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Are premium brands of diesel worth it ? (e.g. BPU / Shell VP )

S

ship69

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'08 i-DTEC EX man 5D
Hi

I remember Fahad saying that the i-CDTi engine much prefers the better quality / premium diesels.

What is the consensus view on this?
Is it worth buying premium diesel and if so is it mainly about: does it ACTUALLY SAVE MONEY save money on fuel costs (via increased MPG) despite the increased cost of the premium fuel, or is it about better acceleration, and/or engine reliability... or what?

This Channel 5 documentary seems to prove improved power for both the premium brands (even though the testing methodology looks pretty crass to me!)
http://fwd.channel5.com/fifth-gear/videos/consumer-info/posh-diesel
But I am more interested in saving money overall... (via increased MPG) - which is not examined explicitly.
And it fails to test for how long the cleaning affect lasts.

If it is really about keeping the engine clean, then surely there are better/cheaper/more focused ways of acheiving this?

AND having cleaned out the engine do you really need to KEEP using the (rather expensive) stuff or can you get just as good results by using say one tank in 5 with the cleaning stuff in it?

And which is better between "BP Ultimate Diesel" and Shell V-Power?
http://www.bp.com/retail/ultimatearticlesection.do?categoryId=9036615&contentId=7067738

- Have any of you guys properly quantified/measured your experiences?

J
 
The answer is yes and you should really do a search and then add to the debate instead of starting it again. In a nutshell, when you calculate your total cost of ownership, look at the preventative maintenance benefits of VPower Diesel - it helps prevent major engine failures inc EGR valves, fuel systems and on cars fitted with them, DPF failures.
 
^Seconded :)
They do help in the ways that Fahad has stated above and in older cars you can feel the difference when using premium fuels compared to normal fuels
 
Wife' 125k mile Polo only runs on V Power petrol. My Beemer has only run on VP Diesel from the first tankful I gave it. I honestly believe in them so strongly after almost 10 years of using (what was previously Optimax).
 
I don't think it will work out cheaper if you really went into fine details, some people it might if they happen to sell the car 6 months before a failure that would otherwise have come up 1 month before selling - IYSWIM, but generally it won't save you much if any.

However, it's the best fuel around, as Fahad said before it's a blended GTL fuel which means it's partly Engineered and that Engineering makes it the best fuel you can put in the car - so why wouldn't you? Even at a higher cost I wouldn't risk putting something rubbish in my engine if there's a better alternative at more or less the same overall cost.
 
My on Going test shows they are cost neutral or 1p a mile more expensive.

So any other positive effects cost nothing.
 
Have to agree with the guys VPD is all i ever used in my old car.In my current car i use momenton 99 which is a very good premium fuel.
 
I used to do a lot of commuting and tried various premium brands of diesel I would rate them as follows in terms of overall performance gain and MPG:

1. Shell VP
2. BP Ultimate
3. Total Excellum

The only problem with the additional performance is that you get tempted to put your foot down more and thus counteracting some of the saving.

My old Audi used to be transformed when putting the VP in it. I dabbled with Veggy oil for a bit and was surprised at how well standard veggy oil performed.

Oh and all supermarket diesels are pretty poor IMO.
 
I only use VPD now. I've tried many derv brands, but Shell VPD is the best. The car's not smoky unless I put my foot down, and even then it's only grey. I also don't see much smoke trails in the headlights of cars behind me. Great fuel. As for MPG, it's about the same as other derv fuels. My latest MPG based on 52 litres of v power is 40, but that's a lot of town driving in third.

The fuel warning light comes on around the 52 litre mark and it's a 65 litre tank. There's plenty of fuel left in the car when the warning light comes on.
 
So far my experience of Shell VP has not been very impressive. It may do nice things to help my engine last a long time... but the MPG rates have not been very impressive. On the way North to Scotland I reserve judgement because it was VERY windy.
However on a tank-ful of Shell VP diesel, on a long (500+) mile journey back from Scotland yesterday I was averaging c75-80 (on the speedo) and getting 45-46MPG. However after put half a tank of "ordinary" diesel over the next 50-60 miles I found I seemed to be getting MORE mpg. More like 47.5 !

My intellect says this cant be true, but so far my personal experimental evidence appears to be mildly AGAINST Shell VP.

I was monitoring the MPG very carefully during the journey to see which way things were heading. One possibility is that the wind changed during my journey, but aside of that I do not thing Shall VP is helping. (Is it conceivable that in my personal case it could actually make MPG worse??)

J
 
It's an odd finding, and not what you'd expect. It could be you were driving differently without realising, or going more uphill on that stretch. Really we need to do a journey on one fuel with cruise control, then change fuel and do the same again. Even that's not very real world though.
 
You may need to use 3-4 tankfuls of Shell VPD before noticing a difference. Like Trev said it could also be other factors that you incurred on your journey.

You may want to also add some 2 stroke oil
laugh.gif


http://typeaccord.co.uk/forum/topic/7947-2-stroke-oil-in-your-ictdi/
 
Ship, once you go over the magic 2K barrier all bets are off. You were doing very well to get those figures. And if they were off the OBC then again, don't believe them.
 
Unfortunately this isn't an exact science and you need to stick to a regime that works best for you in terms for cost vs risk vs performance vs economy
 
I personally have never noticed any difference in economy between Shell ordinary and VPD, I always use VPD simply because I believe it's better for the cars injection system ( the thought of any part of the injection system going wrong makes me shudder ) .
 
I have always driven mine with OMV MaxxMotion Diesel. Not sure if you have that in the UK. Shell seems to have a really bad reputation here (Bulgaria)
 
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