V Power! The petrol sort

[bigmac888]

ON WEDNESDAY, MY DEAR OLD UNCLE RANG ME, JUST BROKEN DOWN NEAR BLUEWATER KENT, SAID HE JUST PUT £20.00 IN HIS TOYOTA!!

CAR PACK UP, BAD PETROL HE SAID, NO SUCH THING I SAID!! OH YES THERE IS , IT NOW APPEARS THE GARAGE HAD FILLED THERE UNDERGROUND TANK WITH DIESEL!!

WHEN THE RECOVERY MAN CAME ALONG , HE SAID DON'T TELL ME PUMP 5 GARAGE UP THE ROAD, HE WAS THE 5TH CALL OUT IN THE LAST HOUR,

YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOUR PUTTING YOUR TANK !!

[tramp]

basically supermarket fuel is from the nearest main refinery be it Esso,texaco or Bp. Like all garage`s its the same BASE fuel but they then add ther own special bits -THATS WHAT MAKES THE DIFFERENCE

like buying tesco own brand digestives and macvities some can tell the difference some cant.

The supermarkets bulk out there fuel with veg oil to increase profit margin were as the main stations use addatives ie , cleaners and octane improver`s.

Ask anyone with a old Astra/ PSA diesel if they run on supermarket fuel it smokes and chuggs along put Shell in it and they fly without the smoke.

Your choice but having covered over 100,000mls abroad/UK in my campers they hate supermarket diesel always top up with main stream diesel.

[japes1275]

AS WeeJack points out the higher the state of tune the more difference these fuels seem to make. On one test I saw the biggest difference (%) was with the most powerful car, a 911 turbo.

My hillclimb Sprite has a fairly well tuned A series which is about 11:1 compression ratio. That is quite high for an old engine without knock sensors etc and the V Power makes a big difference. Never tried it back to back on a dyno but on the track it definately helps. I also boost it up with Millers CLV which adds another 3 octane. I suppose that as the engine was set up on the dyno with V Power and Millers in it then that is why it doesn't run as well on normal fuel.

I tried some in the TA once but I couldnt tell the difference.

[jasonbc]

[QUOTE=dysan;446420]With the more modern systems the ECU has to be equipped with a suitable map to run 98ron. This is certainly the case in cars. Dunno about bikes tho.

QUOTE]

My wife's astra will run 95 & 98 ron with no problems and no difference in mpg and only slightly more responsiveness, my car is an oil burning tractor so can tell ( thats doesn't mean it's a 1150 gs either)

[StumpyFingers]

I have used Supermarket petrol and main stream petrol, I find the Transalp runs better on Shell at the moment.

[africajim]

The company I work for is a Shell distributor and can categorically advise petrol from the supermarkets up here is exactly the same stuff as we used to ship it up for them from Grangemouth until they got their own wagons.

Thanks for the post mate, very interesting comments on Shell V fuel. I've not tried it personally, too damned greedy! Some brands of the heating kerosene we sell has "additives" and some customers have commented it lasts longer than compeditors brands. Cleaner? Possibly? Better? Unsure, Last longer? Again, unsure.

Any way, Gleaner oils are cheapest in Moray this week! Buy it up! Ha ha!

On the downside, I have to go to an LPG emergency call out on Saturday morning first thing! In this snow? They'll be lucky!

[pdsquire]

Can this be true?

There's no mystery about the fuel station that put the wrong fuel in its underground tank, but apart from that, I just can't believe there is a noticeable difference.

First; domestic fuels are subject to regulations and random checks. If anyone was found to be selling petrol or diesel with kak in it there'd be whacking great fines.

Secondly; surely the point about carburettors is the last word: if the engine can't adjust, it can't use less of a richer fuel.

Third; where is it suggested the supermarkets buy their sub-standard fuels from? Refiners produce fuel to comply with EU and British standards and cannot and will not sell it unless and until it does. Are we supposed to believe that there's some arrangement whereby supermarket tankers pull up by the back door of the refinery and a shady bloke smoking roll-ups knocks out dodgy fuel in army-surplus tins?

The refinement process is exactly that. It refines the fuel and the process is entirely automated so that the fuel is re-refined until it is of saleable quality. The supermarkets probably don't add anything (and I'm not sure I want detergents in my fuel), but it has got to be nonsense to suggest that there's anything in supermarket fuel that will actually harm your engine. Hasn't it?

(I'll get me coat )

[Boris]

I'm with my learned friend here. I do seem to get the odd tank of fuel that seems a little different but it can come from anywhere and not just supermarkets.

[davsato]

ON WEDNESDAY, MY DEAR OLD UNCLE RANG ME, JUST BROKEN DOWN NEAR BLUEWATER KENT, SAID HE JUST PUT £20.00 IN HIS TOYOTA!!

CAR PACK UP, BAD PETROL HE SAID, NO SUCH THING I SAID!! OH YES THERE IS , IT NOW APPEARS THE GARAGE HAD FILLED THERE UNDERGROUND TANK WITH DIESEL!!

WHEN THE RECOVERY MAN CAME ALONG , HE SAID DON'T TELL ME PUMP 5 GARAGE UP THE ROAD, HE WAS THE 5TH CALL OUT IN THE LAST HOUR,

YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOUR PUTTING YOUR TANK !!

when my dad picked up his brand new peugeot a few years ago it ground to a halt after a mile, the dime bars had filled it with petrol instead of diesel. they quickly drained and changed it and he had no trouble with it ever, but left for a while the petrol wouldve eaten through every seal in the fuel system. petrol is a solvent, diesel is an oil, so the seals are different. diesel in a petrol car wont do much but smoke like hell, but petrol in a diesel, watch out!

this v-power stuff, for those who do actually notice the difference, does the increase in economy outweight the increase in price? ie, even if it is better is it worth it?

[AckAckFlack]

this v-power stuff, for those who do actually notice the difference, does the increase in economy outweight the increase in price? ie, even if it is better is it worth it?


For me and the merc s320 yes very much as I tended to run almost empty the fill up- made me cry as once it was £118,
the extra milage I got meant less fill ups -garage always busy, had to wait for grandma to sus out where the filler was n then select right pump, not to mention the long walk around the shop with tempting goodies like chocolate and the headband led torch!
Add to this the fact that it was a lot smoother on acceleration I much preferred it.
Now pound notes per miles...... Jury out on that. I can't factor in whether garage bills were less as it rarely needed anything doing except routine stuff.


Re supermarket petrol.... Maybe it is psycho per logical that you associate supermarkets with cheap and therefore poorer quality which jaded my mind.?