Shell VPower diesel

[PaulDH]

Hopefully some people might reply to this thread - new to this place and started 2 other threads with no replies

I know the diesel comparison talks have already done the rounds but I wanted some quick feedback on VPower diesel as I sussed out yesterday that I have a Shell garage round the corner from work that sells it.

Humour me this time ey guys

 

[AoS]

I tried it the other day put £32 in the tank as I had a 3 day training course in Fareham, so there and back 80 miles and I have to say the car felt a lot better running, very responsive...
I can never be sure how much of that is, cos in my mind I have V power Diesel so its gotta feel different!
I would use it all the time, but the nearest Shell garage that sells it is Horsham which in 25 miles away!

 

[~craig~]

I tried it the other day put £32 in the tank as I had a 3 day training course in Fareham, so there and back 80 miles and I have to say the car felt a lot better running, very responsive...
I can never be sure how much of that is, cos in my mind I have V power Diesel so its gotta feel different!
I would use it all the time, but the nearest Shell garage that sells it is Horsham which in 25 miles away!

where abouts are you AoS? I'm in Portslade so probably not too far away.

 

[Xe]

Is this any better the BP Ultimate? <-- Which is all I have used for 1 year.

 

[AoS]

where abouts are you AoS? I'm in Portslade so probably not too far away.

Hi ~craig~, I'm in Angmering village, between Littlehampton (LA) and Worthing(Beirut)... the nice bit

 

[MrJonathan]

How much is it? Have yet to see it in any of the Shells I use

 

[PaulDH]

Apparently 6p or so over regular diesel

In a bit of a quandry as whether to start using V Power diesel or use regular diesel with an additive (Millers). What do you think? I know some people are using the good diesel and Millers but are both really necessary? Might ask a techy at Seat dealer on Thursday morning when the car is in, see what they think.

Don't mind paying 6p per litre more for V Power diesel if over the course of time it will help keep all the system in better condition. It is mainly town driving I do so I would have thought there could be more buildup over time. Not really bothered about performance improvement.

 

[~craig~]

Hi ~craig~, I'm in Angmering village, between Littlehampton (LA) and Worthing(Beirut)... the nice bit

Ha-ha good comparison i've only just moved down here so I don't know the areas very well anyway.

 

[markfranklin]

Paul,

I drive a Golf TDI at the moment (just waiting to switch over to Leon FR TDI). The wife drives a petrol Puma.

I have tried the BP Ultimate Diesel on occasion and can report, honestly, absolutely no difference at all.

However, my wife started using Shell Optimax (petrol) some years ago, and says that she had to use about 8-10 consecutive fillups before she noticed a difference - and now she will not use anything else, gets better economy, performance, smoother running, etc.

I would reckon this is probably true with the super-diesels (BP and Shell) but personally I have not given them the chance. I arrive at the pump and see the£1+ price tag, get a cold shiver then use normal diesel!

When I get hold of the Leon, I will begin with normal then move over to the super for an extended period to test it out.

Do let us know what you find!

 

[MarkE]

Didn't know there was a V-Power diesel available. I'll have to seek it out sometime.

Started using BP Ultimate a while back. At first glance it seems really expensive but if you look at it as around £2.50 per tank it's not really all that much more.

Very difficult to give it an unbiased review when you know that it's in the tank but I'm convinced the car seems a little smoother (as in less rough and dieselly, no noticeable difference to the power delivery).

 

[jonjay]

I used V-Power on a tank full. Havent noticed any difference to the Extra variant...Gonna fill her up again in 2 weeks or so...lets hope it makes the car more reponsive/smoother.

 

[MrJonathan]

I went through a stage of just filling up with BP Ultimate but never really felt the car behaved differently or noticed any real change in mpg so went back to Shell with some Millers.
As said, £2-3 for a tank isnt that much more and worth a try I reckon. Having said that I got some Esso diesel the other day out of necessity and the car drives really well on it so may pop back there again

 

[JonoUK]

I've only had 3/4 of a tank of Esso something or other diesel in mine so far. Don't think there was anything special about it. It's only done about 250 miles, and the needle's saying it's between 1/2 and 3/4 full.

All the toyotas I've driven (lots) did about 50000 miles between full and half and once they got to the halfway point managed about 5 miles between half and empty. Ok slight over-exaggeration there, but you get the point.

What's the leon like for fuel needle accuracy? I've read the trip computer's a big fat liar sometimes, and I can't really remember what's been said about mpg computer... I seem to be getting about 44mpg average on my 35 mile jaunt into work on mostly A roads and about 2 or 3 miles of sat in traffic/20/30mph at each end and a bit of 30 in the middle. Well that's according to the mpg thingy. Haven't yet bothered to make a spreadsheet so I can work it out.

I would quite like to see how many miles it gets to its first full tank, but on the other hand I don't want to run out of the stuff. I'll probably fill it up when it says I can only do ~50 miles on the computer. That way I'll have about 15 miles of leeway if it's lying.

Obviously I'm driving it pretty gently since I'm running it in - manual says to, lots of people say otherwise, but I think i'll err on the side of caution for now.

Any point in putting some vpower in at this stage, or not - because while stuff's bedding in I guess my mpg will be pretty rubbish compared to when it's all run in nicely?

 

[MrJonathan]

I know what you mean about half to empty that seems to disappear quicker! I get all the miles out the first half and the other half, well, not as good but hey..

Currently done 450 miles and have got just under the quarter mark left but this will prob be used up around town and not on the M25 as most of the 450 was, so wouldn’t expect too much over 500 out the tank.
Millers was added to the Esso so maybe its just a good combo as it hasn’t really put a foot wrong and was getting mid 50's on my average the other week. I know what that reads isn’t gospel but yeah, it’s 'felt' good on it. Once empty I will work it out more accurately as she hasn’t had a good run like she has had recently so maybe that accounts for the 'feel' - giving it plenty of beans in 3rd coming off the M25 onto the A3 every other day has def cleared the tubes!

(Mk1 Cupra TDI btw)

 

[JonoUK]

Ah well looks like I won't be getting any VPower for a while, at least not until it's rolled out nationally. There's nowhere even remotely near that sells it.

Guess I'll look into this millers stuff.

 

[Mfreeman]

Anyone know what the cetane (sp?) rating is for the Shell V-Power Diesel?

I use BP ultimate which is guranteed to be 55, but can't find what the shell stuff is...

Cheers