Alright people I have been using shell v power unleaded petrol since I got the car 3 weeks ago but I was talking to a mate who reckons if you use it all the time it can damage your engine is this true or had he got it wrong?

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I'd be interested to hear views on this too, as I've been doing the same (albeit a short period when I tried HP ultimate - which the car thoroughly hated)

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Can't see any reason why it would damage your engine, if that were the case there would be disclaimers on it.

The only way it could possibly not be good for your engine is if you have an older car that isn't tuned for higher octane, like a car on carburetors

I'd be interested in what other people have to say about this too as I use it in my car.

But I don't know how it would damage your engine?

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Well...is your mate remotely qualified to make this call or did the local pub hero tell him this? No it will not damage your engine using !Removed! fuel will damage it, higher octane fuel is better for not knocking / detonating esp in a turbo car, although I find sainsbury super 97 tends to be the best.

Many years ago (1980s) shell did bring out a fuel that did damage some engines and there were many unhappy motorists who claimed off shell , so I doubt they would repeat their past mistakes, anyway as with everything technology has moved on and I doubt v power would do any damage to a modern car engine

I've run my diesel on V-Power from new.

I've had my Focus 2.0TDCI with 6,000 on the clock and 6 months old, it now 5yrs old and has 56k on the clock and has had nothing but BP Ultimate or Shell V-Power and still running sweet returning 47mpg on urban driving

Quite the opposite, V-Power is better for modern engines because it contains additives designed to clean the engine. My ST has known nothing but V-Power since new, but whether it makes a significant difference I don't know.

I have used V Power for about 2 years and i havnt had an issue yet.

I've always used v- power - in my old mk7 diesel and my new st150 petrol. Although it's dearer as far as I've heard it's better due to more additives, suppose to keep the engine etc cleaner or something.. Anyways... I've never had any problems and let's be honest the not gonna sell fuel that will damage your car especially when it's more expensive

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Cheap supermarket fuel for me :p

Never had any issues.

Cheap supermarket fuel for me :P

Never had any issues.

Nooooooo.... doesnt last as long, its a false economy

I had a seat Ibiza fr 2.0tdi and run that on cheap supermarket fuel to my despair. It completely clogged the engine with carbon leading to new turbo, egr valve' dpf and exhaust manifold. I know bag group cars are bad for this but it was defo that that killed it. Before the price hike I used shell or bp and some times v-power or ultimate never had a problem till I went to cheap fuel. Now I have a fiesta st on a 13 plate I will never use anything but v-power or ultimate it has a better burn so more mpg cause less fuel is wasted plus it keeps the engine cleaner. If it damged engines they wouldn't sell it but the cheap stuff should be band simple. I know someone that works at a refinery and it's what doesn't go in to the supermarket crap that's the problem. Basically they use the rubbish that isn't good enough to use in a tracker never mind a car. That crap fuel is full of impurities with no cleaners to help the engine. I think your mate is just talking rubbish tbf.

I use supermarket fuel usually, with shell or BP fancy every so often. I even spoke to my mechanic about it. He would recommend a bottle of fuel cleaner every so often, even if premium fuel is used. My mum's '03 X5 has been run since it was brand new on supermarket fuel and has nearly 190,000 miles on it now... We use Sainsburys or BP though, just for the Nectar points.

The additives that go in V Power are designed to help keep the engine clean and running smoothly - stops any build up which you can get from cheaper alternatives
(supermarket fuel) and in general is better for modern day cars, only downside is it can be pricey depending on the current rate of petrol all be it unleaded or diesel!

http://www.smellmyclutch.com/really-know-whats-petrol/

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I have used v-power since I got my ST last year. However due to high mileage I now tend to swap between v power and standard shell fuel. The standard is now £1.14 a litre and v power £1.28. If I'm going for a spirited drive its v-power if a long motorway haul or just to work and back it's standard

V power nitro + every time.

Unless in emergencies, ill put bare minimum supermarket fuel in just to reach the nearest shell garage ....

V power nitro + every time.

Unless in emergencies, ill put bare minimum supermarket fuel in just to reach the nearest shell garage ....

I almost had to do that a couple of times, worked out I could get home where there is a Shell garage just down the road, but the miles remaining goes down faster the closer you are to empty lol. I just made it with 0 miles left, but I've heard you still have about 40 miles worth of fuel at that point anyway.

Started running my motor on BP Ultimate when I got it, then switched to V Power and then to Tesco Momentum. Now it's between the latter two depending which I'm nearest at the time. Wouldn't go back to BP.

Interesting I'm now filling mine up on bp ultimate, seems to like the fuel a lot more. Will try v power at some stage want to run a handful of tanks with the bp first.

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Living on the edge ;)

Living on the edge ;)

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I got to 3 the other day! That was terrifying enough :P

Have run BP Ultimate diesel in 1.9 Grande Punto Sporting turbo-diesels in the past (130BHP circa 225ft/lbs torque), also V-Power Nitro+ unleaded in my current Zetec S and VW 1.2tsi turbo (105PS 125ft/lbs) too with smooth, faultless results. Many years ago Shell brought out the problematic Formula Shell. Perhaps this might be a dim and distant memory that could have triggered the initial thought/doubt/question?

Today Honest John (Telegraph) recommends V-Power Nitro+ unleaded and Ultimate diesel as the best two fuels. From my personal experience I would simply agree. A few entirely random personal thoughts:

If you do a relatively low annual mileage use a premium fuel. No brainer really.

A family member was told at Goodwood FOS a couple of years ago that Tesco Momentum obtained its higher octane rating in a 'different' way?

Shell has to my knowledge never directly claimed better mpg figures however I have read on more than one occasion that these have been obtained in various magazine tests etc hence the possibly of offsetting the extra cost at the pump. A trawl on the Internet? Good Luck!

Shell V-Power Nitro plus is now rated at 99 octane. I have always understood that the easiest way to obtain a power increase is to up the octane rating (?) and particularly so nowadays on small(er) high(er) compression turbo engines. I have also noted that Aral (BP?) Ultimate advertise a '102' in Germany at the DTM races on tv. Perhaps someone can confirm and shed more light on this?

Hypothetically speaking if V-Power Nitro+ provides a 3 or 4% power increase, 3% of your 69BHP base model Skoda Fabia is not quite the same as the 3% of a 215BHP hot hatch let alone a Ferrari! Also with a typical 120BHP hatch the extra power required to obtain a meaningful step-up in performance would be around 20BHP or more minimum taking into account increasing drag etc. It starts becoming a case of diminishing returns. A premium fuel would simply ensure an optimal 'edge', whilst of course not forgetting its other additional benefits.

This subject must be one of the most well worn on the internet, and by-the-way I stand to be corrected, educated and enlightened on any of the above! but lets face it, the only ones who can provide the true (performance related) answers are those whom make the stuff, and even then they too have obvious variables to take into account.................'Pays your money' and all that!