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nickcowen
Original Poster
506 posts
32 months
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Dose it really make a difference to the majority of cars? With the current price of petrol it hard to see why people buy it.
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sinizter
3,346 posts
55 months
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nickcowen said: Dose it really make a difference to the majority of cars? With the current price of petrol it hard to see why people buy it. BMW Z4 2.2i, I got higher MPG with V-Power and other higher octane stuff. This made the cost per mile the same or sometimes lower than using 'normal' fuel. Calculated tankfull to tankfull on an app. My other car was an M3, so did not try any 'normal' stuff in it.
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300bhp/ton
26,483 posts
59 months
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nickcowen said: Dose it really make a difference to the majority of cars? With the current price of petrol it hard to see why people buy it. erm ok. Not being funny but why not try starting with Google (maybe Wiki) and read up on what it is and what it does first. 
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RedSpike66
1,973 posts
81 months
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Makes a huge difference to my TVR, or rather not using it does !!
Which? magazine did a comprehensive evaluation on all these high octane fuels a few years ago and VPOWER was the only one that made any difference to improved mpg and improved bhp.
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bicycleshorts
1,562 posts
30 months
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nickcowen said: Dose it really make a difference to the majority of cars? With the current price of petrol it hard to see why people buy it. My dad's car has a knock light. It flashes all the time on any 97 RON petrol (nevermind 95), it doesn't with 99. So to answer your questions: - Yes - It's cheap compared to a new engine/octane booster http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engine_knocking#Knock...
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Guvernator
2,758 posts
34 months
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Depends if your car has an ECU which can make use of the higher grade of fuel, most modern peformance cars can. If it can then you'll usually see an increase in power as well as slightly improved mpg. If it can't, then it's a waste of money. What car were you thinking on using it in?
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rhinochopig
16,061 posts
67 months
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There is a very noticeable difference between super and V-Power in my Evo. Can't tell any difference between that and Tesco though.
Interestingly my Diesel X-Trail was getting a bit smoky under acceleration so on a long trip down south I ran two tank fulls of the V-Power diesel through it and mpg was noticeably better and the smoke has dramatically reduced.
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nickcowen
Original Poster
506 posts
32 months
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Guvernator said: Depends if your car has an ECU which can make use of the higher grade of fuel, most modern peformance cars can. If it can then you'll usually see an increase in power as well as slightly improved mpg. If it can't, then it's a waste of money. What car were you thinking on using it in? 2005 BMW 318 auto
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SSBB
506 posts
25 months
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nickcowen said: Dose it really make a difference to the majority of cars? With the current price of petrol it hard to see why people buy it. I see that you have been on here for at least 18 months. Have you really missed all the monthly V-Power bun-fight threads, so need to start another? 
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300bhp/ton
26,483 posts
59 months
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nickcowen said: 2005 BMW 318 auto Try it, it might run smoother and see slightly better mpg. Probably enough to make the pence/mile cost the same at any rate. vPower has additives to clean the injectors, so it's worth running. That said the higher octane allows you to run a more aggressive timing and tune. Most notable on turbo/supercharged cars, as it lets them run with less likelihood of pre-detonation. But even n/a motors when setup to make use of the fuel will run better/make more power. Don't go using it thinking it'll give you a nitrous oxide boost in power though (like some people seem to  )
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nickcowen
Original Poster
506 posts
32 months
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300bhp/ton said: erm ok. Not being funny but why not try starting with Google (maybe Wiki) and read up on what it is and what it does first. Do know what it is and dose, have also seen the projams where it's has been tested just thought it would be interesting to find out of people how they have found it .
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nickcowen
Original Poster
506 posts
32 months
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300bhp/ton said: erm ok. Not being funny but why not try starting with Google (maybe Wiki) and read up on what it is and what it does first. Do know what it is and dose, have also seen the projams where it's has been tested just thought it would be interesting to find out of people how they have found it .
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Ki3r
1,618 posts
28 months
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Sorry to hijack the thread, but would it be worth putting it in a 1997 528i? I normally use the normal stuff at Tesco, sometimes their super unleaded if I can't be bothered to wait, and not really noticed a difference.
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nickcowen
Original Poster
506 posts
32 months
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300bhp/ton said: Try it, it might run smoother and see slightly better mpg. Probably enough to make the pence/mile cost the same at any rate. vPower has additives to clean the injectors, so it's worth running. That said the higher octane allows you to run a more aggressive timing and tune. Most notable on turbo/supercharged cars, as it lets them run with less likelihood of pre-detonation. But even n/a motors when setup to make use of the fuel will run better/make more power. Don't go using it thinking it'll give you a nitrous oxide boost in power though (like some people seem to ) I get paid on Friday so might give it half a tank and see if there's a difference
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300bhp/ton
26,483 posts
59 months
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Ki3r said: Sorry to hijack the thread, but would it be worth putting it in a 1997 528i? I normally use the normal stuff at Tesco, sometimes their super unleaded if I can't be bothered to wait, and not really noticed a difference. The answers the same as all the above really. 1. Read up on what higher octane fuels do and why 2. Read up on specific brands and see what they offer 3. Read up on your car and find out why it will/won't make a difference 4. Just try it, but be realistic about the results and it's capabilities, it won't make a 528i suddenly as fast as an M5, nor will it start doing 60mpg 
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KB_S1
5,938 posts
98 months
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How big a dose does one intend to use?
My Impreza has a sticker in the fuel filler cap stating minimum 97Ron.
Always use V-Power, mostly as there are 2 Shell stations near me. Switching to BP Ultimate on occasion out of necessity has seen the engine light come on for a few minutes, not sure why.
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300bhp/ton
26,483 posts
59 months
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nickcowen said: I get paid on Friday so might give it half a tank and see if there's a difference In reality I doubt it'll cost you anything more when you work out your cost pence/mile. But I also suspect you won't notice a huge difference in how it runs either. Also I'd say you'd probably want to run two full tanks of it through, and you're more likely to notice the change when you then switch back to 95 RON, rather than when going to superunleaded.
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E30M3SE
6,681 posts
65 months
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Ki3r said: Sorry to hijack the thread, but would it be worth putting it in a 1997 528i? I normally use the normal stuff at Tesco, sometimes their super unleaded if I can't be bothered to wait, and not really noticed a difference. Your cars engine is fitted with a 'knock' or 'ping' sensor, so the ecu should be able to advance the ignition enough in order to benefit from the higher octane rating that v power has. Try a tank or 2.
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sinizter
3,346 posts
55 months
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nickcowen said: I get paid on Friday so might give it half a tank and see if there's a difference Probably nothing properly measurable with half a tank. Measure from brimmed tank to brimmed tank.
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Dave Hedgehog
5,320 posts
73 months
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depends on the car and how you drive
all the turbo cars i have driven defiantly get a boost from it, my R32 had noticeably more low down torque and increased mpg
many performance cars have 98 maps
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