Anyone Put The New Shell V-Power In Their Fez?

[The Dark Knight]

Filled up the other day with Shell fuel save unleaded at the garage just up the road from me (£55). I spotted the adverts for the latest version of V-Power called Nitro+

Has anyone used this and if so, have you noticed any difference? Shell claim it delivers instant benefits.

http://www.shell.co.uk/gbr/products-services/on-the-road/fuels/vpower/what-is-v-power-nitro-plus.html#

[bigmunkynutz]

I put this in the other day and it made no difference in any way shape or form, same mpg and performance as the BP ultimate I always use.

[The Dark Knight]

I wonder if it will make any difference when accustomed to using standard unleaded. BP Ultimate is super unleaded so perhaps thats why you noticed no difference.

[FOCA]

Filled up the other day with Shell fuel save unleaded at the garage just up the road from me (£55). I spotted the adverts for the latest version of V-Power called Nitro+

Has anyone used this and if so, have you noticed any difference? Shell claim it delivers instant benefits.

http://www.shell.co.uk/gbr/products-services/on-the-road/fuels/vpower/what-is-v-power-nitro-plus.html#

It claims to reduce friction and clean the injectors/ inlet valves (with increased "friction reducer" and more detergents)

It claims to have increased the "friction modification technology" by 25%, perhaps it was 0.00000000000000000001% before (in the previous "super-dooper fuel") and its 25% more than that?

the "special additives" are just detergents that clean the injectors etc that are in most modern fuel anyway, its debatable that a good old "italian tune up" would make a bigger difference

As the fuel claims no more calorific value or higher octane raiting, its unlikely to make any difference to performance (realative to its predesessor) but chucking a tiny bit more lubricant and detergent into the fuel and "engineering" a new name, so they can sell more/ charge more for it

You see, the mark up/ profits on "super dooper" fuel, is much more than "ordinary" fuel

The brand new "Brand X", same as the old "Brand x" but with extra Zinnnnnng!

Esso extra! put a tiger in your tank! (better than a kitten)

Next year they are releasing Shell V Power Nitro+ snortblaster zzz thrust rocket maximum turbo sooper-dooper 4.0 - it has a special secret formulation that eliminates engine wear completely and keeps the inside spotlessly clean for ever and ever (but an insider has leaked its the same as last years but with a "pinch" more lubricant and detergent! )

They could be a bit more honest -

"Petrol - pollutes the enviroment and its all going to run out because its made from dinasaurs but we dont care as long as we make lots of money"

Its just petrol, it may have a slightly higher octane, or have a little lubricant or detergent added to it, but its still just petrol and the biggest difference is propaganda/ marketing

My point of veiw may seem a bit cynical and i apologise if i have offended anyone

[Mr Singh]

it might not be a festa but i can feel the difference in my forfour. iv run my forfour on Shell v-power since i bought it with the odd fill of 'normal fuel' and i have to say it pulls better with v-power and since Shell added the name nitro+ to the end it feels the same as it did on v-power.

mums focus is also the same, its been run on Shell v-power and nitro+ since its changed but i dont drive it enough to notice the difference.

[stewarty]

We don't have Shell anymore, but to me it's a money spinner same petrol but classy words, just my own opinion.

[Nathan_M]

Morrisons + a bottle of RedX for me that keeps me going and cleans my injectors.

[b1g_dav3]

Shell Nitro (V Power rebranded) made absolutely no difference at all to my running, I actually lost 15mpg trying to find a difference >_>

[The Dark Knight]

Shell Nitro (V Power rebranded) made absolutely no difference at all to my running, I actually lost 15mpg trying to find a difference >_>

A guy on the land rover forum I used to use advised that it takes at least 3 tanks to adjust and feel the difference. 1 tank and giving up is pointless. How much extra did it set you back for a full tank?

[b1g_dav3]

A guy on the land rover forum I used to use advised that it takes at least 3 tanks to adjust and feel the difference. 1 tank and giving up is pointless. How much extra did it set you back for a full tank?

Erm, I think about £3 in fairness, FuelSave was at 135.9 and Nitro was on 142.9.

I'm usually a bit weary about having to put in multiple tanks of fuel to feel a difference, if it was much better a full tank really should do the job, especially on a new car where there's little wear and tear.

Personally my best results are at my local Esso station, by about 8mpg and it's always the cheapest by a whole penny!

[samjprobinson]

I've always been a big fan of the Shell V Power Diesel; will always put it in the car unless I'm at a garage where they don't sell it. I haven't had my new Fiesta long enough yet to be able to comment on the MPG or differences on the Mk7.5 but I can base it on my previous Fiesta, Mk.7 TDCi.

I swore by the V Power Petrol when I had my Honda Accord Type R, and Honda recommended running it on 97+ octane rating so the V Power Petrol covered this. However I never saw the point when I first got my Fiesta diesel to continue running it on V Power. I mean diesel is pretty much the same whatever you do with it. I ran the Fez on standard diesel for about 5,000 miles averaging 500 miles a week in commuting (long motorway stretches, little stop start around a town and that was it) and was averaging 58.4MPG. I am reasonably sad but I keep a log book of every time I fill my car up, the cost of the fill etc so I have some form of long term record. After 5,000 miles I started to use the V Power Diesel. First impressions were not noticeable, along with no let down of diesel smoke from the exhaust. There was also no change in MPG or range of the tank along with it actually costing me more per mile to drive as the V Power is generally 8p/L more expensive.

The improvements starting coming around after 4 tankfuls of VP Diesel. The first I noticed was the lack of emissions from the exhaust pipe on hard acceleration which was a suprise as the good old Pug engine does like to smoke. I also noticed that the MPG improved a little and I got about 30 miles extra out of the tank. Now this could be associated to lighter traffic on the drives etc or my driving style changed which is possible. But confirmation came over the next few tankfuls as I continued to get better MPG and range from the car.

After 20,000 miles of running on VP Diesel in all manner of conditions along with my commute every day I have averaged 69.8MPG. I think that is pretty impressive over 20k miles of running on VP. If I didn't have any changes to my commute, I would be regularly exceeding 70MPG and getting nearly 700 miles from the tankful of diesel.

Compare this with the average over 5k miles on standard diesel;

Fuel £p/L Avg. MPG Pred. Range Total Cost Pot. Saving

Diesel 1.389 58.4 584 62.50 N/A

VP Diesel 1.469 69.8 698 66.76 114 miles ( £10.88 better off)

I know that this is only based on my data available and I am sure that people have had other differences from using the differing fuels that are now available but I only needed a few extra miles from each gallon before the VP actually started costing me less per fill up. If you do start using VP don't expect any changes straight away, you need to give it a few tankfuls and start keeping a fuel log and try to keep to the same style of driving so you can get a comparision from the two different fuels.

I will do an update in a few thousand miles on the new 1.6TDCi comparing it with my old 1.6TDCi however it does seem to be exceeding 69.8MPG regulary without having to really think about it and pushing more towards the 80's. This makes me very happy!

(Edit: realignment of the table after posting)

[FOCA]

I've always been a big fan of the Shell V Power Diesel; will always put it in the car unless I'm at a garage where they don't sell it. I haven't had my new Fiesta long enough yet to be able to comment on the MPG or differences on the Mk7.5 but I can base it on my previous Fiesta, Mk.7 TDCi.

I swore by the V Power Petrol when I had my Honda Accord Type R, and Honda recommended running it on 97+ octane rating so the V Power Petrol covered this. However I never saw the point when I first got my Fiesta diesel to continue running it on V Power. I mean diesel is pretty much the same whatever you do with it. I ran the Fez on standard diesel for about 5,000 miles averaging 500 miles a week in commuting (long motorway stretches, little stop start around a town and that was it) and was averaging 58.4MPG. I am reasonably sad but I keep a log book of every time I fill my car up, the cost of the fill etc so I have some form of long term record. After 5,000 miles I started to use the V Power Diesel. First impressions were not noticeable, along with no let down of diesel smoke from the exhaust. There was also no change in MPG or range of the tank along with it actually costing me more per mile to drive as the V Power is generally 8p/L more expensive.

The improvements starting coming around after 4 tankfuls of VP Diesel. The first I noticed was the lack of emissions from the exhaust pipe on hard acceleration which was a suprise as the good old Pug engine does like to smoke. I also noticed that the MPG improved a little and I got about 30 miles extra out of the tank. Now this could be associated to lighter traffic on the drives etc or my driving style changed which is possible. But confirmation came over the next few tankfuls as I continued to get better MPG and range from the car.

After 20,000 miles of running on VP Diesel in all manner of conditions along with my commute every day I have averaged 69.8MPG. I think that is pretty impressive over 20k miles of running on VP. If I didn't have any changes to my commute, I would be regularly exceeding 70MPG and getting nearly 700 miles from the tankful of diesel.

Compare this with the average over 5k miles on standard diesel;

Fuel £p/L Avg. MPG Pred. Range Total Cost Pot. Saving

Diesel 1.389 58.4 584 62.50 N/A

VP Diesel 1.469 69.8 698 66.76 114 miles ( £10.88 better off)

I know that this is only based on my data available and I am sure that people have had other differences from using the differing fuels that are now available but I only needed a few extra miles from each gallon before the VP actually started costing me less per fill up. If you do start using VP don't expect any changes straight away, you need to give it a few tankfuls and start keeping a fuel log and try to keep to the same style of driving so you can get a comparision from the two different fuels.

I will do an update in a few thousand miles on the new 1.6TDCi comparing it with my old 1.6TDCi however it does seem to be exceeding 69.8MPG regulary without having to really think about it and pushing more towards the 80's. This makes me very happy!

(Edit: realignment of the table after posting)

Very interesting- there are other factors that can influence the figures, like summer/ winter and different traffic conditions at the time of year, differences in the weight in the car, the cars MPG gradually improving over time etc etc

The cost saving depends very much on the price of fuel, that can fluctuate and can differ in different parts of the country

The point of the post was comparing the "new" nitro+ (Shell v-power nitro+) to the old v- power (that apperars to be very similar/ same octain/cetane but with very slightly more detergent/ lubricant) not "budget" fuel to Shell v-power

I am impressed you kept such detailed info

You should fit a solid, stainless steel EGR blanking plate, to see what effect it has on your figures!

Some people put "Premium" fuel (that has detergents etc) every couple of fills and "budget" the rest of the time with good results reported

[b1g_dav3]

The Fiesta's don't like EGR plates :c

[samjprobinson]

The point of the post was comparing the "new" nitro+ (Shell v-power nitro+) to the old v- power (that apperars to be very similar/ same octain/cetane but with very slightly more detergent/ lubricant) not "budget" fuel to Shell v-power

Ah ha slightly missed the point then! Doh! I used to work on product tankers that carried 55,000 tonnes of processed petroleum products, most of which was made into Shell V Power. I am currently running VP Diesel Nitro and have been since it has replaced VP Diesel so if there is any difference between the two MPG wise I should see it reflected in my fuel log.

I will also flick back through my old carriage notes from when I worked on the product tankers to see if there is actually any difference in the composition etc and if so what quantities and the benefits that could be associated with it. Got bored of dealing with VLCC's and their turning circles along with the grotty dirty life so decided cruising was more fun!

[MarkyR]

Hmmm interesting, I've been feeding my ST on Shell Nitro since I've had it, about four tanks now, maybe five. Its averaging around 36 mpg so not bad. No idea of any performance boost as I've not put normal fuel in it.

[MarkyR]

I should add I drive right past a Shell to work so its pretty much all I buy now, just figured Nitro would be good for the ST?

[Marcr1]

I'm not a fan of these "premium" fuels. Around my way there about 10-14p a litre more expensive than supermarket fuel.

Maybe they're fit for purpose in race cars, but for plodding along round town they're a waste in my eyes :p.

I have given it a try myself for a month and didn't see any fuel gains either

[MarcD93]

i use this fuel in my 11 plate S1600 and i have noticed a slight difference in fuel economy and very slight change in power

[Philf1]

Fifth Gear once did a comparison test for different fuels and they found very little actual difference so recommended supermarket fuel as it is always cheaper. I use that all the time in my ZS and average 38 MPG now 7000 miles from new.

Maybe the gains are better in diesel engines but think I will stick with supermarkets till someone proves a big enough gain to convince me to give the petrol companies/taxman even more of my money.

[FOCA]

Fifth Gear once did a comparison test for different fuels and they found very little actual difference so recommended supermarket fuel as it is always cheaper. I use that all the time in my ZS and average 38 MPG now 7000 miles from new.

Maybe the gains are better in diesel engines but think I will stick with supermarkets till someone proves a big enough gain to convince me to give the petrol companies/taxman even more of my money.

I saw that program too - often the cheapest fuel gives the best milage for the money spent (diesels too)

The big oil companies have a lot of money to spend on advertising

[MarkyR]

Fifth Gear proved the V Power gave a few extra BHP in a Golf GTI, it gave the biggest boost out of the fuels. They said you most likely won't see the difference but I don't know, apparently Scooby drivers swear by V Power.

[Philf1]

Fifth Gear proved the V Power gave a few extra BHP in a Golf GTI, it gave the biggest boost out of the fuels. They said you most likely won't see the difference but I don't know, apparently Scooby drivers swear by V Power.

Have to admit when I had my Scooby it was fed super unleaded all the time, but prices weren't what they are now, I never got more than 23mpg out of that baby, ouch!

[Marcr1]

Fifth Gear proved the V Power gave a few extra BHP in a Golf GTI, it gave the biggest boost out of the fuels. They said you most likely won't see the difference but I don't know, apparently Scooby drivers swear by V Power.

It's just brand snobbery

[MarkyR]

Well here's the Fifth Gear test:

http://youtu.be/WTaBngvsPrc

And I wouldn't put some supermarket stuff in a Ferrari!