Shell V-Power.

ChrisGB · August 29, 2006, 23:04

Hi to All

Tried my first tank of the new Shell V-Power fuel today. The car never got on with optimax, seemed to run a bit under the weather with it, so was not sure what to expect.

I filled up having run near to empty on Tesco 99 (which it seems to like) and the difference is pretty impressive straight away. The missus commented that the car felt faster after the fill up (I had not mentioned filling up with anything different), echoing my thoughts. Well worth a try I would suggest.

Chris

Tem · August 30, 2006, 05:12

Did you reset the ecu? s8)

s8)

cool_apple · August 30, 2006, 08:14

i used to fill her with V power & i suppose it served well but prices of fuel has gone up a bit. (V power in malaysia = 97 octane)

back to regular now. after a while i didnt really missed V power. s:cry: :cry: s:cry:

Wabbitkilla · August 30, 2006, 08:19

Is it worth resetting the ECU?
I've tried V-Power and the car runs on a par with Optimax.

I've used the Tesco stuff, but you can't get it up here.

ChrisGB · August 30, 2006, 09:06

Quote from: "Tem"Did you reset the ecu? s8) s8)

1. Dont know how to do it.

2. Should it make a difference?

The car just seemed to run very much better on it after filling up.

Chris

Ernie Ball · August 30, 2006, 09:31

Isn't V-Power the same RON as the ordinary petrol Shell sell but with added cleaners?

Tem · August 30, 2006, 09:37

Quote from: "ChrisGB"
Quote from: "Tem"Did you reset the ecu? s8) s8)

1. Dont know how to do it.

2. Should it make a difference?

1. Disconnect the battery/ecu/ecu fuses for half an hour or so.

2. I'm not sure. s:? :? s:?

Quote from: "Ernie Ball"Isn't V-Power the same RON as the ordinary petrol Shell sell but with added cleaners?

Over here they advertise it being at least 100 octane. Few tests have shown it's between 103-105 octane. I'm not familiar with ordinary Shell petrols, but I assume they are lower octane.

Ernie Ball · August 30, 2006, 10:07

Hmmm. I think there may be two different V-Power petrols.

According to this, V-Power is just how Shell are rebranding Optimax in the UK. According to this page, V-Power in the UK is 99 RON.

But here in Ireland where, for ridiculous reasons, one cannot buy 98 RON petrol anywhere, we have always had something called V-Power, but it was just ordinary 95 RON plus additional additives for a premium price (in other words: not worth it).

See this page for info about the Irish version of V-Power, which is definitely 95 RON.

Anonymous · August 30, 2006, 10:25

Might give this a try if I can find any near here.

spit · August 30, 2006, 10:38

I recommend it for boosties David - worked a treat in mine, particularly as the stock knock sensor was being worked very hard before!

Tem · August 30, 2006, 10:48

Quote from: "Ernie Ball"Hmmm. I think there may be two different V-Power petrols.

Seems you're right. That's confusing. s:? :? s:?

QuoteV-Power is just how Shell are rebranding Optimax in the UK.

"Shell V-Power builds on the highly successful Shell Optimax"

I don't think they are saying they just rebranded it. More like Optimax was good, this is better.

Anonymous · August 30, 2006, 12:44

a) I am amazed that you can tell the difference with just a tankful. I would assume it would take at least a couple of tankfuls for the ECU to "learn" the new fuel (even after a reset).

b) The VPower sold in the rest if Europe is not the same as the one we get here, just as BP's Ultimate is not the same. Both VPower and Ultimate are marked as 100 octaine fuel in the rest of Europe while VPower is 99 here and Ultimate is 98 (if I recall correctly). I'm guessing, the reason is probably the price given that, in most parts of Europe, 100 octaine fuels are cheaper than 95RON here.

roger · August 30, 2006, 14:11

Quote from: "DavidM"Might give this a try if I can find any near here.

All Shell garages are changing the Optimax, so as soon as you see V-Power sign on your local Shell, you know they've made the change.

Had it last week in lil 'ol Bicester so I guess Birmingham will catch up soon s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

Anonymous · August 30, 2006, 15:18

Got it on Dewsbury road in South Leeds. Gonna give it a go next fill up on the back of regular 95 RON Esso.
Just been reading bout it over on Integra forum;http://www.itr-dc5.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8322&highlight=vpower, they all seem to find more power smoother delivery with it.
Will report my findings!

spit · August 30, 2006, 16:22

Quote from: "Emmanuel"a) I am amazed that you can tell the difference with just a tankful. I would assume it would take at least a couple of tankfuls for the ECU to "learn" the new fuel (even after a reset).

I was amazed too. Maybe the knock issue is more reactive than the learning processes that the ECU goes through. I didn't do a reset BTW.

Anonymous · August 30, 2006, 16:57

My car pops and bangs a lot more on V power than on Optimax s8)

s8)

I've heard rumours about Optimax pumps stocking V-power for weeks already so I wonder if, when I got mapped last week, I was mapped on Optimax or V-power? s:?: :?: s:?:

roger · August 30, 2006, 17:45

Quote from: "Matt"My car pops and bangs a lot more on V power than on Optimax s8) s8)

I filled up 1/2 tank on top of Optimax. TBH couldn't feel any difference in power, but it did "pop and bang" a couple of times. Could the timing be wrong now?

ChrisGB · August 30, 2006, 21:34

Quote from: "Emmanuel"a) I am amazed that you can tell the difference with just a tankful. I would assume it would take at least a couple of tankfuls for the ECU to "learn" the new fuel (even after a reset).

b) The VPower sold in the rest if Europe is not the same as the one we get here, just as BP's Ultimate is not the same. Both VPower and Ultimate are marked as 100 octaine fuel in the rest of Europe while VPower is 99 here and Ultimate is 98 (if I recall correctly). I'm guessing, the reason is probably the price given that, in most parts of Europe, 100 octaine fuels are cheaper than 95RON here.

Hi

I was very surprised myself. I have noticed the subtle differences between fuels over the years and my MR2 really ran very averagely on Optimax when I tried it. BP Ultimate and Tesco 99 suited it well, so they where what I was using. I filled from nearly empty with V-Power having been running Tesco 99 before and the difference was noticable and not subtle about half a mile down the road. This fuel really seems to suit my '2.

Chris

red_leicester · August 30, 2006, 22:44

Quote from: "ChrisGB"the difference was noticable and not subtle about half a mile down the road

In what way ?

ChrisGB · August 30, 2006, 23:28

Quote from: "red_leicester"
Quote from: "ChrisGB"the difference was noticable and not subtle about half a mile down the road

In what way ?

Improved part throttle response in mid range.
Improved full throttle response all the way through.
Particularly noticable improvement above 5000 rpm.

Seemed to do all the stuff Optimax was supposed to do but never did for me in any car.

Could not put it into figures for you, but for the extra cost of your next tankful it is cheap enough to find out if it suits your car.

Chris

Anonymous · August 31, 2006, 21:44

I'm going to give this a go. Like you I've found tesco 99ron very good in my car (although the unichip was tuned on 98ron i think).
If it's as good as you say I'd also pay for the unichip to be remapped.

mg · August 31, 2006, 22:29

Just ran 103 miles today on a full tank of V-Power. The only difference I could detect between Optimax and V-Power was a slight lighter feeling in my wallet. Performance wise, just the same, although I was probably getting better speed as I was carrying less weight... s:D

s:D Ahh! that's what they mean by better performance!

red_leicester · August 31, 2006, 22:33

Of all the brands of petrol I've used in my 2 (BP Ultimate, Optimax, Texaco 95, Shell 95, Sainsbury's) I haven't noticed a difference at all.

But I am still standard in the engine department.

Thought it was supposed to make a difference to chipped/turboed cars though mg ?

Tem · August 31, 2006, 23:00

Quote from: "red_leicester"Thought it was supposed to make a difference to chipped/turboed cars though mg ?

I don't think it makes a big difference, unless you change your tune to match it or your current tune is aggressive enough to give knock on worse fuel.

Here's my earlier post about this:

Quote from: "Tem"I'm using that and wouldn't touch worse stuff anymore. I'd say it's useless on a stock car though. But a turbo engine tuned for 99 octane allowed 2-3 degree more advance with less knock on V-power. (or more boost, if you wish and your engine can take it)

In more details, I used to get max knock values of +50 (PFC) with 99 octane and the same map with V-power kept the knock below 20. After advancing the ignition 2-3 degrees around the map, I'm still only seeing knock values of 20-something.

I also gained some power according to Dataloglab, but I don't trust it enough to say any numbers out loud.

mg · August 31, 2006, 23:31

Quote from: "red_leicester"Thought it was supposed to make a difference to chipped/turboed cars though mg ?

I guess what I was trying to say is I could not tell the difference in 1 RON. As the TTE is tuned for 98 RON. I could cycle the ECU and maybe it would pick up the difference and it would show, I don't know. For me, the biggest change in performance I see is on cool days...

Technically you have to be running a car with an ECU that will advance the timing with a higher RON fuel to get anything out of Optimax/V-Power (don't know about the secret blend of herbs & spices they add to 'clean' the valves)

I did not realise that the higher RON value actually means the petrol burns less easily (to prevent knock). Learn something new every day...