Regular diesel vs shell v-power nitro
Discussion
As far as I'm aware it only really matters when it comes to petrol with regard to performance, but I think 'super' diesel has more detergents in it for keeping things cleaner.
Happy to be corrected though. I've been using super diesel and once decided not to and thought there was a performance difference but it was probably just placebo effect. I've literally just gone back to regular diesel as it's a lease car. I always use BP though mainly for the nectar points.
Happy to be corrected though. I've been using super diesel and once decided not to and thought there was a performance difference but it was probably just placebo effect. I've literally just gone back to regular diesel as it's a lease car. I always use BP though mainly for the nectar points.
Shell make quite a big play out of it being GTL rather than "normal" diesel.
I use it in my Golf 7 and have since new - tbh you won't get a conclusive answer so it kind of comes down to whether you're that fussed for the sakes of £75/year which is around the difference in cost for me @ 12-15k/year.
I use it in my Golf 7 and have since new - tbh you won't get a conclusive answer so it kind of comes down to whether you're that fussed for the sakes of £75/year which is around the difference in cost for me @ 12-15k/year.
If you dont find your gut feelings here you never will 
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Drive down the A55 past the refinery, how many crackers you see? One. it comes from the same place, just various detergents etc added at the tank farms.
Oil refineries do not have distillation towers by product, at least not any I've seen in 40 years around them, and I've never seen one that produce a product called Tesco, Sainsbury or what ever.
Oil refineries do not have distillation towers by product, at least not any I've seen in 40 years around them, and I've never seen one that produce a product called Tesco, Sainsbury or what ever.
I've tried this with both my old E46 320d and my current E46 330d.
The 320d maybe went a bit smoother and revved a bit more easily, but there wasn't much in it, and it's easy to fool yourself when you're looking for it anyway. Average fuel economy over the months I used V-power diesel was 1-2mpg better - but the results have always been extremely noisy, so who knows? (I tried to give it a good test, hoping the noise would average out, but I'm still not convinced.) A 1-2mpg improvement wasn't enough to make up for the additional cost, so I went back to ordinary fuel.
Tried it for a couple of months with the 330d too, but no detectable difference. I didn't keep this experiment going for very long as it was £1.55/L at the time.
The 320d maybe went a bit smoother and revved a bit more easily, but there wasn't much in it, and it's easy to fool yourself when you're looking for it anyway. Average fuel economy over the months I used V-power diesel was 1-2mpg better - but the results have always been extremely noisy, so who knows? (I tried to give it a good test, hoping the noise would average out, but I'm still not convinced.) A 1-2mpg improvement wasn't enough to make up for the additional cost, so I went back to ordinary fuel.
Tried it for a couple of months with the 330d too, but no detectable difference. I didn't keep this experiment going for very long as it was £1.55/L at the time.
Looking at my spreadsheet it seemed like my 320d's fuel economy was sometimes a bit worse with supermarket fuel compared to normal Shell, then a bit better again with V-power shell. No difference for motorway journeys, maybe 1-2mpg for lots of short trips. But as with V-power vs the rest, the results are always so noisy that I can't say for sure that there wasn't some other factor. I ended up generally taking it to Shell, which seemed to be best value overall.
Much less of a difference with my 330d, even though I still live in the same area and so take it to the same petrol stations. So these days I usually fill up at Tesco, as they're cheap and I get clubcard points.
Much less of a difference with my 330d, even though I still live in the same area and so take it to the same petrol stations. So these days I usually fill up at Tesco, as they're cheap and I get clubcard points.
Reviving an old thread on my first post. Shocking behaviour, shoot me now 
I've been the second owner of an 11 plate Merc Sprinter LWB 313 since mid December 15. It had 330k ish on the clock then and I've put almost 30k on it since. It's smoked a bit from cold since I got it, but smoke goes away once warm. Recently smoke has got to a point where something just had to be done about it. From talking to those who know a lot more than me (that's most people) about this stuff, general consensus was injector/s or maybe glow plugs.
Anyway long story short, and the reason for posting here, is I've tried Shell V Power a couple of times before but not for long. Last week I did 1700 miles, the whole week was on V Power. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! No smoke even on the cooler mornings and starting from cold at 2 am in Edinburgh. Before it was taking a good 10 seconds to start, now it starts practically first turn. The choking smell of exhaust (unburnt fuel) has gone and I'm sure the van generally drives better and the sluggishness when cold has gone. Fantastic. And icing on the cake - premium is about 10p/litre more and last week saw a 10% or so increase in fuel economy. This makes it slightly cheaper to run on V Power. The 10% increase disappeared when reverting to regular shell for the last couple of days. So, for this German CDI engine at least, yes it does work. I'm a convert.
I've been the second owner of an 11 plate Merc Sprinter LWB 313 since mid December 15. It had 330k ish on the clock then and I've put almost 30k on it since. It's smoked a bit from cold since I got it, but smoke goes away once warm. Recently smoke has got to a point where something just had to be done about it. From talking to those who know a lot more than me (that's most people) about this stuff, general consensus was injector/s or maybe glow plugs.
Anyway long story short, and the reason for posting here, is I've tried Shell V Power a couple of times before but not for long. Last week I did 1700 miles, the whole week was on V Power. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! No smoke even on the cooler mornings and starting from cold at 2 am in Edinburgh. Before it was taking a good 10 seconds to start, now it starts practically first turn. The choking smell of exhaust (unburnt fuel) has gone and I'm sure the van generally drives better and the sluggishness when cold has gone. Fantastic. And icing on the cake - premium is about 10p/litre more and last week saw a 10% or so increase in fuel economy. This makes it slightly cheaper to run on V Power. The 10% increase disappeared when reverting to regular shell for the last couple of days. So, for this German CDI engine at least, yes it does work. I'm a convert.
I have read a few posts on this sort of issue, and IIRC the main difference is that regular diesel has to (thanks to the EU) have a certain proportion of bio-diesel in it whereas premium diesel doesn't (yet!).
So in a diesel it may make a significant difference - the 123d I had said bio-diesel was Verbotten, but that is tricky when some bio content is compulsory!
Mind you I was too mean to try the posh stuff in it, although I mostly used branded fuel (Shell, Esso, BP, etc.) - supermarket stuff was only in emergencies!
Can't have been too bad - it was still running fine at 81K miles when I sold it!
So in a diesel it may make a significant difference - the 123d I had said bio-diesel was Verbotten, but that is tricky when some bio content is compulsory!
Mind you I was too mean to try the posh stuff in it, although I mostly used branded fuel (Shell, Esso, BP, etc.) - supermarket stuff was only in emergencies!
Can't have been too bad - it was still running fine at 81K miles when I sold it!
If I remember right cetane rating of BP premium diesel is highest at 55, Shell is 53, standard I believe around 51.
Plan to try BP next in my 435d (been on Shell to date) but I think the main 'difference' is cleaning properties, for a new car you're likely to simply NOT loose power as miles increase, for an older car they apparently do a good job of cleaning up injectors etc so you will likely get a power boost (back towards where you started when the car was newer).
Totally agree with the comments re the petrol being worth extra, Fifth Gear did a review fairly recently and saw +5BHP with Shell, around the same with Esso but little difference with BP (not sure if Tesco still sell that 99 octane stuff but either way they didn't test it).
Of course knowing the upgraded fuel is in there is probably worth 20BHP alone on the butt dyno so well worth the money :-)
Plan to try BP next in my 435d (been on Shell to date) but I think the main 'difference' is cleaning properties, for a new car you're likely to simply NOT loose power as miles increase, for an older car they apparently do a good job of cleaning up injectors etc so you will likely get a power boost (back towards where you started when the car was newer).
Totally agree with the comments re the petrol being worth extra, Fifth Gear did a review fairly recently and saw +5BHP with Shell, around the same with Esso but little difference with BP (not sure if Tesco still sell that 99 octane stuff but either way they didn't test it).
Of course knowing the upgraded fuel is in there is probably worth 20BHP alone on the butt dyno so well worth the money :-)
ks HTHI had a new 05, 2nd shape 2litre petrol Focus, that was regularly filled up with supermarket fuel.
It failed it's first MOT on emissions, a bottle of Redex later and it passed. The Ford Dealer advised this was because the Supermarket fuel, although its made by BP did not have all of the BP Cleaning agents in it. He said its a bit like supermarket Cheap Cheese, its cheese and its ok, but its not premium.
I converted to V power and I noticed a huge difference.
We now have an A3 1.6 diesel, just over a year old and a 2litre 61 plate Mondeo Diesel both run at all times on V-power. We do notice the difference especially in the pocket. and mid range acceleration.
It failed it's first MOT on emissions, a bottle of Redex later and it passed. The Ford Dealer advised this was because the Supermarket fuel, although its made by BP did not have all of the BP Cleaning agents in it. He said its a bit like supermarket Cheap Cheese, its cheese and its ok, but its not premium.
I converted to V power and I noticed a huge difference.
We now have an A3 1.6 diesel, just over a year old and a 2litre 61 plate Mondeo Diesel both run at all times on V-power. We do notice the difference especially in the pocket. and mid range acceleration.
335d 66 plate. I usually use Shell V power for diesel, because of a carry over from using the petrol version (No, I don’t want a discussion about RON and Cetane values for the different fuels).
However I noticed a very slight diesel knock on light throttle, when cruise control was adding fuel, or when a slight pressure on throttle. It had not been there before. I did a lot of search on the web, and a lot of people recommended BP ultimate diesel. I tried a tankful and the very faint knock disappeared completely. I am trying a second tankful, then will go back to Shell and see what happens.
I know BMW do not approve of using additives separate to those found in forecourt fuels.
I note that Shell are bringing out a revised V Power soon.
However I noticed a very slight diesel knock on light throttle, when cruise control was adding fuel, or when a slight pressure on throttle. It had not been there before. I did a lot of search on the web, and a lot of people recommended BP ultimate diesel. I tried a tankful and the very faint knock disappeared completely. I am trying a second tankful, then will go back to Shell and see what happens.
I know BMW do not approve of using additives separate to those found in forecourt fuels.
I note that Shell are bringing out a revised V Power soon.
Summit_Detailing said:
Since buying a F11 520d in Feb and having covered 15,000 miles since, I've tried Shell V-power, Esso regular and Asda/Tesco diesel. No noticeable difference in driving characteristics.
V-power - 40.94mpg
regular - 40.90mpg
Accurate figures from the Road Trip app.
Cheers
Chris
There should not be any difference if the cetane value is the same. Other issues like cleanliness of system may be affected by the different fuels. Some discussion here, I am sure there are many more discussions around. Cetane numbers are quoted too.V-power - 40.94mpg
regular - 40.90mpg
Accurate figures from the Road Trip app.
Cheers
Chris
https://www.a5oc.com/forums/a5-general-q/104978-do...
I have used Shell VP Nitro and recently two tanks of BP ultimate. In 24,000 miles (since new), I have never notice a DPF regen occurring, I assume it is happening less frequently than standard, and milder too.
I tried our new F15 X5 (RR remapped) on Shell V power diesel, and std shell diesel.
Both myself & the Mrs thought the car was a little nippier
Obviously subjective
We now run on Sainsbury's finest as Shell has gone silly in price
E46 320d always run on Sainsbury's with no issue
991 GT3 has only had a diet of V Power from new...
Both myself & the Mrs thought the car was a little nippier
Obviously subjective
We now run on Sainsbury's finest as Shell has gone silly in price
E46 320d always run on Sainsbury's with no issue
991 GT3 has only had a diet of V Power from new...
I’m really interested in this as I think my 520d fuel economy has dropped but this is only based on the computer - I’ve never measured off the odometer. When filling up it used to say high 700s but now it’s low 700’s and even high 600’s. Dad says it needs a tank or two of V-Power to clean it out. It’s on 206k and has had supermarket fuel pretty much exclusively - is he right?
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