V Power! The petrol sort

[AckAckFlack]

Hiya all
been doing an experiment recently.
Have done 4 full tanks full of miles on shell v Power
and the same on standard fuel (again shell)

The conclusion is that there is no power performance benefits and what's more I did 2 miles to the gallon less on the V power.

Yeh ok I know I am SAD.... And also have less in my bank account now as it is more expensive.
I used V power in a S320 merc and it really did make a differnce to a more smooth engine run and also it gave me 4 or so mpg more .

[jasonbc]

Hiya all
been doing an experiment recently.
Have done 4 full tanks full of miles on shell v Power
and the same on standard fuel (again shell)

The conclusion is that there is no power performance benefits and what's more I did 2 miles to the gallon less on the V power.

Yeh ok I know I am SAD.... And also have less in my bank account now as it is more expensive.
I used V power in a S320 merc and it really did make a differnce to a more smooth engine run and also it gave me 4 or so mpg more .

I did the same thing a few years ago and found no difference i did find a bit of a difference using standard unleaded and putting a cap full of Silkolene Proboost in the tank but even then the difference was marginal and not worth the effort

[Mabels Old Man]

Bike magazine came to the same conclusion. They did it using a dyno.

[Paul-S]

But V Power is a great benefit to the petrol company

[Wee Jack]

If you run a carb engine you will not notice any difference in mpg between 98Ron and 95Ron because the jets are set and static - however you should get better mpg with the 98Ron with a modern FI system. I used to get about 5% better MPG with VPower with the KTM990. The sensors in the system can detect the higher calorific value and adjust the oxygen mix to suit - thereby reducing the ratio of fuel to air for the same performance.

The "feel" is subjective and depends on the state of tune of your engine - with an engine in a relatively low state of tune - like Honda V twins , you probably will not notice any significant difference , but if you have a highly tuned engine you may "feel" a difference in smoothness etc due to the efficiency of the burn.

However - the 5% improvement in MPG did not justify the 10% difference in cost !!!! ...................... Now all of the above is fact ..........

But - and this is only hearsay, sometimes Shell stations sell high octane at a simmilar price to the regular - I have been told that 98 Ron deteriorates in storage tanks and often when it is served to you it is has deteriorated to nearer 95Ron and so to satisfy trading standards the price is equalised - but as I say - this is only what I've been told !!

[dysan]

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.

My 300zx is supposed to run on only 98 being an import, but it seems to run fine on 95, no pinking. I'm too tight for 1.20 a litre.

[tramp]

The real difference with V power be it petrol or the diesel variety is its got a lot more cleaning addatives than std shell fuel so handy to clean the injectors of stored bikes after a winter in the blanket

We use it in bought second hand vehicles to clean all that supermarket crap out after 2 tanks ythe engines really run smoother then back to std shell for me.

[Gregger]

Well I just put 50L Of V Power diesel in my car!
wait out!

[AckAckFlack]

Great replies. My Vara is a carb version so it makes sense about why it. Is no better and indeed worse mpg.

Interesting note about supermarket petrol. I have had several tankfulls of dirty petrol from supermarkets and now only us then to 'get me home' fills if I can't find a station.

[jarl]

What's wrong with supermarket petrol? I always use it, I'm tempted to say no bad effects but I've just remembered that sometimes the bike (carb'd transalp) feels rough, and sometimes it feels silky smooth- dodgy petrol quality issues?