BP Ultimate over Shell V-Power (Diesel) ?

lordrobs · 2 May 2019 at 11:59

jpaul said:
so true ... you must have a high ape index , or a high car, to do it w/o jacking ... even with dedicated oil capture pan laser aligned before, have still had some accidents.

I suck the oil out of the dipstick hole :eek:

robj20 · 2 May 2019 at 12:17

Thread title needs changing.

Avalon · 27 May 2019 at 19:51

Lumeycom said:
You need to understand that 'premium' diesels are not a separate product to 'normal' diesels like super unleaded is, it is merely the same base grade of diesel with a double shot of additive in it (it still a TINY amount, i cant give figures but its still way less that 100ppm). Yes it might affect the cetane rating etc but its very very marginal and imo not worth it.

There is only one supermarket derv that has no additive that I know of (the ones who like to think they are a 'market' /cough)

(Source - Its my job, not internet hearsay and marketing nonsense)

It was the same with petrol last I knew, Shell's premium fuel was in different storage to everything else - the base stock for that was entirely different. Everything else just depended on the card swiped as to what additive package went into the base fuel. I believe Shell were blending GTL into the higher end diesel product, I know they are offering a full GTL product at Liverpool port this year, not heard anything about a wider roll-out.

Scania · 28 May 2019 at 07:55

Well, a few months into my ownership it (my 1.6 diesel Focus) seems to have settled on 53mpg overall and I’ve noticed it’s producing far less smoke than it did when I first bought it, it seems to have stopped continuous attempts at DPF regeneration as well.

I’ve used VPower diesel since I bought it, it’s either helping or it’s purely coincidence.

robj20 · 28 May 2019 at 07:57

Scania said:
Well, a few months into my ownership it (my 1.6 diesel Focus) seems to have settled on 53mpg overall and I’ve noticed it’s producing far less smoke than it did when I first bought it, it seems to have stopped continuous attempts at DPF regeneration as well.

I’ve used VPower diesel since I bought it, it’s either helping or it’s purely coincidence.

Is it broke. My 2.0 Mondeo is getting 66+ at the minute.
I definitely get higher mpg figures when i use additives. So premium should definitely help.

Scania · 28 May 2019 at 08:03

robj20 said:
Is it broke. My 2.0 Mondeo is getting 66+ at the minute.
I definitely get higher mpg figures when i use additives. So premium should definitely help.

Don’t think so, it rarely gets out of town which doesn’t help, it averaged 65 mpg on the journey back from Chester when I bought it, my partners old 12 plate model (which she owned from 5 to 50k Miles) averaged 55 overall.

I’ve read changing the fuel filter can help mpg with these so may give this a try at some point.

robj20 · 28 May 2019 at 08:19

Scania said:
Don’t think so, it rarely gets out of town which doesn’t help, it averaged 65 mpg on the journey back from Chester when I bought it, my partners old 12 plate model (which she owned from 5 to 50k Miles) averaged 55 overall.

I’ve read changing the fuel filter can help mpg with these so may give this a try at some point.

Town driving is fair enough. Driving through Manchester traffic drops mine to about 60.

jpaul · 28 May 2019 at 17:10

Manchester traffic is not as bad as Cambridge then, thought it had #1 slot o/s London.

I would still be concerned by the Redex alternative, you empty this expensive can in the full tank, does it genuinely mix in well ?

Diagro · 29 May 2019 at 05:51

Psycho Sonny said:
Costco get their fuel from the same refinery / supplier as Tesco and apparently it's the same mix. May be worth giving it a go

Costco changed to 97ron unleaded this year.

They no longer offer 99 Ron.

Their fuel comes from same supplier as Esso now.

robj20 · 29 May 2019 at 06:36

jpaul said:
Manchester traffic is not as bad as Cambridge then, thought it had #1 slot o/s London.

I would still be concerned by the Redex alternative, you empty this expensive can in the full tank, does it genuinely mix in well ?

I put 50ml in the empty tank then fill up, don't use Redex. Archoil AR6900-D Max buy it in 1 litre bottles, works out at about £1 per tank.

jpaul · 29 May 2019 at 07:32

robj20 said:
I put 50ml in the empty tank then fill up, don't use Redex. Archoil AR6900-D Max buy it in 1 litre bottles, works out at about £1 per tank.

ok - I had though whole can was necessary, but maybe you get same effect as V-power with smaller quantity
... I was using redex as a generic name , and would purchase Archoil

Psycho Sonny · 29 May 2019 at 09:11

Diagro said:
Costco changed to 97ron unleaded this year.

They no longer offer 99 Ron.

Their fuel comes from same supplier as Esso now.

i did notice that last time i filled up. the ron was less. is it 95 and 97 they do now?

Diagro · 29 May 2019 at 09:33

Psycho Sonny said:
i did notice that last time i filled up. the ron was less. is it 95 and 97 they do now?

Yea, 97 and 95.

Which is a real shame, as I used to fill up when I popped in for stuff.
Not any more

snapdragon69 · 10 Jun 2019 at 08:49

Diagro said:
Costco changed to 97ron unleaded this year.
They no longer offer 99 Ron.
Their fuel comes from same supplier as Esso now.

Around here (midlands) COSTCO fuel comes from Greenergy and it is their standard blend to keep costs down and ordering flexibilty - Greenergy also supply Sainsburys and TESCO around here, Greenergy also supply hundreds of ESSO stations. What blend these all use I don't know but I would assume all but ESSO use their standard blend..

I read COSTCO add a custom additive during delivery but I didn't see this during a delivery. I wondered if they added it at the start the mix would be really strong and if at the end, what about all those people filling up during the delivery who got no additive? Maybe I will email and ask.

The cheaper blends are 'cut' with EU-permissable waste products such as 5% bioethanol and now 1.5% biomethanol aswell. Under some EU scam (EU scam not industry scam) these are double-counted as renewables and waste recycling and they get rebates and incentives to try and limit the EU fines due in 2020.

Avalon · 10 Jun 2019 at 15:33

snapdragon69 said:
Around here (midlands) COSTCO fuel comes from Greenergy and it is their standard blend to keep costs down and ordering flexibilty - Greenergy also supply Sainsburys and TESCO around here, Greenergy also supply hundreds of ESSO stations. What blend these all use I don't know but I would assume all but ESSO use their standard blend..

I read COSTCO add a custom additive during delivery but I didn't see this during a delivery. I wondered if they added it at the start the mix would be really strong and if at the end, what about all those people filling up during the delivery who got no additive? Maybe I will email and ask.

The cheaper blends are 'cut' with EU-permissable waste products such as 5% bioethanol and now 1.5% biomethanol aswell. Under some EU scam (EU scam not industry scam) these are double-counted as renewables and waste recycling and they get rebates and incentives to try and limit the EU fines due in 2020.

The base fuel stock for every brand (excluding Shell’s premium petrol) is the same, it’s additive package (what makes it different) is added when it’s dispensed into the tanker compartment, it used to based on swipe cards used by the driver.

As to bio-ethanol it’s not a waste product, quite the opposite - it’s a natural progression for cleaner burning fuel that can be added to existing engines for the most part without any significant negative effects, same with the GTL and BD offerings.

snapdragon69 · 10 Jun 2019 at 17:29

Avalon said:
As to bio-ethanol it’s not a waste product, quite the opposite

It is a 'waste product' for accounting purposes The French lobbied hard to make virgin mollasses classed as a waste product from which they produce ethanol and can count it 5 times when used in road fuel. It's crackers.
https://www.euractiv.com/section/ag...les-will-increase-dependency-on-fossil-fuels/
https://www.euractiv.com/section/ec...-double-counting-renewables-must-be-rejected/

kissenger · 14 Nov 2021 at 20:41

Sorry to revive old thread but something that happened recently made me remember it.

I had a check engine light on my diesel RAV4 recently. Took it to my mechanic who couldn’t find a thing wrong with it. He asked me where I was buying my fuel and I told him my local supermarket and he was adamant I should be using ‘good quality’ fuel, IIRC he suggested BP or Esso. He said the fault I’d had would most likely not reappear if I switched to a better fuel.

Anyone experienced anything like that before? Having problems on ‘low quality’ fuel? I’m a bit sceptical but this is a really good mechanic.

Avalon · 14 Nov 2021 at 20:59

kissenger said:
Sorry to revive old thread but something that happened recently made me remember it.

I had a check engine light on my diesel RAV4 recently. Took it to my mechanic who couldn’t find a thing wrong with it. He asked me where I was buying my fuel and I told him my local supermarket and he was adamant I should be using ‘good quality’ fuel, IIRC he suggested BP or Esso. He said the fault I’d had would most likely not reappear if I switched to a better fuel.

Anyone experienced anything like that before? Having problems on ‘low quality’ fuel? I’m a bit sceptical but this is a really good mechanic.

MK2 D4D? When it happens again, start with cleaning the MAF, then replacing the fuel filter, then testing/replacing the SCV’s or driver. It’s a ‘fun’ game to play

kissenger · 14 Nov 2021 at 21:44

Avalon said:
MK2 D4D? When it happens again, start with cleaning the MAF, then replacing the fuel filter, then testing/replacing the SCV’s or driver. It’s a ‘fun’ game to play

Thanks. It’s a 2010 facelift one. Just done the fuel filter. If it keeps giving me trouble it will be a trip to WBAC!

Dis86 · 14 Nov 2021 at 21:49

kissenger said:
Sorry to revive old thread but something that happened recently made me remember it.

I had a check engine light on my diesel RAV4 recently. Took it to my mechanic who couldn’t find a thing wrong with it. He asked me where I was buying my fuel and I told him my local supermarket and he was adamant I should be using ‘good quality’ fuel, IIRC he suggested BP or Esso. He said the fault I’d had would most likely not reappear if I switched to a better fuel.

Anyone experienced anything like that before? Having problems on ‘low quality’ fuel? I’m a bit sceptical but this is a really good mechanic.

I have a d4d. Recently posted about how it will only run on good fuel. Basically it has a variable vane turbo which gets clogged with coke deposits easily. Run it on premium fuels and it clears it and keeps it clear.
Also a bottle of turbo cleaner once in a while.