Shell V-Power Diesel. Thoughts?

[Dave H]

I found a petrol station with V Power Diesel for the first time (Edinburgh), paid £1.069!! was 6p more than Diesel Extra. Although I have been running with Diesel Extra and Millers Sport for a few months, i decided to top up half tank with V Power Diesel plus the regular dose of Millers medicine as prescribed.

Once the engine is up to temperature the car appears to handle and drive better than just the diesel + millers (already), and obviously smoother than simply Diesel Extra on its own. I do believe that it cleans the engine, but Im currently testing the economy, ie driving considerately to see how many miles I can get from the full tank. I have recorded a high of 615 miles from using Diesel Extra + Millers. I have recorded a high of 585 miles with using Diesel Extra, although some time ago. In both cases, I could of squeezed more miles out of it, but needed to top up.

I am unsure whether the extra cost for Vpower is worth it? I might stay with diesel extra + millers. A few more months of experimenting with V Power Diesel and V Power Diesel + Millers ahead I think Its like a hobby lol

 

[asthpsw]

Has anyone noticed any change in how well their engine starts ?..............Using Ultimate it used to fire up at the turn of the key..........(like at petrol)..........with V Power it takes a few more seconds of cranking & then when it fires up its like its about to stall (it never does) & lot of white smoke (which confuses me as I thought V Power was a cleaner burn).

I blamed it originally on the Battery (see thread elsewhere re "Alternator") in that it was like the battery "just" had enough power to start the engine……………anyway the new alternator has been on for a couple of weeks now.

Sometimes I blamed it on myself………….in that I thought I'd not let the glow plug light go out before cranking the engine…………..but even doing that its still got the same symptoms.

Having said that I may have a problem with the Engine Water Temp sensor as sometimes glow plugs go on for ages (& its warm outside) & other times Glow plugs hardly go on (& its cold outside)

Paul

 

[Dave H]

Has anyone noticed any change in how well their engine starts

I do. I have similar symtpoms of stuttering start up and also thought my battery is on its way out, but then it may be due to damp cold mornings. I have also noticed that my mileage is no where near what it was when just using Diesel + millers. (I have just had 4 new conti tyres, but wouldnt have thought reduction so much)

Car runs smoother, quieter and more responsive than ever.
But having went about my business relatively careful, ie 70mph on motorway without hard excelleration, I had only about 250 miles to my half tank where as before I was 300miles half tank.

The jury is out, on the extra 6p/litre of fuel!

 

[glynnd]

I got a bit alarmed about how far i got to a tank of fuel with or without millers and the best I have ever got is 480 to the low fuel light on. Needless to say I cannot get that now and it seems to average about 440 to the light, this being 50/50 town and steady commute of 22 miles to work. So I cant get anywhere close to 550/600 that some of you are getting. Mine is also well serviced and in good running order. Also mine runs lumpy for a few seconds from start up leon cupra tdi 04 regd
Glynn

 

[asthpsw]

So anyone else had the start up problems ? Will be interesting to see how many & therefore if it can be put down to V-Power ?

Paul

 

[RichieRich]

mine doesnt always like to start with the flick of the key sometimes takes a second or two and then runs lumpy sometimes...(never have run V-power) i normally use BP ultimate as no shell near me.. were do u guys get this millers stuff you talk of?

 

[jonjay]

Its the very cold weather that makes the car start up lumpy. I was originally against V-Power however I stuck with it and 3-4 tank fills later i don't dare put anything else. Car just runs so much better with it now the ECU has adapted.

People should expect immediate results after a tank full. Takes the ECU 2-3 it to notice its there!

 

[daveyonthemove]

Now shell extra costs what V-power did cost, i'm definatly going down that route!
Still getting 570ish with the cold weather, so i'm happy.

 

[ChrisGTL]

Halfrauds now stock Millers Sport 4 because of it's popularity. Halfrauds initialy wanted to stock MDPS-4 in 180 stores but after stocking it for 2-3 weeks they increased the number of sotres stocking it to 260 odd.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/...rumb_33958-31345-58755_parentcategoryrn_58760

I shall be trying this out when I fill my car up for the 1st time.

 

[M6ccy69]

been using bp ultimate now for around 3 or 4 weeks, defo quicker to normal diesel & it hardly smokes at all. Although the price go`s up everyday i`m sure, at 111.9p a litre it hurts me every time.

 

[Fishy]

If people are going to use this in a big way, you're better off doing a bulk purchase deal with a supplier.

Thats what we used to do.

Fish

 

[RichieRich]

and how do you do that?

 

[daveyonthemove]

www.fasteronline.co.uk sell two bottles at a good price. Just buy 2 every few months and save a couple of quid per bottle.

 

[jonjay]

Yea I got bummed by Shell last night at 111.9p per litre!

 

[Fishy]

and how do you do that?

I'll not mention the company that we used as the admins get all moody about such things.

But a few of us would get together and buy a couple of cases at a time.

Fish

 

[RichieRich]

111.9 a liter? its 109.9 here for normal! suit yourself lucky lol

 

[asthpsw]

Well after 12 Tankfulls I'm convinced that V-Power is effecting the Ease of Starting, this morning it did actually stall (first time)…….it started, ran for a few seconds stopped……………never had it before………………..wondering if the Cetane rating is as high as we think ?...............ie the starting ability when I was on Ultimate was like a petrol car.

Paul

 

[jonjay]

All cars do it and its not the fuel!

It is 0 degrees at night so of course the car is going to struggle in the morning.

 

[asthpsw]

Well it was +7 when I started this morning..............prior I've not had a problem at -7DegC............& I needed to go out in the middle of the night on a quick start.................as I say its 12 tankfulls since using it which is approx 24 weeks of useage so when I started using it we were still in the summer & what I'm saying is I've noted this since changing from Ultimate..................I'm just hoping there are other benefits to V-Power

 

[asthpsw]

I went out short while ago............its +10DegC & had exactly the same problem...........didn't occur to me this morning but I filled up with V-Power yesterday afternoon & this morning was the first restart after that.................& its the first tankfull for 2-3 weeks..........just wondering if they've moved to a winter grade & as a result maybe not so "ingnitable" (ie like a lower Cetane rating) because of the additives that would be added to stop the gelling effect of Diesel in the cold. Is this the first Winter since V-Power Diesel released on the forecourts ?

Paul