[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by aghate

From personal experience, I have used Shell V-Power Diesel and the normal diesel in my Mondeo. Initially I was getting 50 MPG on normal diesel. Once I started using V-Power the MPG jumped to 53. There was a noticeable difference in the amount of black smoke on harder accelerations.
.

That is a 6% increase. Which also means that the prices difference between the Shell V-Power and the normal diesel need to be less than 6%. Or it still works out more expensive!

Interestingly, at least here in Europe Shell does not make any claims of increase of fuel efficiency, only on cleaning and restoring engines to 100% of its original performance.

I would still argue that there was something wrong with your Mondeo for it to be such a noticeable difference in the first place.

Jeroen

[gururajrv]

They launched this petrol type at the most worst possible time! 100 bucks a liter - dayaaam! Perhaps, the big cars owners would be happy with this as it shouldn’t matter much to them. But the percentage of consumers might be between 5-15%?

When I started riding, the cost of fuel was 45 a liter in 2005! Look where we stand 15 years down the line

[aghate]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

That is a 6% increase. Which also means that the prices difference between the Shell V-Power and the normal diesel need to be less than 6%. Or it still works out more expensive!

Interestingly, at least here in Europe Shell does not make any claims of increase of fuel efficiency, only on cleaning and restoring engines to 100% of its original performance.

I would still argue that there was something wrong with your Mondeo for it to be such a noticeable difference in the first place.

Jeroen

Hi Jeroen,

Normal Diesel = Around £1.20 to £1.24
V Power = Around £1.39 to £1.45

So yes, the difference in price is more than 6%. There is nothing wrong with the Mondeo as I experienced this difference between an entire service cycle and 14k miles. To be precise, after the first service the MPG dropped from 53.2 to 52.7 in nearly the same driving conditions/route and is hovering around the same mark post another service. This is a 2010 car with 96k miles on the clock and I got it when it was 74k miles.

When the tank is full, I can confirm that the first quarter of a tank depletes in around 185-190 miles for normal diesel and about 220 miles with V Power. These are my practical observations and from the same fuel station(s). Unless there was some deep level scam in UK for fuel fill up with respective brand and type of fuel, there is no other way that I can think of for these numbers to be wrong. I refrain from any other brand of fuel as a general rule and stick to one as much as I can.

I tried the premium fuel after two different people from respective Shell stations quoted the increase in mpg and cleaner combustion, which is what I observed across a span of 2 years.


Regards,
aghate

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by aghate

So yes, the difference in price is more than 6%.

When the tank is full, I can confirm that the first quarter of a tank depletes in around 185-190 miles for normal diesel and about 220 miles with V Power. These are my practical observations and from the same fuel station(s). Unless there was some deep level scam in UK for fuel fill up with respective brand and type of fuel, there is no other way that I can think of for these numbers to be wrong. I refrain from any other brand of fuel as a general rule and stick to one as much as I can.

Thanks for that confirmation.
In all honesty there is nothing that would explain a difference of 6% based on chemical and or thermodynamics. But I am very happy for you to observe these numbers.

Even unconsciously hoping you would get some advantages from putting a premium fuel in your car, might unconsciously affect your right foot. Which has a far bigger impact on fuel efficiency. You own comment of “nearly” the same driving conditions/route is a bit of a give away already.

Never use the fuel gauge as a measure, always record odometer reading versus liters/gallons used/filled. The reading error at any mark is already far more than 6%. Your car fuel gauge is likely to show half full, with a bandwidth of several liters giving the, apparent, same reading. The scale is just too small.

So the problem remains that there is very little in terms of real reliable, significant, test data to come to any conclusion. Other than from a financial point of view its best to stick to regular.

Proper Comparison Testing of fuel efficiency and engine wear (or contamination) is a notoriously difficult and long and therefor very costly. It is simply not possible for individuals, not even car magazines, to come up with anything credible.

Enjoy your car and your premium fuel! Don’t be alarmed if you run into people, or find posts on internet forums that show the same improvement of guys switching from your beloved Shell to BP. Or to a different fuel, or even much more improvements.

That is just the nature of PR gimmicks.

Jeroen

[aghate]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Proper Comparison Testing of fuel efficiency and engine wear (or contamination) is a notoriously difficult and long and therefor very costly. It is simply not possible for individuals, not even car magazines, to come up with anything credible.
Jeroen

To that I agree 100%. Honestly, I am not much into average mpg/kmpl myself, just that I found the topic interesting and thought of sharing my experience.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by aghate

To that I agree 100%. Honestly, I am not much into average mpg/kmpl myself, just that I found the topic interesting and thought of sharing my experience.

Excellent and thanks for that.

I think the real value of a forum such as this is, we can discuss car topics from multiple directions, point of view, thoughts, experience and insights. Personal experience is always relevant. Never mind what the PR gimmick is, or the theory says, or the expert research says.

If it is a pleasant experience, it will enhance our overall car experience.

It is a very interesting topic, with as many different thoughts and experiences as there are post on all the car forums!

I have switched to premium petrol fuel for all my (classic) cars. For now other reason that here in Europe all our regular petrol (Oct 95) are E10 and many older cars don’t do well on these high ethanol content in these fuel.

Shell, BP, Esso and one or two others still have an premium variant (Oct 98)on sales as well. Although labelled as E5 it is guaranteed to have zero ethanol in it.

I can’t say I have noticed any difference of performance on my three cars. But I have some friends that claim to see huge fuel efficient and acceleration improvements. The Jaguar XJR (X308) crows is all cheering for BP98 Ultimate and would rather take a bicycle before putting anything else in their Jags.

I actually use it too for my Jaguar, Alfa and Mercedes. For no other reason than the aforementioned lack of ethanol. Also, it happens to be the nearest Petrol station where I can get ethanol free petrol. On top of that this particular Petrol station is also known as having the lowest prices in all of the Netherlands.

So if anything I have a financial advantage. Relative speaking though.

Jeroen

[WhiteSierra]

I came across this video by a Car Mechanic YouTuber, Chris Fix. He cleared all the myths about high octane fuel and gave information regarding different fuel grades needed to be used by different cars. Interesting video, please do watch it.


What is the BEST Fuel to Use in Your Car or Truck and WHY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb5VfiFy0kY

[condor]

The IOC bunk here has one dispenser marked XP100:

https://goo.gl/maps/wNL5ggENah9xfPZF9

Originally Posted by gururajrv

When I started riding, the cost of fuel was 45 a liter in 2005! Look where we stand 15 years down the line

Not a very valid point, though I can see a bit of what you are trying to say. However, when I started riding, petrol was in single digits . So what should guys like me say ? Back then, the rare pump actually had 93 octane at a few paise more than regular, and I used to fill up my bike with this potion.

[Venkatesh]

Indian Oil’s 100 octane petrol slated to be available in 16 cities from January 2021. The company is also planning to increase the 91 octane rating of regular petrol by 2023.

The high-end, niche segment in India is getting cultivated like never before. These customers are demanding 100 octane fuel,” said Vaidya. “So it is not only a statement, but also a business proposition.”

Despite costing a steep Rs 160 per litre in Delhi, the XP100 has seen an “encouraging response”, and the senior executive expects the demand to improve owing to the nature of the segment. “Frankly, the segment for which we have launched this product will be looking less at the price, and more at the enhanced performance. Owners of high-end cars or bikes will have a much better driving experience (with the 100 octane petrol),” he said

Source

[Turbanator]

With the difference in price of HP-99 and XP-100 around Rs 25, I decided to splurge

Got filled 60 ltrs for a sum of INR 9600. I recently saw some you tube videos, people pay even higher in Germany at pumps around Autobahn’s (2 euro +), so that was comforting.

I got filled from COCO- Niti Marg and also got a chance to speak to company officials. As per them, unlike HP, IOCL refines the fuel differently instead of adding additives. But they could not share any written info. I plan to write an email asking to share more details. They also gave me an IOL diary.

My car did felt different ( definitely not placebo) as the easiest way is to make out from the exhaust note. Fuel mileage is definitely higher as I was super slow on the accelerator ( still not got over the fuel price shock)

[Rachit.K.Dogra]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

My car did felt different ( definitely not placebo) as the easiest way is to make out from the exhaust note. Fuel mileage is definitely higher as I was super slow on the accelerator ( still not got over the fuel price shock)

I finally tried the XP100 too in my CBR650F. I got it from the Gurgaon IOC bunk which is near Guru Dronacharya Metro station.

Honestly, I felt a difference too. I generally fill 93 Octane in my bike and have tried 97 Octane for a couple of months too. The difference between 93 and 97 Octane, I could not feel.
But with this, I definitely felt a difference. The bike felt a bit more eager, the exhaust was crisper and in general the bike felt perceivably smoother too.

I am yet to decide on whether it is worth 70 RS a liter extra or not. One theory which my friend has and which makes sense is that at this price very few people will buy it, which means chances of old fuel lying in their fuel tanks is real.

Rachit

[Bibendum90949]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

My car did felt different ( definitely not placebo) as the easiest way is to make out from the exhaust note. Fuel mileage is definitely higher as I was super slow on the accelerator ( still not got over the fuel price shock)

Hello Turbanator, Which car did you fill the XP100 with?

[dealer]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

My car did felt different ( definitely not placebo) as the easiest way is to make out from the exhaust note. Fuel mileage is definitely higher as I was super slow on the accelerator ( still not got over the fuel price shock)

It's great to hear that you could notice a difference using XP100 compared to your regular fuel choice. I will be filling up with XP100 next time and will collect datalogs to see the differences between power99 and XP100 and also answer if the differences are worth the 25₹ extra

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by GTO

Making matters worse is the fact that the powerful cars needing 100 Octane petrol will be delivering 2 kmpl. That's a fuel cost of 80 bucks a km

Not 2 kmpl but pretty close. Honestly, feeling guilty to spend money like this.

Thankfully tried only with 30 ltrs.

[dealer]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Not 2 kmpl but pretty close. Honestly, feeling guilty to spend money like this.

Thankfully tried only with 30 ltrs.

Is this the fuel economy on your M4?