Hi All.

I've recently collected my 2.0l TDI vRS

The first time I filled up I treated it (name still undecided) with Shell V power. From then on I've used which ever petrol station was closest when needed.

Does anyone have any evidence of it being worth the extra money, eg better fuel economy, engine damage due to cheap fuel?

Rob

Hi All.

I've recently collected my 2.0l TDI vRS

The first time I filled up I treated it (name still undecided) with Shell V power. From then on I've used which ever petrol station was closest when needed.

Does anyone have any evidence of it being worth the extra money, eg better fuel economy, engine damage due to cheap fuel?

Rob

 

I read somewhere that some brands have dpf friendly additives in the fuel.

Interested to hear if anybody has info/evidence of this to try and calm my dpf paranoia.  :-)

Fuels in UK are to European standard specs, I think diesel is EN590

Shell V Power has additives including corrosion inhibitor, and de-gunk stuff (don't know its technical name) which isn't in basic spec fuel.

I have heard reports that keeping the injectors clean etc adds 5% to mileage, I've got a TSI engine and it definitely goes further on premium fuel, but I limit its use as the unleaded is often higher octane than required.

If it were worth the extra money, then the Trillion Dollar oil industry would have been able to produce some credible evidence to prove it*

 

They haven't.

 

It's all marketing guff.

 

 

 

*anecdotes, whilst compelling, are not evidence, neither are car magazines testing half a dozen vehicles.

If it were worth the extra money, then the Trillion Dollar oil industry would have been able to produce some credible evidence to prove it*

 

They haven't.

 

It's all marketing guff.

 

 

 

*anecdotes, whilst compelling, are not evidence, neither are car magazines testing half a dozen vehicles.

 

Which is why people like us discuss it, and try it out in the real world.

 

Basically, yes, in my opinion it is worth using branded fuel. I tried it a few years ago when I was commuting 50 miles a day. A tank of supermarket fuel gave 50 miles less per tank compared to using Shell diesel.

I fill mine up with whatever is closest at the time of needing fuel, whether it be branded or supermarket...makes no difference at all!

Vrs tsi here and last time I did a check I just got enough extra miles to make it cost neutral or there abouts.  There may be long term benefits, but that's hard to determine. Mine usually, almost always, gets vpower.

My 2.0 TDi does about 5% more miles per gallon on Shell V Power and seems to pick up more smoothly from lower revs.

 

The former is in line with my experience of other 2.0 litre and bigger turbo diesel cars and that experience is backed up by years of keeping mileage spreadsheets. I'm sure someone will claim the latter is placebo or in my head, but I'm happy with it so don't care! 

 

Overall I find the extra mpg doesn't cover the additional cost but if there's a chance V Power will make my engine run smoother and last longer, that'll do for me.

 

Back to work now - lunchbreak over.

 

Cheers from Haydock 

Since I got my vrs tdi I've put Shell V Power into it. I can afford it, so may as well.

 

I rotate putting normal shell and v power into my motorbike, depending on the mileage and I can feel the difference from the engine. The engine ticks over that bit better as well, plus the mpg does increase that bit (but usually v power means faster riding!!!!)

 

My uncle also throws a tank of it into his taxi (mondeo) every so often, and it's usually every 5000 miles. One minutes the engine will be sounding that bit gruff, then runs a bit lumpy as it works through the fuel system and after 20 mile blast, it's running back to normal. He uses ASDA 'cheap 'n' cheerful' diesel as there's one of their stations round the corner from him.

 

REDEX I suppose could be used if you need to clean out the fuel system out.

 

Normal shell is that bit better the supermarket fuel, so I wouldn't imagine you'd have any trouble with that

I have recorded the mpg using brim-to-brim method for every one of my 18K miles. This is for a petrol VRS, but I imagine "quality of fuel" will provide similar benefits for diesel.

 

 

In summary, higher-quality fuel doesn't make much difference to mpg. In my car the most expensive fuel (Shell V-Power Nitro+) actually averages worse than the cheapest fuel (Tesco Premium). However, Tesco Momentum does average ~4% better mpg than Tesco Premium, although it costs ~8% more.

 

I also feel no performance difference between flavours.

 

In reality it is a waste of money, although I still buy "Super" for placebo affect.

Edited 1 July, 20169 yr by Orville

I use Tesco momentum. I used one tank of v power and it was definitely down on the bum dyno.

I have recorded the mpg using brim-to-brim method for every one of my 18K miles. This is for a petrol VRS, but I imagine "quality of fuel" will provide similar benefits for diesel.

 

 

Thanks for the data, looks interesting.

Someone correct me but - Petrol of a higher octane rating does allow the engine to run more efficiently and so improve consumption.

Diesel does not, it just has more "magic detergent" in it. 

I stand by my statement that the fuel industry is so large and so many people have a financial interest in it, it would be a doddle to prove increased MPG or power, but they have not.

Using wishy washy, hard to demonstrate claims about "cleaning" and "deposits" stinks of quackery to me.

exactly what I was just writing.

In theory, higher quality diesel should make no difference as it only contains "cleaning agents".

It also shouldnt make a noticeable différence straight after filling the tank. You would need several tanks to gradually clean the engine.

 

Premium petrol is higher octane & therefore has the potential to delivery higher performance which is why in the vRS TSI it is perhaps a different story.

For petrol engines each octane increase results in a consumption improvement of about 1% but only for cars built and tuned for it.

In Australia ​​I believe that Skoda recommend 98 Octane for the petrol vRS, and they recommend 95 Octane for my 1.4tsi.

I did experiment putting a few tanks of 98 Octane in my car but was very disappointed to be unable to register any improvements whatsoever.

 

There are no manufacturer recommendations regarding diesel qualities that I can find.

 

I accept the fuel manufacturer's claims that the dearer brands have detergents and that they may cleanse the fuel systems. However if that was the case I would be very worried that a glob of something was going to be forced successfully through those teeny tiny injector nozzles. By the way if anyone knows a reliable way of making consistent small injector holes cheaply then the manufacturers want to talk to you as currently every individual injector varies enough to require expensive individual tuning

 

BP are currently running an advertising campaign here claiming that two tanks of BP Ultimate will make a noticeable difference to the running of your engine and improved mileage. We have 'truth in advertising' laws here so they cannot be lying can they? Well they can and the get out clause 'is an improvement of up to 35 km per tank'.....so it might just be zero kilometres.

 

I can accept that what you put in your tank can vary more than what comes out of the refinery.  Diesel does 'age', it absorbs water, bacteria and moulds can grow in it(apparently), density varies depending on temperature.

Quality of storage and turnover of stock may have more to do with apparent differences in consumption than whether it is premium or not.

 

If you have not guessed I am a sceptic.

I use Tesco momentum. I used one tank of v power and it was definitely down on the bum dyno.

 

Please do not tell us how your dyno is calibrated :moon: 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/403792-wheres-the-best-diesel/

Do Performance Fuels Make A Difference? - Fifth Gear

Super market fuel MAY have a higher water content, which could cause running problems. In my Audi S3 i 99% of the time only used V power, when i needed fuel quickly and put supermarket fuel in i could tell the difference. Now i have my VRS i will run it on Shell normal Diesel with the odd tank of V Power. I think its down to personal preference, but i have never heard of fuel form Shell, Esso etc getting contaminated but i have read plenty of stories about supermarket fuel being contaminated.

I first used Shell Nitro many years ago when first called Optimax then latter changed to v-power. Mainly for the 1.4 16V Fabia which had to run on it (otherwise it throws the piston rings).

 

14yrs on & the MOT emissions readings were so low & it was very responsive & drove like a right buzz box, & not a 14yr old car.

 

EVO did long term testing & looked inside the engines with small camera & the Shell stuff had the best cleaning packages, & ever since the stuff first came on the market there have always been the detractors.

 

Personnaly I don't use anything else on my car & my current engine people have done dyno runs & the car produces over the 152PS mark on the stuff compared to the standard 140PS.

Edited 1 July, 20169 yr by fabdavrav

Thanks for the data, looks interesting.

Someone correct me but - Petrol of a higher octane rating does allow the engine to run more efficiently and so improve consumption.

Diesel does not, it just has more "magic detergent" in it. 

I stand by my statement that the fuel industry is so large and so many people have a financial interest in it, it would be a doddle to prove increased MPG or power, but they have not.

Using wishy washy, hard to demonstrate claims about "cleaning" and "deposits" stinks of quackery to me.

Diesel is measured in Cetane, the optimum is 4pints higher than is available than in the UK. I use a Millers additive which increases the Cetane rating and it does make a difference in terms of MPG and performance if needed.

Please do not tell us how your dyno is calibrated :moon:

Skid marks.

Super market fuel MAY have a higher water content, which could cause running problems. In my Audi S3 i 99% of the time only used V power, when i needed fuel quickly and put supermarket fuel in i could tell the difference. Now i have my VRS i will run it on Shell normal Diesel with the odd tank of V Power. I think its down to personal preference, but i have never heard of fuel form Shell, Esso etc getting contaminated but i have read plenty of stories about supermarket fuel being contaminated.

The reason you felt the instant difference on the supermarket fuel is that the engine sensed it beginning to "pink " on the lower quality fuel and retarded the performance to stop the pink. It would the have taken up to 4 tanks of premium fuel to relearn its limits.

Diesel is measured in Cetane, the optimum is 4pints higher than is available than in the UK. I use a Millers additive which increases the Cetane rating and it does make a difference in terms of MPG and performance if needed.

 

Does Millers provide any evidence for this? or are they reliant on testimonials?

Personal opinion:

My 1.9tdi pd engine runs better on shell than asda, Morrisons or tesco but runs better on v power than normal shell.

I'll agree with what I've seen in the past which is that v power diesel makes the engine run quieter and smoother. I also get a smoother power delivery and slightly better mpg.

Other diesel owners I've spoken to also tell me they experience less DPF regens using premium fuel.

Millers ecoboost (formerly diesel power MAX) does indeed contain cleaning additives along with cetane boosting properties, unlike some other brands which only contain cleaning agents.

Edited 1 July, 20169 yr by James@RRGRochdale

Premium fuel has made no difference either performance or economy to my vrs TSI. Sticking with normal petrol from now on.