V-Power Diesel

[partyboy1101]

With the cost of fuel going through the roof I've begun to use cooking diesel rather than V-Power and can honestly say that I don't think performance or economy have dropped off any.

I don't doubt the marked increase in performance when running V-Power in a remapped petrol, used to use it exclusively in my old Alfa V6, but is V-Power diesel just expensive snake oil?

I'd be interested to hear anyone else's thoughts.

[FUBAR]

I never noticed the difference in my Fabia VRS remapped to 173bhp have used it a few times like a sheep for the bonus shell card points promotions etc Shells normal diesel is my first choice over all others always has been always will be tesco/asda garbage has never given me as many miles per tank even in the tiny Fabia tank a good 50 miles difference for me !

[queeg]

I never noticed the difference in my Fabia VRS remapped to 173bhp have used it a few times like a sheep for the bonus shell card points promotions etc Shells normal diesel is my first choice over all others always has been always will be tesco/asda garbage has never given me as many miles per tank even in the tiny Fabia tank a good 50 miles difference for me !

I use the V-Power diesel purely from the standpoint of reduced smoke as it is made from part crude and part Gas To Liquid producing a cleaner burning diesel. My car has a DPF and I'd rather spend a couple of quid extra at the pumps and prolong the life of my DPF. I dont do huge milage so the extra cost on the fuel is negligable, and i've gone from 25mpg (ST) to 55mpg (VRS) making it even less of an issue !

[partyboy1101]

I use the V-Power diesel purely from the standpoint of reduced smoke as it is made from part crude and part Gas To Liquid producing a cleaner burning diesel. My car has a DPF and I'd rather spend a couple of quid extra at the pumps and prolong the life of my DPF. I dont do huge milage so the extra cost on the fuel is negligable, and i've gone from 25mpg (ST) to 55mpg (VRS) making it even less of an issue !

Fair point Queeg, keeping the dpf as clean as possible is top priority! I regularly polish mine when I'm down in the cellar (where it's dumped in the corner). The black smoke output when I put my foot down prevents any doubt that mine's a diesel!!

[Captain Kremen]

My scout diesel specifically states that biodiesel should not be used. It reminds you again under the fuel flap.

I tried the more expensive stuff for a couple of tanks and noticed no difference, so just tend to fill up at the cheapest places now.

[rainbowsend]

With the cost of fuel going through the roof I've begun to use cooking diesel rather than V-Power and can honestly say that I don't think performance or economy have dropped off any.

I don't doubt the marked increase in performance when running V-Power in a remapped petrol, used to use it exclusively in my old Alfa V6, but is V-Power diesel just expensive snake oil?

I'd be interested to hear anyone else's thoughts.

I cannot tell any difference either having used both, but do fill occasionally with V-power as I beleive this stuff 'cleans' the injectors ?

Shell's fuelsave seems to be the best though for mpg.

[swordstoke]

Drive approx 40k a year and Use both V-Power & BP Ultimate and found I get more miles than using the cheaper branded fuels without a doubt.

Car feels more responsive and on the 'Perceived value scale' gives me at least another 10bhp !

[hugothebear]

I haven't had a diesel Skoda but I pursued this debate when I recently owned another diesel, the conclusions seemed to be that using the V power "seemed" to make the engine run a little quieter when it was cold but the benefits were mostly for long term health of the engine rather than performance or economy. So if the claims are true your engine will run at its best for longer.... but then how are any of us to know that ? Probably driving style has more effect on the long term health of the engine. However, I carried on using it just in case.... and now I am back to petrol I use V-Power petrol.

[FatblokeVRS]

I never noticed the difference in my Fabia VRS remapped to 173bhp have used it a few times like a sheep for the bonus shell card points promotions etc Shells normal diesel is my first choice over all others always has been always will be tesco/asda garbage has never given me as many miles per tank even in the tiny Fabia tank a good 50 miles difference for me !

I will second that - I never get as many miles per tank with asda/ tesco etc than I do with Shell standard diesel. I have tried Murco a couple of times in the past few months and it seems to be not too bad.

I do notice it is more difficult to fill the tank with asda etc as it froths up quite a bit - maybe thats why there are less miles per tank.

I tried Shell V but got less MPG and it was the same with BP Ultimate but BP stuff also made the engine a bit erratic i.e. difficult to accelerate smoothly.

Shell standard for me :-)

Cheers

Dave

Edited 1 June, 2011 by FatblokeVRS

[eccleshill]

I posted this data last October that shows from an MPG point of view premium diesels are not worth the extra.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/177487-an-old-chestnut-but-with-real-data-this-time/page__p__2137663__fromsearch__1#entry2137663

Data was collected over 36000 miles in my old Octavia 1.9TDI

[andyvee]

I get 5mpg less on V-Power than Shell Standard, so to answer your question, I reckon it is expensive snake oil!

Shell Fuel Save stuff seems to be the best for me. After running a tank of V-power through it takes a tank of Fuel Save before the mpg returns to normal.

[Web Ferret]

Tried the VPower and apart from less smoke if I boot it, no difference in MPG or anything else. I'll stick to the fuel save and the occasional Italian Tune up

[dicreamio]

Premium petrol's will work if the ECU is able to take advantage of it might need to drive for a while before system can adapt to the new fuel. I cannot see how any fancy diesel fuel would be able to take advantage of it.

Maybe wrong here as I am coming for a Saab 9-5 Aero Wagon to a Skoda Octavia vRS Diesel

[jrw]

Shell FuelSave FTW - easily an extra 60+ miles to a tank over smart price or value diesel.

[Tonyp5a]

Shell FuelSave FTW - easily an extra 60+ miles to a tank over smart price or value diesel.

+1, not used the V-Power, but the Shell Fuel save definately gets me an exta 30 to 50 miles on a tankful.

[Reds]

How does the price of Shell Fuel Save compare to, say, supermarket diesel?

I've not seen any in my area so have no idea.

For what it's worth, I've done over 600k miles in my last five cars, and always used Tesco / Asda fuel, and not had any issues. Plus, I've never noticed any noticeable difference - sound, performance or mpg, when I've occasionally tried 'premium' fuels.

[Mouldy]

How does the price of Shell Fuel Save compare to, say, supermarket diesel?

I've not seen any in my area so have no idea.

For what it's worth, I've done over 600k miles in my last five cars, and always used Tesco / Asda fuel, and not had any issues. Plus, I've never noticed any noticeable difference - sound, performance or mpg, when I've occasionally tried 'premium' fuels.

Shell Fuel Save Diesel is their standard diesel fuel. They have a choice of that or V-Power at my local Shell garage.

I have always used Tesco diesel since buying my Octy, but tried a tank of Fuel Save to see if there was a difference. I seem to be getting about 2 - 3 mpg more than I was with the Tesco fuel and I'm sure it's not my imagination. The other plus point is that our local filling station is within about a mile and a half of Tesco and they normally price match, except when Tesco offer their 5p per litre vouchers.

I was tempted to try the V Power, but having read this thread and given the additional cost, I can't see the benefit.

As far as petrol goes, I always try to use Tesco Millenium 99 octane in my Z3. I've read a few reports on the net and it seems to be well reviewed generally. Again, I don't think that it's my imagination, but it does seem to run just a little better on the higher octane fuel and as it's only my weekend toy, the additional cost is negligible.

[Gizmo]

How does the price of Shell Fuel Save compare to, say, supermarket diesel?

Sometimes it's cheaper, other times dearer.

Click on my Fuelly signature below (remember that you need to look at the previous mpg to see what each brand produces) and you will see that Shell fuelsave, ASDA, Tesco and Sainsburys are all within 2mpg (actual) over a tankful.

This is based on the 9,500 miles I have done in the Superb, one thing I have noticed is whilst I had the 205/55/16" Nokian winter tyres on I was getting another 1 - 2 mpg than I am currently on the 225/40/18" Continentals.

[Raglits]

How does the price of Shell Fuel Save compare to, say, supermarket diesel?

I've not seen any in my area so have no idea.

For what it's worth, I've done over 600k miles in my last five cars, and always used Tesco / Asda fuel, and not had any issues. Plus, I've never noticed any noticeable difference - sound, performance or mpg, when I've occasionally tried 'premium' fuels.

The 2 Shell garages near me seem to be on a par with the supermarkets round here so I tend to use the Shell fuel as it's a bit closer to home than the supermarket (and also on the way to the motorway)

I don't know if this is representative of all Shell stations though...

[Constant]

The amount of additive to the fuel is 1 liter to every 5000 liter, it sound like homeopathy to me :wonder: . When the tanker arrives at the gasstation, the tanker only contains normal diesel. The additives are added at the moment of delivery.

However I have to admit, when my car was very young (I bought my Scout at 7.000 km), Shell V-Power really made a difference in engine noise! Nowadays I do not notice any difference between diesel from Shell, Total, BP, etc. From now on, I will only use normal diesel.

[IndianaBlues]

I will second that - I never get as many miles per tank with asda/ tesco etc than I do with Shell standard diesel. I have tried Murco a couple of times in the past few months and it seems to be not too bad.

I tend to use Shell, went through a phase of using V-Power diesel and seemed to get a 1-2 mpg increase, then had my tyres rotated and seems to have gone back down to normal!

My local village garage used to be Murco - probably still is - and the attendant reckoned that the Murco petrol ran better as it was actually 96 RON as standard, don't know if it was true or not but all the jags, astons etc in the area used to go there and they didn't have a "super" offering.

[queeg]

Fair point Queeg, keeping the dpf as clean as possible is top priority! I regularly polish mine when I'm down in the cellar (where it's dumped in the corner). The black smoke output when I put my foot down prevents any doubt that mine's a diesel!!

I'd be interested to know what oil you put in you engine? ASDA's own or something more 'pricey'. Its the same principal.