Shell V-Power

davalav

Pro Tuner
Points
387
Location
Essex, England
Car
Mini Cooper S R56
So after the recent thread on the forum suggesting V power was a good fuel, I tried it.

I filled up from an empty tank to halfway on Sunday and have done about 100 miles since.

My first thoughts when I filled up and been driving for a little while, where it feels sluggish. It seems to need to be revved a little higher to pull away and get going, which is very odd, and never even thought fuel could make such an impact on how a car runs.

The fuel economy is damn right poor, on BP, If I fill halfway with, I can make that last me a week, Monday to Sunday, with mixed driving. With the Shell V power, I am just above a quarter tank, in 3 days, again with mixed driving. Both fill ups I go to work which is around 22 miles from my home to Brentwood and back, and an odd journey here and there.

I know its not the most reliable and scientific review, but I found the fuel awful. I will not use it again, considering its price.

Has any one else had similar experiences? And before you say; No, I didn't put Diesel in my car. :)
 
I kind of have a theory about using high octane fuels when they are not necessary. Higher octane fuels, as well as being more resistant to pre-ignition (heat detonation), also burn more slowly than a lower octane fuel. So it is eminently possible that in some circumstances, such as yours, you actually are going to notice slightly reduced performance.

I flit between the two, occasionally using V-Power and can honestly say that it often feels refreshing to come back to 95RON and get that revvy, fizzy straight six sparkle back. On 99RON fuel mine also feels slightly leaden. Again - very unscientific.

I think we might be onto something here.
 
I kind of have a theory about using high octane fuels when they are not necessary. Higher octane fuels, as well as being more resistant to pre-ignition (heat detonation), also burn more slowly than a lower octane fuel. So it is eminently possible that in some circumstances, such as yours, you actually are going to notice slightly reduced performance.

I flit between the two, occasionally using V-Power and can honestly say that it often feels refreshing to come back to 95RON and get that revvy, fizzy straight six sparkle back. On 99RON fuel mine also feels slightly leaden. Again - very unscientific.

I think we might be onto something here.

Good, so I am not going mad. Well.... I am mad...Erm. - Don't quite know where I was going with that.

Anyway... I am glad that it's not just me. Shame I have very little understanding about the chemistry behind fuels.
 
there is no question that fuels are different. Mine has been mapped for momentum99 and runs worse on anything else.

If your car wasnt designed or tuned to run on a 99ron fuel it will probably run worse when you put it in
 
The higher powered the car the better fuel you run, that way you will feel the benefits. Running a low-specced car on high RON fuel is just not worth it at all. I always fill mine with super as it runs a lot better
 
There's more to it than just ignition timing/mapping. The primary reason behind using high octane fuels is to resist thermal detonation that occurs with higher compression ratios... higher effective combustion chamber pressures.

Momentum 99 has a lower calorific value than 95 RON standard unleaded.
 
You can add more ignition with V Power over other pump fuels my Tuner has proved that so mine is mapped for it. Running Vpower on a car which uses 95ron is just a waste of money any improvements will be in the mind not in performance.
 
momentum and v power are 99 over here so better for high power engines as long as the car has been mapped for it.
 
momentum and v power are 99 over here so better for high power engines as long as the car has been mapped for it.

Provided the car requires it. If it gives it's best power figures on 95RON you will not improve upon with 99 RON. Yes, the timing will have to be advanced but you will only achieve the same power figure as 95 RON.

99RON burns slower than 95RON so the combustion flamefront will advance towards the piston crown at a lower speed.

It's not purely about ignition timing/mapping as I have said before. Compression ratio, absolute cylinder pressure, brake mean effective cylinder pressure, mixture ratio, combustion chamber design etc etc. There are hundreds of factors.
 
My own car is quite sparkly on V-Power and though I use BP Ultimate on occasion, the V is noticeably better.
I tried Momentum once but to be honest, the beast was suffering from a blowing tubular exhaust manifold at the time; so no additional performance was actually noticed. I might try some again when the next tank gets low and I happen to be near a Tesco's.
 
If running Momentum, keep an eye on your EGT temps... brothers GTR ran another 200deg hotter!

Whilst I certainly dont doubt your post I am always loathe to go by one example without all the details
Of course 200 degrees higher is a problem if it was high to start with but not if it wasnt - what did it go from and to ?

Momentum certainly does have ethanol in it and this could explain the higher egt. Remember though it is 99 ron though so thats surely expected

V power used to say no ethanol but they have now confirmed that it has roughly the same amount as 99 (This coincided with it being advertised as 99 ron)

so possibly the gtr issue was before v power changed the mix which wasnt that long ago.

I have always used momentum as the car ran best on it . It was mapped using 99 so thats probably why and that is the point with any high power car.

It should run best on the fuel used when it was mapped

And yes if you have a stock motor or dont have a proper map 99ron will likely be a waste of time
 
Sorry sleeper i really dont remember the fine details of it im afraid, i will ask him. It was about 4 years ago. I know it scared him enough to never want to use it again. Which suggests it was high.

Car was Circa 750bhp....
 
The higher powered the car the better fuel you run, that way you will feel the benefits. Running a low-specced car on high RON fuel is just not worth it at all. I always fill mine with super as it runs a lot better

Not exactly. the wifes car is a wee 1.6 and it states to run it on 97 minimum. and its not exactly a powerhouse at a whopping 107bhp. But again you can feel the difference when it does get a couple of tanks worth through it. Needless to say she runs it on the cheaper stuff


I did allways notice a difference with the v power in the bora and did do some logging showing an increase in power even on the standard map. Once mapped for the v power it showed alot more, momentum was good as well. whereas BP was poor considering it was a penny dearer than the v power
 
So if my car was mapped to use Vpower, it should run fine? Can fuels give an increase in power? For example, my car was mapped using bog standard pump fuel, then mapped again using Vpower; would Vpower give a gain? I then presume doing this, will decrease performance if using 95ron fuel if mapped to suit a 99ron fuel?
 
Sorry sleeper i really dont remember the fine details of it im afraid, i will ask him. It was about 4 years ago. I know it scared him enough to never want to use it again. Which suggests it was high.

Car was Circa 750bhp....

4 years ago v power didnt have ethanol so running on 99 which did could have increased the egt
 

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