Vpower Diesel is it worth it?
Vpower Diesel is it worth it?
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Discussion

Welshbeef

Original Poster:

49,633 posts

229 months

Sunday 6th November 2011
quotequote all
I've not used anything apart from basic run of the mill diesel usually from Esso.

Now if I "upgraded" to bolete or BP ultimate what are the real benefits ie is there any increase in performance does mpg improve or is it a purely a marketing exercise?

I have used opitmax petrol before and that did improve performance and economy to the point it was cheaper on a per mile basis.

RobCrezz

7,892 posts

239 months

Sunday 6th November 2011
quotequote all
Try it? Will only cost you a few quid more. Run your existing tank as low as possible first.

Matt UK

18,084 posts

231 months

Sunday 6th November 2011
quotequote all
RobCrezz said:
Try it? Will only cost you a few quid more. Run your existing tank as low as possible first.
yes

Some pepole swear by it, other's say it's snake oil.

R300will

3,799 posts

182 months

Sunday 6th November 2011
quotequote all
doogz said:
We get the 95/98/99RON petrol threads all the time on here.

But what's the actual difference between regualar diesel, and the V-Power stuff?
as far as i am aware they have more detergentc in them to clean injectors and what have you, not sure how you improve the Road octane number of diesel though?

paddyhasneeds

68,282 posts

241 months

Sunday 6th November 2011
quotequote all
I asked this question of someone very knowledgable (think literally mad car engine & fuel expert boffin type) who said that with diesel's the biggest enemy is the short journey.

If you let your engine consistently warm up to full operating temperature and make long journeys the stuff that gums up your engine doesn't get chance to do so.

Essentially vPower has more detergents to help deal with this, but it shouldn't make a diesel more powerful or any of the stuff that applied to octane ratings in petrol.

philmots

4,666 posts

291 months

Sunday 6th November 2011
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I ran my old Focus on it.. Did a few more mpg and was a lot more responsive.

dfen5

2,398 posts

243 months

Sunday 6th November 2011
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I used to have an Avensis turbo diesel. One day the only pump running was Vpower so I filled up with the stuff. Very noticeable within a few miles, if it wasn't for the ridiculous price hike and the company not appreciating how much quicker I got to work, I'd have used it all the time.

CooperS

4,580 posts

250 months

Sunday 6th November 2011
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Oh god not this topic again!

DanielJames

7,543 posts

199 months

Tuesday 8th November 2011
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I nearly just made this topic again whistle

I wanted to know the answer to this:

doogz said:
But what's the actual difference between regualar diesel, and the V-Power stuff?
So the cetane figure increases? A lot of owners club recommend this millers diesel additive which treats 10 tanks (probably about 6 in the panzer) and costs around a tenner. It says it can boost the cetane figure by 4.

How does that sound?


R300will

3,799 posts

182 months

Tuesday 8th November 2011
quotequote all
DanielJames said:
I nearly just made this topic again whistle

I wanted to know the answer to this:

doogz said:
But what's the actual difference between regualar diesel, and the V-Power stuff?
So the cetane figure increases? A lot of owners club recommend this millers diesel additive which treats 10 tanks (probably about 6 in the panzer) and costs around a tenner. It says it can boost the cetane figure by 4.

How does that sound?
That sounds like that petrol additive you can put into your tanks as well. 5th gear did a review and found no improvement in power or economy for the petrol ones and sometimes it made it worse. Not sure about the diesel additive but as it is similar price and description to the petrol ones i would assume it would be similarly bad.

Hawmaws

575 posts

201 months

Tuesday 8th November 2011
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My 530 definitely seems to run smoother, quieter and faster on the expensive stuff. And more economically too.

So much so that if there isn't a Vmax/superdiesel pump, I only fill enough so that I can get to the next one.

HellDiver

5,708 posts

213 months

Tuesday 8th November 2011
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R300will said:
5th gear did a flawed test and found no improvement in power or economy for the petrol ones and sometimes it made it worse.
Edited for accuracy.

They used a 1.4 K-series on a dyno. Newflash morons, the MEMS ECU in the K-series is set up to run at a specific power output, you could put jet fuel in there and it'd still do 105hp.

300bhp/ton

41,030 posts

221 months

Tuesday 8th November 2011
quotequote all
Welshbeef said:
I've not used anything apart from basic run of the mill diesel usually from Esso.

Now if I "upgraded" to bolete or BP ultimate what are the real benefits ie is there any increase in performance does mpg improve or is it a purely a marketing exercise?

I have used opitmax petrol before and that did improve performance and economy to the point it was cheaper on a per mile basis.
Yes I think it can be worth it, but don't expect it to give a 50hp performance gain and double the mpg.

zx10ben

1,074 posts

199 months

Tuesday 8th November 2011
quotequote all
I'm sure it was 5th gear that did a dyno test using a SEAT and the results for the VPower diesel were quite impressive. Must be a link to it on the Tube somewhere, but I'm on a works computer so cant look at the mo.

DanielJames

7,543 posts

199 months

Tuesday 8th November 2011
quotequote all
Oh well, I'll slap £30 of the Vpower stuff in on my way home (currently have about a gallon and half in the tank), then at the weekend I'll put some more in and see how I get on.

s3fella

10,524 posts

218 months

Tuesday 8th November 2011
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We filled the mondeo up in Belgium at some supermarket wiht cheap stuff, and 400 miles later, in Germany, the thing went into limp mode...... restarted and it was ok, but not happy, so filled up with vpower diesel..
flipping heck, it went like a bat out of hell. Torque was so good, it made the clutch slip.

Dont know what's in it, but the German Vpower diesel does work, and Belgium supermarket stuff is st.

CharlieHotel

9,080 posts

196 months

Tuesday 8th November 2011
quotequote all
I've ran my car only on Vpower diesel ever since I bought it 6 months ago. Don't fancy the injectors going so best fuel for an extra tenner am month shouldn't hurt.
Here's the thread I started a couple weeks ago http://pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&amp...

r11co

6,244 posts

261 months

Tuesday 8th November 2011
quotequote all
CharlieHotel said:
I've ran my car only on Vpower diesel ever since I bought it 6 months ago. Don't fancy the injectors going so best fuel for an extra tenner am month shouldn't hurt.
Hmmm. Usual 'pay more so it must be better' flawed logic.

Vpower Diesel is simply an additive package on top of the same stock fuel that 99% of the pumps in the UK (or at least in your local area) are serving.

People will generalise (saying things like supermarket fuel isn't as good) but it isn't nearly as simple as that.

jesta1865

3,453 posts

240 months

Tuesday 8th November 2011
quotequote all
i was offroading during the summer with a mate who is a diesel engine specialist, i asked him about this issue, and he said its simply down to what engine you have. modern ones, they get more out of it as they change their settings to suit and it stops them gumming up on short journeys as has been mentioned.

i asked about my 300tdi land rover and he said 'by all means, but its like putting caviare on your chips rather than tomato ketchup, pointless' smile

CharlieHotel

9,080 posts

196 months

Tuesday 8th November 2011
quotequote all
r11co said:
CharlieHotel said:
I've ran my car only on Vpower diesel ever since I bought it 6 months ago. Don't fancy the injectors going so best fuel for an extra tenner am month shouldn't hurt.
Hmmm. Usual 'pay more so it must be better' flawed logic.

Vpower Diesel is simply an additive package on top of the same stock fuel that 99% of the pumps in the UK (or at least in your local area) are serving.

People will generalise (saying things like supermarket fuel isn't as good) but it isn't nearly as simple as that.
100% right.I like to pay more for things which may not be better than something cheaper.