only petrol that I use in the Z4M and the M5, although I'll admit to not always using it in the MX-5. I paid £1.389 per litre for it this morning.

 

[RoyS]

Used to use it now on tesco momentum

 

[Beedub]

ill be honest.... I've never noticed a diff tbh, I've used vower since day one in my car really, id say 90% of the fill ups have been with vpower, ump on opening the engine up..... i was really pleased to see how clean certain parts of the internals were, the chemicals they use for cleaning actually do work, more power??? hmmm not sure.

 

[Angie4m]

I run it in my 2003 3.0i Z4 and find it runs smoother and i get slightly better MPG, it does cost a fair bit more though in london its 8p more per litre which does add up!

It's 8p a litre more everywhere. That's the standard practice with Shell V Power

 

[Titan]

So it's about 6% more expensive but I get 10% more mpg.
Now let me scratch my head and work this out ......
Oh yes - that's a 4% saving.

What VPower doesn't do is give you more power, a fact which is wasted on most of the wannabe racers.

 

[ronk]

So many mixed opinions about more power and better economy!
We have the v power, then there is the Tesco 99 momentum to consider. How does that stack up against the opposition?

 

[buzyg]

So many mixed opinions about more power and better economy!
We have the v power, then there is the Tesco 99 momentum to consider. How does that stack up against the opposition?

I use both, because I have a shell Garage and a Tesco near by, plus shop at Tesco's for food. So 138.9 at Shell and with discounts 122.9 at Tesco for my last fill up. 16p a ltr is hard to ignor. Tommorow heading to Lizard, so will be V power, because it's on the way.

I do stick to those two though, as I'm confident both work fine in my cars.

 

[Adamski]

Ah, the recurring "do you use v power" thread.

Indeed I do. I definitely do 8)

 

[ronk]

Ah, the recurring "do you use v power" thread.

Indeed I do. I definitely do 8)

I see several threads re appear as a crop of new member arrive.
Maybe it's because topics are discussed but never seem to come to a conclusion. Could that be a reason why they're asked again?

 

[Angie4m]

Ah, the recurring "do you use v power" thread.

Indeed I do. I definitely do 8)

I see several threads re appear as a crop of new member arrive.
Maybe it's because topics are discussed but never seem to come to a conclusion. Could that be a reason why they're asked again?

Also I assume the E85 and E86 M and other 6 Cylinder variants possibly just the 3.0l advise in the petrol flap and handbook to use 97 Ron whilst the E89, even the 35is advises 95 Ron. I have a 330 which advises 97 ron which was and still Is considered super unleaded. I suppose given the fact that bmw now state 95 Ron may also have something to do with the confusion.

 

[pvr]

Add to the confusion that Shell V-Power in NL is 95 ron ...

 

[Adamski]

What range does the user manual state?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Garvin]

. . . . . . . . What VPower doesn't do is give you more power, a fact which is wasted on most of the wannabe racers.

So, you can get more mpg without more power. That's either witchcraft . . . . . . . . . or just plain tosh! Take your pick.

 

[Titan]

No it's called "efficiency"
vPower doesn't make your car go any faster.

 

[Garvin]

Yes, it allows the engine to work more efficiently i.e. generate the same amount of work done in unit time (power) using less fuel. Therefore it follows that, for the same amount of higher octane fuel, more power can be generated. Through the rev range this will permit faster acceleration and, if the engine were not limited, a higher top speed (marginal at 150mph+ as the actual power increase required per extra 1mph is rather large at those speeds). However, if the available extra power is not used and the vehicle is driven using the same acceleration and speeds as when using lower octane fuel then it results in less fuel being used and hence higher mpg. However, more torque and hence power is available from the engine across the rev range.