Super interesting test you've made here. Well I guess it heavily depends on the diesel engine and its ECU. My ol' Golf Mk3 convertible loves OMV Ultimate (non HVO, non GVO, liquid to gas diesel). It performs better and it runs extremly smooth. Ppl even told me that on parking lots and so on xD (other premium diesels are good too but not that good). The biggest changes actually came from using it over at least 10 full fuel tanks worth of driving. It is my daily (and stock!) and it occasionally gets the beans as well. :DDD It has a fairly simple ECU (TDI gen 1995 - motor code 1Z) and it takes what it gets and tries to avoid the smoking A/F ratio. That's it. Then it limits the torque (to 202Nm) and the boost to 0,9bar. Whatever happens else, highly depends on the fuel. Newer diesel will have way more controlling and managing stages, which could dampen the advantages of a way better diesel, at least that'd be my guess. And on "racing diesels" I can' t be asked xD Thanks for the test - cheers DIESEL POWER !!!
My 09' 1.9tdi pd BXE has been getting Hydra DPB100 for around 6 and a bit years, since 2017 when I first bought the car. It was sluggish and jittering under throttle so I assumed it was gunk in the injectors etc. It's been working perfectly ever since. No issues with the turbo or fuel pumps, I think there's a tandem pump3on my engine isn't there? Anyway all good, I'm not seeing any changes at all in fuel economy and I don't floor it everywhere, but still I've stuck with the Hydra additive and cheaper diesel, which is cheaper than so called premium diesel, so I'm happy overall. I hope to book my car in with you soon, after I knock a couple of much needed jobs off the to-do list. Great channel and thanks for your hardwork and passion for diesel engines of the VAG variety. 👊
I never noticed the difference with V-power petrol in my cars. But with V-power diesel on my 1.6tdi Fiesta i get around 10-15mpg more over regular diesel. Engine is smoother too.
Need to stick the car on the Dyno and then tune to the fuel and see what can be achieved. Rather than sticking the fuel in and seeing what power can be produced.
Your base fuel comes usually from the local refinery. It makes sense logistically when you think about it. In Southampton for example, the local refinery is the Exxon (Esso) refinery at Fawley. So you will see Shell, Mobil, Total, ASDA, Tesco etc tankers rocking up to fuel up. The drivers then add a particular additive package to the tank. By the time the lorry has been around a couple of roundabouts on the A326 it is considered "mixed to perfection". However the base fuel for them all is Esso. Only the additive package differentiates them.
The fuel is refined to a BS standard anyway to meet the B7 biodiesel pump fuel grade. They can't sell it to forecourts and franchises otherwise. But you're correct, in that a driver of a tanker will usually have additive in the tank before loading or post loading at a transfer station. I did a delivery to Fawley refinery last week.
@@Lorenzo_Velasquez Will just be the name. The only real difference is the additives that are added in tank on the forecourt or at collection. For diesels, these only help reduce the gel point to improve burn and reduce carbon build up, help prevent gelling in the injectors, fuel filter and the pump (especially in cold temperatures).
When will people understand that Premium Diesel has never been about Performance gains. its all about keeping your engine in top condition. Ive ran my BMW 120d M Sport with 202,000 miles, ALWAYS used Shell V Power Diesel, Engine in prime condition, DPF not clogged once, Injectors are running clean and free. With premium diesel its less about performance gains and far more about longevity of the mechanical parts with the use of detergents that are blended with the fuel.
I bought my Chrysler 300c with 62k miles, it’s got a remap and always been run on the cheapest diesel available in my area. It’s now on 235k miles, never had any engine issues! On the face of it you have probably wasted thousands more than me on fuel with no real benefit!
Ok to be fair I have a ml7 golf tdi with 400,000 km and always used cheap diesel from good stations. I have never had a clogged dpf or injector problems either. My opinion is how you drive rather than diesel. I drive mainly highway. I think that has more to do with it than diesel
The amusing thing about tests like this, is the data will be there in black and white, yet people will still be adamant that their choice is better for reasons.
I'm driving premium diesel on my daily, according to your comment I'm one of "those ppl" :) I need to add that driving premium diesel with recognizable differences depends on a lot of stuff. I'm driving and old 1.9 TDI 1Z (built in 1995) and I recognized the differences after driving approx. 10 car tanks in a row with premium diesel only. The difference are so significant that even my neighbor asked me about it. He asked what I've done to this ol' engine b/c it runs so smooth. It is stock, nothing modified except proper maintenance. Also the power gap I've had on around 3500rpm vanished over time. Which was significant and way above some belief thing to recognize. On newer cars, especially with common rail systems many of those recognizable advantages might be dampen by the huge amount of management effort of the ECU. My ECU is plain simple: don't go over 0,9bar boost, don't smoke, keep the amount of fuel as similar as possible between all cylinders. Done. It doesn't care about power output so that 'd be the first property which can change with fuel quality, since it doesn't even get monitored by the ECU. Like many other properties, if the fuel is less prone to smoke, then my ECU will change the A/F ratio differently on a high quality fuel. Since the ECU is super simple in its management. While a newer cars ECU might observe and manage hundreds of parameters and keep the engine at check. Many fuel advantages (but also disadvantages of bad fuels) are dampen. Additionally you've a ton of parameters in an ECU which are based on "learning factors" during driving. It highly depends on the engine and its ECU what its doing and how it reacts to different qualities of fuel. A proper remapping might be necessary, to fully use the advantages of a higher cetan count and lower probability to smoke. Like setting up a petrol engine to a higher octane count fuel, you might change the spark timing, as an example. Otherwise you wouldn't have any recognizable advantages from the premium petrol. Frankly a "dump it in and see" doesn't work - as shown in the video (and many other tests).. this mindset might come from the old days with carburetors and petrol engines... It isn't about "a belief b/c of reasons" it is about doing a proper deep dive in technology and what it actually does. I'm an engineer myself, I might need to add.
People have tried these tests over the years but I don't think anyone has ever gone as In depth as you guys have! Good to know I can continue buying tesco diesel!
Always said this. To get the most of of a turbo diesel, let it warm up, use plenty of throttle at low-er revs, cane it every now and again, don’t leave idling give a few seconds for turbo to stop before shutting down. Never had an engine/turbo failure, never had black smoke, always had good power.
Although not comparing apples with apples, we can look at the fuelling of HGVs. There engines are as complex in their operation as any comparable car ICE, with sophisticated emission reduction systems. They cover vast distances per annum, far in excess of the average car driver and often work in arduous conditions under high engine loads, where fuel consumption can be measured in gallons per mile! Engine performance is massively important, but to most operators engine performance is secondary to fuel economy. Fuel cost being the largest expenditure to any operator, it would be obvious that any potential gains from using “premium” fuels, especially in economy terms would have been embraced by the haulage industry long ago.
Very true, most big operators will move the tractor units on by 4 or 5 years service so only worry about meeting latest euro standard for minimising access charges and therefore they run cheap fuel as they are not interested in the long term mechanical benefits better fuel and servicing would add to a vehicles life span
If fuel economy is preferable to engine performance, why do fleet operators choose to pay 20p or 30p per litre more than they could at a service station half a mile down the road? They buy several hundred litres at a fill and I would have thought that saving £60 would be worth going to a cheaper fuel station.
@@coolerking70able of course when you are operating at the scale of a logistics form, it probably works out cheaper to buy your own additives in bulk and add them yourself when filling up.
BP Ultimate Diesel all the way, highest cetane rating in the UK. Shell V Power has good friction modifiers for the diesel fuel pump, help keep the engine quieter on journeys...
after 20+years of running diesels the only additive i use now is millers Diesel Power Ecomax easily an extra 50miles on a tank on long runs & no fancy diesel in the vehicles neither, local garage stuff in most cases. good very involved test tho lads with the sum up V-Power helps but at a cost.
I’ve tried Ecomax too for the 2EHN component. I have seen no difference in range, but subjectively a Toyota diesel felt sharper and slightly less clattery. On a Mercedes 220, no difference at all.
Same. And I’ve tested different ratios, drives, types and settled on millers for every tank woth tesco standard. All logged and various runs and drive styles over 70k miles and 2 cars. The price point is about break even for cost vs extra mpg but for all the claimed benefits and me having 0 issues with dpf, injectors, starting i will continue to use for the foreseeable!
The main advantage of premium diesel is all about cleaning your engine, especially injectors, not making more power. And there is a big difference with my car starting on freezing winter mornings when i use regular diesel, versus when i use premium diesel. If you live in a cold country where temps fall far bellow freezing i would strongly recommend using premium diesel in winter. Premium diesel has also much lower freezing point than regular diesel.
Cold flow improver is not part of the additive mix. There is zero difference in cloud point and cfpp for premium diesel. Where the fuel comes from decides this.
@@petermolnar8667 we don’t have a winter premium spec in the 590 annex. So we go to -15deg C. In reality, pre war, east coast UK was predominantly RUS fed with CFPP c. -22 to -26 Deg C. The problem being the CFPP was induced by cold flow improver, so one would have a -5deg c cloud point with a -25deg c cfpp, basically it was rubbish.
Ive used normal supermarket diesel all my life but made the change to v power and i can honestly say it feel way more responive then regular diesel fuel. So i will be sticking with v power
Shell diesel was giving me 35mpg but my car ran like cr*p. Switched to VPower got 41mpg but thats started to creep down sat at 38mpg so made a switch to BP Ultimate which now is slowly going back up.
@@IBobaFett I too love paying extra for that delicious placebo effect, after swapping to Shell V power extreme ultra deluxe preorder limited edition my car doesn't even need the engine running to move, gets infinite mpg, it's vibration free and it only emits unicorn farts! Truly is magical stuff.
Used to build filling stations and was quite involved in the process of buying / selling fuel. I can tell you the condition of the forecourt is far more important than the brand. All fuel comes from the same refineries, the additives difffer. A poorly maintained forecourt is far more likely to lead to dodgy / contaminated fuel & cause issues than supermarket fuel. Supermarkets make very little profit on fuel. Their margins come from people visiting the shop before/ after they’ve filled up. Worth millions per year per store.
Basic supermarket fuel (usually from Tesco) plus a 1:10 dose of Archoil AR6900-D Max (from Opie) in every tank has worked well for me in two successive BMW 520ds (F series and G series) - around 5-8 mpg better economy, stronger torque at low revs and smoother and more responsive performance from its ZF 8-speed box. The difference is tangible and measurable (in terms of cost of fuel used) and it’s much cheaper adding your own additives than paying Shell or BP. If it wasn’t clearly beneficial I wouldn’t keep doing it. Smoothness, drivetrain responsiveness and efficiency are hard to measure on a dyno, but I appreciate your efforts.
We have 3 deliveries of diesel per week at 36,000 litres a time, talking to the delivery driver and he told me that all diesel is identical out of a refinery, the only difference is the phial of additive that the driver is given to put in each pot in the tank including the red dye for agricultural fuel which reinforces your results.
All diesel after 2000 has been trash. They have reduced the sulphur content to satisfy sulphire dioxide emissions however the sulphur acted as a high pressure lubricant for the tight tolerance parts of the injection pump and nozzles. Prior to common rail diesels there was TDI or IDI diesels which injected fuel at 3000psi and had cylinder compression ratio of 23:1 or 14.7 x 23 = 338psi Newer common rails diesels use 230-250psi cylinder compression and 29,000psi injection pressure.. you need lubrication for these pumps! Modern fuel is dry. Its crap. I put 300ml of mineral 2 stroke oil into every fuel tank full. Better mpg and quieter injectors.
I think that it isn’t really that important how many extra bhp you can get from vpower diesel, because we aren’t looking to be racing our cars/vans about. More important to know is if it does what it says on the tin and makes the engine cleaner, and does it give any extra mpg.
@@markpaul1154 the drivers are given phials to suit the amount of fuel and which customer Tesco Sainsburys etc . There’s only 7 pots per tanker, basic petrol has no additives like base diesel, it’s only the V power etc that has the additives.
I've been running Hydra EHN-99 in my stock Golf 1.9TDi -149K miles for the past couple of months. After the second tank full there was a noticeable difference in how the engine sounds. Gone was the slight shudder at tickover. The engine picks up with no hesitation and drives great. 60+ MPG too.
I’ve been running the cheapest diesel since I started driving decades ago with no issues so unless I get some solid proof of an advantage in premium diesel I will not change because in my personal opinion the only benefit is a bigger profit to the manufacturer of the diesel….
With what I do for a living (taxi driver) I see very little difference between fuels in 240+k in a ford with df5v (duratorq/ PSA hdi). Had more bother with contamination in the tanks and I put in the nearest garages fuel. Old scrapper fuel test: 1- cooking oil and kerosene or straight cooking oil. Seen it run in old iveco 2.5 non turbos and surprisingly ran better on it 2- jet A1 (dewatered diesel, no additives)
Diesel is diesel, you can boost the cetane rating but realistically it wont make much if any noticeable difference. This test is even run on a highly tuned engine, the fact that theres no difference here proves the point. Octane rating makes a difference in petrol but diesel is compression ignition anyway. Best thing to do is ensure your injector are clean. 2.0TDI TT with 180k miles on it here, never had engine issues on standard fuels.
True, ppl don't recognize that you actually need a proper remap of your engine for better fuels. Like advancing the spark timings on a petrol engine while using a higher octane fuel and higher compression ratios ^^
for a stock diesel you might consider the cleaning function, but the price difference in my country is huge. Fuel save diesel 31.24 thb vs V-power 46.94 thb
There is very little lube in modern Diesel. This has proven to be hard on things like HP fuel pump valve stems etc... So I have taken to adding like 200cc of 2-stroke engine fuel mix to 16 gallons of diesel. It can't hurt the engine as it all burns and it may help with internal lube. Things like HP pumps and valve stems may benefit from a little lube.
Basic forecourt diesel in the UK and EU is better quality than than most of the world including North America but boosting the Cetane rating still has benefits. A simple test is to compare how much soot is deposited on the back bumper.
My Re Mapped 535d running 390 hp has been on a diet of Shell Vpower since 40000 miles and now at 270000 never had an injector problem and still runs sweet as a nut !
That's the "rub"...... time and effort "most people" don't bother with it. Good luck to them and every continued success to you, spent your money getting your car where you want it then run it on cheep fuel??? Most people simply don't care. 535d NICE.
That proves literally nothing about the fuel though. For all you know you could never have an injection problem on nomal diesel. The 1986 diesel engine in my boat has been running for 36 years with no injection issues either, and its been ran on the cheapest shit available, red diesel that's been sat in tanks for too long etc.
Exactly that - I always filled up with premium on all my cars. 1.5dci has been running since 60k sitting at 215k with nothing needed other than regular servicing. My 4.2TDI & 2.0TDI run sweet as too.
@@AmeriaUprising Had a 1.9 tdi that clocked 750k km and only ever put the cheapest stuff, nothing ever went wrong. I'm sorry but only fools put expensive diesel in cheap car, why did you buy a cheap diesel car if not for lower running costs as you're doing a lot of miles?
I use shell v-power diesel in my standard daily. A friend uses supermarket in his tuned diesel daily. I get less smoke and what appears to be less lag (both have same turbo) and when it comes to services my filters are cleaner! So I’m continuing to use the V-power. Someone else I know, who drives the same daily vehicle he adds MANNOL Cetane Plus to his Shell V-power and it appears on Road to make a difference again!
I have an Audi 2 0tdi with around 193k on the clock. I removed the EGR vslve and coolervyears ago. No smoke and good emissions. We tried Shell V Power briefly a few years back. The only difference we found is it empties your bank account quicker! I've used a dash of 2T oil each fill up for years, maybe it works, who knows. But a few months back I rigged up a Liquird Moly filter to clean my fuel system. I'd seen dramatic results on other peoples cars with the Moly coming out brown. Mine came out the colour it went in. I was disappointed, but maybe my fuel system is clean. Now I used fill my fuel system with Liquid Moly every year when I change my fuel filter.
i worked at the plant that made 2EHN and it is already in all fuels that you buy anyway especially diesel, its a cetane improver, and in most injector cleaners and so called performance improvers. not sure if it will give you the boost you might expect. word of warning if you get it on your skin it will give you a headache as it is a vascular dilater.(makes you veins swell up) chemistry to make it uses very strong acids and is made in a way very similar to nitro-glycerine.
been using a Supermarket Diesel + 2-EHN/2 Stroke Mineral Oil Mix for 3/4 yrs now in an old PD140 (~1/5 ratio @ 300ml per tank) and the biggest noticeable difference for me is noise and cleanliness - far quieter and waaaaaaay less gunk caught in the catch can. Performance I could not care less but keeping it running a few more years is the incentive for me. also better smoke tests at MOT for those years as well but unknown consistency of their machine obvs.
did the same EHN + 2T combination to my A3 BKD PD140 last 5yrs /60k miles when sold the car at 210k it ran waaay better than when i originally got it..
I tested fuels and lubricants for 5 years and V-power was the best fuel by a country mile. The test I conducted was injector coking where we additized a base fuel that gave a known coking value. Then we run V-power through and the engine would regain power back within 8hrs. So when shell made V-power it was to clean up the engine and bring back fuel economy lost to lacquer build up on injectors and fouling caused by the combustion process. Just my 10 pence lol .
I've used v-power for the last 12,000 miles and don't know about power, but it does clean the engine out the more you use it. My mpg has slowly got better the more I used it. So it's clearly cleaning the combustion chambers etc. It no good using it just now & then. It an accumulative effect, ie the more you use it.
I've run my car on v power diesel for the last 10 years it's runs perfectly. I used to run my small work van on v power it once said 915miles to empty on a 55 litre tank. The company said were not allowed to use premium fuel so it got shell fuel saver. When it adjusted to the fuel it felt like the turbo had failed I was on the motorway going 70mph and suddenly had less power I could barely pull over 50mph. It slowly improved but after I had to work the engine much harder. I only showed 575 at best with a full tank and the power was very on/off and surged back and forth it was horrible to drive. I now have an electric car and it's lovely.
@@chrishart8548Sounds more of a van issue than the fuel, higher cetane diesel is not going to give you 35%+ of extra fuel economy, that’s utterly ridiculous.
@@TrueSkyl1n3 you can't believe the distance to empty number anyway but it was very impressive to see 915miles. I did get it as low as 372miles once. That was foot to the floor everywhere for that tank of fuel
I always thought that the higher price was because they had cleaning additives added, keeping injectors and fuel pumps clean and better lubricated etc, and coke deposits down in the engine, giving better fuel efficiency long term, great post, thanks for your hard work.
This all makes me chuckle, I have a 3ltr 30 year old Toyota. I just fill up at Tesco's because where I live there is nowhere else. Always starts first touch of the key, goes up hills like they weren't there, and I love it.
This made me smile. I bought a 1994 Corolla GXi off a friend years ago for £1000. He let me have it cheap because he said the original clutch was on its way out. I drove the car everyday for 7 years with that original clutch 🤣 only repair, other than standard service parts, was a wheel bearing. Traded against a 2008 Yaris (which was horrible) as we needed a 5 door. Always regretted getting rid it was a an amazingly reliable and fun car.
All good stuff 👍👍 I’ve never believed the hype about V Power Fuel . Being a Truck Driver who has had professional training on how to get a 44 ton Truck to do 8 mpg from 7 mpg it’s absolutely about your right foot and nothing else .
I've used kerosene in an older diesel engine (98 Nissan Patrol 2.8) from a 205l drum - i just mixed in a 10l container of 15W-40 engine oil to give it some lube and that served me well (each drum was about $100AUD in about 2008). No idea what the performance difference was (daily average ambient temp was 35 degrees celsius), but it certainly burned a little faster; I wasn't complaining about cheap fuel anyway
Here in Argentina the main difference is the amount of sulfure, v power has a very low ppm and is used in common rail systems, while the common one is at least 400 ppm, and its the ine used in older mechanical pump cars, it's been proven that the sulfure in the common diesel and common rail systems dont get along and viceversa, vpower and mechanical pumps dont get along either
I’ve never noticed any performance difference what ever diesel I used, I have used the Dipetane as it was meant to heat the dpf up quicker and to higher temps. I never had any issues so I assume it worked 🤷🏻♂️ Love it you use the cheapest fuels in the race car, keepin’ it real 👍🏻
Good test I drive a 2010 skoda tdi Ive used most if not all but top ones for me are: Shell standard derv (get more mpg just a little) BP standard derv (runs quieter smoother) Costco(don’t notice anything its just cheaper out of all of them) I understand the fuel comes from the same place it just the additives that change them. I run the car 100 miles a day 5 to 7 days a week 95% motorway @70 mph (save fuel) Did the same with my GS300 for years same result with petrol and noticed the diffrence more because the car was ultra quiet and very sensitive to all fuel. I also find texaco is the worse out the lot of them for some reason both petrol and derv
As an Hgv driver. I would believe that your common diesel is the best as we are left to fuel that up, mpg etc fuel economy and wear and tear are all key to the job. This normal diesel will do just the same as Vpower. What I believe Vpower maybe better at is if you’re not fueling up as often the Vpower will not degrade as fast. Thus keeping the engine running well. So maybe a test could be get a tub of diesel in a fuel tank like container. And a tub of Vpower ect do the same leave them both a month give them a try and see then if theirs a difference that would be interesting.
A few years ago I used to get the v-power for my euro 4 transit, a noticable mpg improvement, checked regularly,. In the Euro 5 diesel relay I've covered 50k in 18months, absolutely no difference in mpg whichever diesel i buy, Better buying the cheapest and adding, additive or some 2stroke occasionally
F11 535d mapped to around 380bhp and 700nm. Ran on supermarket fuel for the last 100k and absolutely fine spend 6 mknths running it on v power, same commute every day using cruise and made absolutely no difference to mpg, noise or perceived performance. Last 3 diesel cars prior also all on supermarket with over 200k and also all fine. The only time premium fuel is needed is in high CR petrol engines where they need the extra octane for knock protection but that can also be solved with mapping.
Great test thanks! I believe super diesel retailers pitch is better engine efficiency leading to better economy and a cleaner engine. As a mechanical engineer (retired) I believe the super diesel is ideal for low mileage, short local running vehicles where the engine never really gets up to operational temperature, it runs cleaner assisting with a reduction in carbon build up. It is absolutely pointless using super diesel in high mileage vehicles, particularly where higher speeds lead to optimal engine operational temperature, motorway use etc, in this situation carbon build up is minimal. I run a diesel 3.0 Macan covering something like 3k a year most of that very local cold running so I use super diesel. On the rare occasion I do a long hot run motorway journey it’s normal diesel. So basically I use super diesel to assist in keeping my engine internals slightly cleaner thereby maintaining engine life longevity and overall efficiency and at 82k it runs like it’s covered 8k returning a local average fuel consumption of 39 mpg and on that long run 55 mpg!
The biggest thing these fuel companies advertise is cleaning properties. You should have also been measuring exhaust particulate as well during the tests to see what fuel burned better. Yeah they might have made similar power but you could see with the exhaust smoke changed dramatically during certain pulls. This would be the biggest reason to use a more expensive fuel. Cars nowadays are suffering from excessive carbon build up and it’s killing manifolds and exhaust after treatment systems. I always run my diesel on Esso supreme or v power and I have never had a diesel engine suffer from DPF or EGR valve issues.
Good stuff, cleanliness is the only thing for me, my DPF does a forced regen much more often on supermarket fuels than just normal Shell. Performance wise is obviously much of a muchness but would rather put slightly cleaner, branded fuel in
I use V-Power for the additives. My dad did a 6 year experiment on V-power versus normal diesel by recording every fill up for that time. After using regular Shell diesel for 3 years then started using V-Power. There was a marked increase in MPG (don't know about power) that offset the extra cost. This was 10 years ago mind. This was on an AMF 3PD.
So is it fair to say that one should basically fill up the exact same way you use cleaning additives, i.e. every other tank? Meaning one tank regular, one tank premium?
Why would air/fuel ratio change? That doesnt make sense. Most of the cars don,t have flex fuel sensors to measure the octane on the diesel. I will burn the same amount no matter what diesel you habe.
@@MrSamueladerach I can only imagine that the additives allow a better burn? Shell claim better mpg but I am not sure why they say that. The V-Power is a powerful cleaner and on my vintage motorbikes I use it and keep the tanks topped up as you can see clearly how it keeps everything mint. With high pressure pumps and injectors maybe this makes a difference.
I have used Shell V Power for years now, after a few local supermarkets allowed contaminated fuel to damage a few customers cars. I have always believed that V Power would just keep my injectors clean, I do more motorway driving than urban driving so the DPF gets a regular blast out.
The cetane number for shells Diesel fuels - Shell V-power Diesel and Shell FuelSave Diesel are conform to the EN 590 specification - so they both have a minimum of 51 cetane.
I think it would be very interesting to come back and also test Shell GTL diesel if you can. Its made from natural gas instead of crude oil, and should in theory atleast burn much cleaner than traditional diesel, great video BTW. :)
Very interesting test. I have played around with Vpower diesel in the past. Some cars I could tell no difference. Although I used it in a Pug 106 1.4 na diesel. Think this was when it was called Optimax originally. There was an audible difference. I can’t swear it was quieter, but the sound did change. I drove it very economically as I was commuting 120+ miles a day on a very small budget. So I can’t comment on power or smoke. But it was definitely more economical. I did the same route daily for over 2 years. The 106 would regularly return 62-64mpg (I would manually calculate for every tank). The Optimax returned a high of 78mpg. And was never lower than high 60’s.
As a fuel industry person. All branded diesel with one exception is the same as unbranded diesel. Exxon/Mobil is the exception because they have a unique formulation of additives that can be tested for.
That's good to know, thanks for that 👍 So is Exxon/Mobil a better quality diesel than others or is just identifiable (via testing) as different? Thank you.
@@tonypaddler for sure it is testable. Allegedly, it is better. My old 7.3 powerstroke seemed to run better with Exxon diesel but that was a subjective observation.
I have always believed its continual use of V power that improves the internal cleaning of the engine. Ive owned this car for 3 yrs and only commute 4 miles to my work. Never had any DPF problems or any forced regeneration.
I've been using shell v-power diesel in my BMW f11 530d with a stage 1 remap for the past few months. I read many constrasting articles & reviews beforehand. My mechanic advised me to use as he rates it. I've honestly not noticed the car being any faster, quieter, smoother or better mpg. It costs me approx £10 more per month. When my mech mot'd my car he says it was running 'cleaner' than last years mot as some sort of justification that he's been proven correct! 😁 After watching this video, I think I'll just switch back to std diesel & stick an additive in every now & again
Stick your normal diesel in, without an additive and don’t tell your mechanic, I bet he will still tell you it’s running cleaner than it was, just to make himself fell like he knows somert you don’t.
what may matter is if there are cleaning chemicals in the fuel that work. otherwise you can compare fuel consumption yourself. The road and the Dyno are not quite the same thing
@@ShalomBrother In theory, should a higher cetane content mean better combustion? If it's clean exhaust you're looking for then you should look for Hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO If you have it in the UK
Horse power aside isn't the big selling point of v power etc the cleaning additives? And therefore long term maintenance of power and performance? Be interesting to run 2 engines for long period then see if the cheap fueled one is all coked up a year later while additives one still clean with good spray patterns, EGR valve etc. I've genuinely revived poor running diesels with a tank of v power etc or an additive into fuel. Maybe that's where the performance is at, revival and maintaining?
I normally average 46.0mpg in my i40 , but when I run premium diesel it goes up to about 47.0. But the extra cost doesnt really justify the extra 1 mile per gallon
Loved the video. Learned that cheap diesel is ok. If you guys do another one. Id like to suggest diesel test fluid used in test centers that do pump and injector rebuilds . That stuff runs insanely clean
Thanks for doing this test. I logged the fuel consumption over 180k miles on two 330d BMWs. I ran one in supermarket diesel for 20k miles, and had issues with poor throttle response, which required BMW to do a lot of internal cleaning of various components. For the remaining miles, I initially used branded standard diesel, then switched to premium whenever I could get it, and the spreadsheet showed a consistent improvement in mpg on the premium fuel - maybe not the first tank after some standard fuel, but certainly thereafter. And certainly enough to justify the extra price. BP seemed to have a slight edge over Shell, which seemed better than Esso. More recently, I haven’t been quite so meticulous with my records, and run 4x4s, with a much lower annual mileage. My default fuel is premium; I think the vehicles are more economical (but lack numeric evidence to support this claim, and clouded by my current driving various in type and distance), the cars seem to run smoother and start better on premium, and for sure the mpg is much better when towing heavy trailers. That’s just my opinion of course 😁.
just out of interest, when you say 'premium', do you mean branded regular diesel (i.e. 'premium' brand) or the full fat poncy V-Power type fuels? When I had a bimmer I used to run a tank of the BP equivalent of V Power now and then, normal BP probably 1 in 3 tanks and supermarket the rest of the time. Not sure if I ever saw and particular improvement in anything, but then I wasn't paying that much attention either, and I got rid of it after about 37k. Now I don't do so many miles and run a Focus 2 litre tdci (160bhp version) and I hate it so it gets supermarket only since it doesn't deserve anything else 😁
@@stevepettifer4896 By premium I mean Shell V Power or the the BP equivalent. I know there are so many variables and so many opinions, but I personally never saw the benefit in running an occasional tank of V Power and standard fuel the rest of the time. Somebody else mentioned that premium diesels store better - that’s my belief too (no evidence of course), and given some of my vehicles are left unused for extended periods of time, it adds to my personal argument 😁.
I use the premium in the T6. While loads on forums bemoan the EGR and DPF I've never had that issue. Of course run times and servicing will vary too but fuel with more detergents will surely keep the entire system cleaner over time?
The more I think about this, the more my brain hurts. Now I’m wondering about the impact of different fuels on the need for DPF regeneration, and therefore impact on oil dilution rates. And then how different diesel fuels might affect engine oil when oil dilution occurs. I am going to stop thinking about it 😁.
When I bought my TDV8 RR last year, I filled it with `premium` on the way home. It went better from that moment on. Months later, and with a new fuel filter installed, it's even better. Former owners only bought theirs from a supermarket `Sainsbury's` I think.
@@lukearmsby5507even then, different engine types react differently to premium vs regular. My old 1.9 E36 used to respond incredibly well to 99 octane over 95 - 6 or 7 MPG improvement in economy, and noticeably quicker (even more noticeable drop in performance if you put 95 in after running 99 for a while). But my V8 7 series of the same age, absolutely pointless running premium fuel in it, no discernable change in performance running 95 vs 99.
Astra CDTi. 80k on the clock. Prem diesel gives me 50 - 70 more miles per tank. I don't use premium diesel every time but when I do it clearly moves 50 - 70 more miles before the red light comes on.
Thanks for doing this. I'm one of those who's always just gone for the cheapest diesel available. I'd always get told how I'm missing out on power, or it would run better on premium or I'm killing my engine using supermarket fuels. On the occasions I did use premium I never felt a difference in power, responsiveness or noticed any difference in sound or fuel economy so I went back to good old supermarket fuel. It's nice to finally see some actual data to back up what I thought and what I've felt when switching between standard and premium, i.e, no difference.
You might not feel it, but there is a difference for sure. A semi blocked injector over a couple years will not produce the same power as a clean fully working Injectors
If you have a chrome history at the back of the exhaust pipe, HVO Diesel can be an advantage, it soots less And you don't have to worry as much about the particle filter. I have googled there should be HVO Diesel in the UK to buy
Top work! Happy with your results. I personally run supermarket fuel with the ehn-99 and I've always felt the car was not faster but felt a bit smoother and eager. Deffo interested in seeing the "race diesel" test!
I experimented with a lot of additives and diesel fuels. I blew up the engine in my petrol Giulietta after 99 petrol from Tesco messed up with the injection system. So, I'm done with supermarket diesel. I use only Esso (just closer to me) with Lucas upper cylinder lubricant. Now in both my cars petrol and diesel the engine runs better. I can clearly see reductions in fuel consumption and sensibly more power. Also i used heating oil (kerosene) + oil (10%) in an older cast iron engine. It was getting hot faster. Other than thst no difference...
Would love to see how some JET-A1 does in this same test, maybe get some for the next round...and maybe stack that against red diesel and heating oil, I've seen all three run just fine in diesel vehicles over the years.
It might f.. up your diesel pump. Since JET-A1 is actually not known (and needed) for lubrication. The Diamond DA62 uses JET-A1 for its diesel engines and her pumps are additionally lubricated for that qualification. A typical self-lubricated diesel pump (means lubbed by the diesel) simply would die with JET-A1..
I use vpower or Tesco momentum petrol in my 19.4L bike tank and get 45-50 extra to a tank every time. I don't use anything else.. Prob works out no cheaper but reduces petrol stops.
I used to oversee the department for Tesco that handled initial legal complaints. We used to see quite a few claims from customers where their mechanic advised them that the supermarket fuel had damaged their engine. We would normally ask for an independent engineers report and in all my years there, not one of them showed that the supermarket fuel was to blame. It was usually down to misdiagnosis or lazy initial fault finding. The fuel is mostly all the same, only the additive is different. Tesco used to get their additive from a major oil company and while it wasn't the most up to date 'blend' it wasn't far behind what you would find the oil companies producing. Really cool video, thanks for taking the time to make it.
Thank you for sharing your experiences and opinions. There are many variable factors that play a role in potential problems with internal combustion engines, the fuel is just one part of it. And there is a select audience that does not shy away from fraud or the exploitation of a situation. I live in Belgium and I recently heard an interesting topic on the radio about what initially seems banal but says a lot about drivers in general. In short, there are not many people who know how to add engine oil, add fluids in general. I am and remain of the opinion that good and frequent maintenance of the car contributes to the quality of the engine and performance. As well as the driving distances etc.
Right.... My wife got a 2007 Citroen C4 1.6hdi 16v with about 60k miles. Kept putting Tosserco diesel in and EVERY couple of weeks it was hunting and generally being shit! So I had to do an Italian tune up every couple of weeks 🙄.... I persuaded her in 2013 to use BP Ultimate diesel for 3 months to see if it would help. Well, that was 2013. 2021 I had to do a clutch change so I removed the engine & box and did everything that needed to be done (timing belt, timing chain....because the DV6 16v has both, glow plugs and whatnot) I decided to remove the EGR valve to see what it was like. I have NEVER seen such a clean EGR!!!!!!!! Bit sooty, but other than that, it was fully functional (and STILL is) and just "clean" AF. Anyway, she regularly returns 70mpg and passes MOT emissions every year with no issues. So I absolutely give BP Ultimate diesel the thumbs up for an older car with (now) 101,000 miles that STILL gets great MPG ( can't argue with 70mpg for a 17 year old car on it's original turbo.....
Did you ever have to do the Oil feed pipe on the C4? Common problem on the DV6 I recently changed mine as it was leaking badly DPF/EGR off and remap to 142BHP
Awesome test, I’m an Aussie diesel mechanic who used fo drive fuel tankers, it’s all just marketing BS! Would love to see some JET A1 tested, I don’t think it’ll go any better, just out of curiosity! I’ve ran a couple of CRD’s on jet and noticed no difference
I've worked in the oil and gas pipeline and storage industry for 35+ years, including white oils (ground and aviation fuels). Near the start of my career, I read a report on a study commissioned and undertaken by the USAF to determine if JP8 (aviation turbine kerosine, i.e. JETA1 fuel with an icing inhibitor) could be used in diesel engined vehicles instead of diesel to eliminate the logistical need to transport and store the additional fuel grade. The concern was mainly around the lower lubricity of the jet fuel, and the potential additional wear to the fuel system (pumps, injectors etc.). The trials were quite extensive and included stripdown and microscopic inspection of the wearing components. The conclusion was that there was no additional appreciable wear on the fuel system and that running diesel engines on jet fuel was OK. What should be borne in mind though was that the study would most likely have been conducted on non-common rail engines, so it would be interesting to hear of any more recent similar studies conducted on common rail diesels.
In my experience/ opinion the higher cetane diesel would burn differently spooling the turbo 100-150 rpms earlier in normal driving conditions which would allow a higher gear selection sooner dropping the rpms or the difference between 4th and 5th gear cruising at 30 or 5th and 6th at 40, which is where economy gains can be found. Do those gains offset the extra cost? Probably not unless cetane booster is used over premium fuel. Obviously driving/ testing at flat chat isn't going make any economy difference. Some interesting tests with the different fuels would be a burn speed test in a windowed or clear combustion chamber with a slo mo camera, or a cylinder wall combustion temperature test, but obviously these would be very difficult to engineer.
When I had my Mondeo st tdci I ran shell vpower diesel and it made a big difference, not in cleaness or power but I did get more mpg. About 55 instead of 50 without changing anything else.
I would say vpower diesel makes a big difference in some cars. My 1.6 hdi runs like a dream with vpower diesel. Standard cheaper diesel it has no power and less mpg. But then my avensis I wouldn't say it makes any difference
Thank you for the time and effort doing the tests , it was nice to see the results and learn more about the differences in them . I also feel little happier buying tesco fuel knowing there's not much benefit of buying the premium fule . I do use cleaner additive every 6 months though just for pice of mind .
Started using 'fancy' diesel on a Volvo C30 with 120k. Was getting average 51 mpg. By 125k Im getting 55mpg so the cleaning of the fancy diesel has definitely worked. I now run 3 tanks of standard diesel and then one tank of the good stuff.
I've got a V50 1.6D and has 166K miles on it so if it works on your c30 then deffo it will work on mine too. What else have you noticed with the "fancy" fuel?
@@VinDieselS70 same... 1.6D S Drive. The super-diesel did a great job cleaning the engine over around 5k so now i just use normal diesel for three fills and the 'fancy' stuff on the fourth to help cleaning. I use a DPF cleaner additive about two weeks before MOT and drive in 4th for about 10 miles to get a good regen going. 👍
@@AndrewGibson22 thank you Andrew. As this is my first Diesel with a DPF all hints and tips are welcome. The previous S70 and V70 D5 didn't have any DPF nonsense. Mind you, the old S70 was happy with veggie oil from Asda.
@@VinDieselS70 - I found Costco veggie oil really so much better than most others in my old Mitsubishi Pajero, it had a much higher chip butty and candy-floss aroma level than other regular cooking oils
Just to chuck in my 2 cents there, maybe might help to add. I've been an avid user of just regular old texaco fuel, until it sadly shut down around my area, but I proposed my own mini-test. I switched to Supreme99, then had to use shell-vpower due to it being closed down. At the beginning of the 3 month trial, I noticed a significant punchier throttle, as well as a cleaner engine noise. It ran smoother, and a little bit punchier, but again the punchier feeling might just boil down to me being placeboed lol. However after 3 Months, I switched to regular shell fuel, I did notice no difference, but sometimes I would notice the fuel not being as responsive, and on some given days it would literally feel the exact same. I'd say these premium fuels do have a better consistency maybe, with the added additives to clean your engine fuel systems. I'd love to see this test done on a long-term basis, how similar cars with similar journeys would perform, what wear and tear it can cause, but there are too many factors for that to even be accounted for. Personally I'd say every once in a while for the next few fill-ups maybe just up-to a month, add a bit of "Premium Fuel" in, to let it clean your systems, injectors , etc. then just switch back to regular old fuel. Or the better option which I am now going to potentially trial out, is adding these additives yourself, such as injector cleaners etc. I think currently I just pay an extra premium to have it done all in one fill haha
You might have accounted for this anyway, but there might be a difference when running extremely hot. Sustained maximum temperatures. On a petrol you will get a difference in power there where the higher octane prevents pre ignition. Not sure about a diesel.
Would be interested to see how Costco "premium" diesel compares to other premium diesels. Also if you guys are able to hub dyno you could eliminate a few variables
Hello. I use Shell V-power only. The truck runs very smooth at idle and overall a better performance. It is said that the injectors will last longer compared with cheap diesel. 50.000 km difference Bosch said. I have a 2010 Ford Ranger 2.5 tdci, tuned as good I could do about 372 bhp and 700 rwNm. Could be more, but I declined smoke.
My brother is a fuel tanker driver, it all comes from the same tank.. a bucket of additive is thrown in for the premium stuff...so use the Tesco stuff and stick in redex now and again
Same as what a fuel tanker driver told me, he was running out of Stanlow, also said that customs and exise put dye in at the gate to make red diesel, so that's no different or lesser quality to white, I think the only difference you may notice is which refinery produced it or whether it's imported from another country with lesser quality standards, I seem to recall one winter Craggs energy got a batch of diesel from Russia and none of our tractors would run properly off it.
I have a 2018 Mitsubishi Barbarian and find that it runs quieter and smoother on premium diesel but now I buy the cheapest diesel and add fuel improver which dose the same, also once a year I add a con of liquid moly injector cleaner, only do this as I never believed that such things work but then I purchased an old 5 cylinder Kubota tractor to maintain the paddock and it was hard to start and blew black smoke and rather than just swap out all 5 injectors I gave the cleaner a try within a few minuets the smoke stopped and afterwards it started on the button and runs with no smoke on full load when mowing so it definitely works..
Shell V power is GTL so distilled slightly different, this gives a slightly higher cetane number which means it runs cleaner but slightly lower calcific value.
Superb test lads, thank you for doing this. Proves so many points. Simply use supermarket diesel and use a decent cleaning additive once a month depending on the mileage you do. 👍
Its different in additive, so depends how long you will keep your car.. if you buy new car and plan to keep it 10 years buy premiums because filters will not be stuck, its expensive for changing.. my car always premium and always driven fast on open roads, when they connect it to computer and see that DPF was stuck only 14% they can't bolive.. 🙂👍
I love that people will watch this, see a thorough test using a dyno and good process; and still argue they are right. We ran a Merc 300TD on veg oil 50/50 diesel and it made exactly no difference to how it drove. Diesel engines aren't fuel limited like turbo petrol engines are.
I was always under the impression Vpower diesel is for maintenance purposes and thats why i run a tank full every now and then. Especially when going on a good run
Interesting, i am using BP ultimate at the moment and it seems to reduce the frequency's of the regens, i am hooked up to vag dpf app , i would be interested to know the longer term effects on the egr valve ect excellent video
My Little Toyota 1.4Ltr Diesel has never ever done a Regen Cycle and I always use the cheapest Diesel I can find 😊 I always make sure it gets a blast up the Motorway at least once a week. 😊
@@stephenjones9153 thars unusual to just have passive regens plus the ecu on most will kick a regen in at a predetermined milage say 1000km, i know some never notice a n active regen as its done when they finish their journey
@19:20 time mark He's talking about power differences based on tire pressure because tire heats up. If they have had their calibration right and let dyno to calculate run-down, you could see Crank hp without losses in tires and other parts that affect power output based on temps. Thsts the main reason I love inertia dyno. Always correct.
Only ever run the cheapest on my 335d, never had an issue. My understanding is that diesel has to meet a minimum standard and therefore BMW will have built their engines to that standard. Anything else is marketing?
I used to run a E270 Merc on Esso super diesel. Took the EGR valve out to clean it as I was expecting it to be black and gunky like you seem them and it was clean as a whistle. Not sure if it was fuel related or not. Now I’m in a 1.6hdi Peugeot and just use the regular Esso but will put a bottle of Forte diesel flush in once a year before MOT.
Cant comment on v power diesel but my missus works for Shell and shes been to their fuel lab on the continent and the petrol they supply Ferrari F1 team has only very slightly different molecular chemistry to v power petrol. The commentor who said about the base fuel coming from x refinery and then the additive package being put in at point of transit is spot on. This is how the industry works across the board but effectively supermarket fuels have less additives and hence the lower price. The customer retention on v power is immense so Shell must be doing something right, even if its just the marketing.
a delivery driver said they go to the refinery for multiple companies, they have a key ring with a bunch of credit cards on it, they look the order up, select the credit card to match, shove it in and the machine dispenses the additive for that company, the base fuel for all the companies was all the same, The no name discount fuels get no additive package, so your really not saving anything in the long run.
The V-Power is full of detergents which probably cleaned the system and engine out (judging by it's smoke level) which resulted in the improvement from the supermarket fuel, I would hazard a guess the EH99 may have achieved something similar.....
Over a years motoring, while i owned a diesel, i would put 2 to 4 tanks of Diesel V-Power in between all the tanks of regular supermarket diesel. This was on the off chance that it had special cleaning additives to get rid off carbon build up inside the engine.
Car knocks like a bandit on cheap fuel sounds like the big ends are gone as soon as I put premium in sound disappears runs lovely and is 10mph faster something to do with fuel explodes at the right time I think, doesn't explode before it should an no management lights since, 🤔
Great work, Ryan. Thanks a lot for the time and effort, never bought diesel from Shell due to price, usually buy what's closer to me and that's Tesco and Morrisons.
A few years ago I drove a Defender 110 2.4 TCI Diesel from South Africa to London. My research indicated that diesel quality varied greatly in quality in different Africa countries. It certainly did. In Ethiopia it was bad and the brand name was , believe or not, "NOC" which was unintentionally fitting - the motor "knocked" loudly in protest. In Sudan it became very good and was very cheap. In Egypt I encountered the worst diesel of all - 10,000 ppm of sulphur. As soon as I filled it up the car's performance plummeted. I was required to travel in a police convoy and found to my embarrassment that I struggled to keep up with them at 100km on a flat open road. In Namibia my normal cruise was an effortless 130 kmh. When I shipped the car to Turkey I filled up there with their expensive premium diesel (Total brand) hoping the car would run better again. It took the engine computer about half an hour to somehow recalibrate and suddenly it was flying again! An extraordinary difference. Now it runs in New Zealand) on BP diesel refined in Singapore - also very good. When know-alls say there is no difference between diesel brands and "just get the cheapest" I shake my head. They really don't know what I learned from using the same engine ii quick succession through 10 countries.
I've had similar experience. I could barely maintain 50mph and thought the turbo had blown. But it was just the fuel. Once the vehicle worked things out it improved.
Let us know what you think about this test in the comments section. If you have tested any 'racing' diesel fuels yourself we would love to know!
I also wanna know if there's any "racing" additives
Super interesting test you've made here.
Well I guess it heavily depends on the diesel engine and its ECU. My ol' Golf Mk3 convertible loves OMV Ultimate (non HVO, non GVO, liquid to gas diesel). It performs better and it runs extremly smooth. Ppl even told me that on parking lots and so on xD (other premium diesels are good too but not that good). The biggest changes actually came from using it over at least 10 full fuel tanks worth of driving. It is my daily (and stock!) and it occasionally gets the beans as well. :DDD
It has a fairly simple ECU (TDI gen 1995 - motor code 1Z) and it takes what it gets and tries to avoid the smoking A/F ratio. That's it. Then it limits the torque (to 202Nm) and the boost to 0,9bar. Whatever happens else, highly depends on the fuel.
Newer diesel will have way more controlling and managing stages, which could dampen the advantages of a way better diesel, at least that'd be my guess. And on "racing diesels" I can'
t be asked xD
Thanks for the test - cheers DIESEL POWER !!!
My 09' 1.9tdi pd BXE has been getting Hydra DPB100 for around 6 and a bit years, since 2017 when I first bought the car.
It was sluggish and jittering under throttle so I assumed it was gunk in the injectors etc. It's been working perfectly ever since.
No issues with the turbo or fuel pumps, I think there's a tandem pump3on my engine isn't there?
Anyway all good, I'm not seeing any changes at all in fuel economy and I don't floor it everywhere, but still I've stuck with the Hydra additive and cheaper diesel, which is cheaper than so called premium diesel, so I'm happy overall.
I hope to book my car in with you soon, after I knock a couple of much needed jobs off the to-do list.
Great channel and thanks for your hardwork and passion for diesel engines of the VAG variety. 👊
I never noticed the difference with V-power petrol in my cars. But with V-power diesel on my 1.6tdi Fiesta i get around 10-15mpg more over regular diesel. Engine is smoother too.
Need to stick the car on the Dyno and then tune to the fuel and see what can be achieved. Rather than sticking the fuel in and seeing what power can be produced.
Your base fuel comes usually from the local refinery. It makes sense logistically when you think about it. In Southampton for example, the local refinery is the Exxon (Esso) refinery at Fawley. So you will see Shell, Mobil, Total, ASDA, Tesco etc tankers rocking up to fuel up. The drivers then add a particular additive package to the tank. By the time the lorry has been around a couple of roundabouts on the A326 it is considered "mixed to perfection". However the base fuel for them all is Esso. Only the additive package differentiates them.
Totally agree with you
The fuel is refined to a BS standard anyway to meet the B7 biodiesel pump fuel grade. They can't sell it to forecourts and franchises otherwise. But you're correct, in that a driver of a tanker will usually have additive in the tank before loading or post loading at a transfer station.
I did a delivery to Fawley refinery last week.
I would be keen to know about Costco diesel, they only sell premium diesel. Is it really premium or just the name instead?
@@Lorenzo_Velasquez Will just be the name. The only real difference is the additives that are added in tank on the forecourt or at collection.
For diesels, these only help reduce the gel point to improve burn and reduce carbon build up, help prevent gelling in the injectors, fuel filter and the pump (especially in cold temperatures).
I always thought it was same but with different additives but i am no scientist either way its too feckin expensive Robin gits 😂😂
When will people understand that Premium Diesel has never been about Performance gains. its all about keeping your engine in top condition. Ive ran my BMW 120d M Sport with 202,000 miles, ALWAYS used Shell V Power Diesel, Engine in prime condition, DPF not clogged once, Injectors are running clean and free. With premium diesel its less about performance gains and far more about longevity of the mechanical parts with the use of detergents that are blended with the fuel.
100% agree
I bought my Chrysler 300c with 62k miles, it’s got a remap and always been run on the cheapest diesel available in my area. It’s now on 235k miles, never had any engine issues!
On the face of it you have probably wasted thousands more than me on fuel with no real benefit!
Ok to be fair I have a ml7 golf tdi with 400,000 km and always used cheap diesel from good stations. I have never had a clogged dpf or injector problems either. My opinion is how you drive rather than diesel. I drive mainly highway. I think that has more to do with it than diesel
Great comment, using one example is definitely decisive, if you hadn’t used v power diesel it DEFINITELY would have had issues, right? 😂
That’s my understanding too.
The amusing thing about tests like this, is the data will be there in black and white, yet people will still be adamant that their choice is better for reasons.
Yep! Despite the test there’s still people in the comments arguing over brands of fuel
about the only argument could be made is Costco fuel cus it's cheaper?
I'm driving premium diesel on my daily, according to your comment I'm one of "those ppl" :)
I need to add that driving premium diesel with recognizable differences depends on a lot of stuff.
I'm driving and old 1.9 TDI 1Z (built in 1995) and I recognized the differences after driving approx. 10 car tanks in a row with premium diesel only.
The difference are so significant that even my neighbor asked me about it. He asked what I've done to this ol' engine b/c it runs so smooth.
It is stock, nothing modified except proper maintenance.
Also the power gap I've had on around 3500rpm vanished over time. Which was significant and way above some belief thing to recognize.
On newer cars, especially with common rail systems many of those recognizable advantages might be dampen by the huge amount of management effort of the ECU. My ECU is plain simple: don't go over 0,9bar boost, don't smoke, keep the amount of fuel as similar as possible between all cylinders. Done.
It doesn't care about power output so that 'd be the first property which can change with fuel quality, since it doesn't even get monitored by the ECU. Like many other properties, if the fuel is less prone to smoke, then my ECU will change the A/F ratio differently on a high quality fuel. Since the ECU is super simple in its management. While a newer cars ECU might observe and manage hundreds of parameters and keep the engine at check.
Many fuel advantages (but also disadvantages of bad fuels) are dampen. Additionally you've a ton of parameters in an ECU which are based on "learning factors" during driving. It highly depends on the engine and its ECU what its doing and how it reacts to different qualities of fuel. A proper remapping might be necessary, to fully use the advantages of a higher cetan count and lower probability to smoke. Like setting up a petrol engine to a higher octane count fuel, you might change the spark timing, as an example. Otherwise you wouldn't have any recognizable advantages from the premium petrol.
Frankly a "dump it in and see" doesn't work - as shown in the video (and many other tests).. this mindset might come from the old days with carburetors and petrol engines...
It isn't about "a belief b/c of reasons" it is about doing a proper deep dive in technology and what it actually does. I'm an engineer myself, I might need to add.
@@BruceCarbonLakeriver that’s a lot of words 😂
I fully, whole heartedly, and complete, endorse this comment.
People have tried these tests over the years but I don't think anyone has ever gone as In depth as you guys have! Good to know I can continue buying tesco diesel!
Excellent piece of work, Ryan. Considerable time, effort and cost invested in the project is very much appreciated.
Always said this.
To get the most of of a turbo diesel, let it warm up, use plenty of throttle at low-er revs, cane it every now and again, don’t leave idling give a few seconds for turbo to stop before shutting down.
Never had an engine/turbo failure, never had black smoke, always had good power.
You need the turbo to cool down for a few minutes if you've been driving it hard or driving on motorway.. It's not about it spinning
@@MyRealName just back off for the last mile is more than adequate. Just standard mechanical sympathy, No need to go over board.
Why can’t you idle a diesel? I’ve always done it with no problems.
@AlmostLastJedi this with short drives is what cloggs dpf
Use plenty of throttle at low revs? so i fuq up my clutch and flywheel early?
Although not comparing apples with apples, we can look at the fuelling of HGVs. There engines are as complex in their operation as any comparable car ICE, with sophisticated emission reduction systems. They cover vast distances per annum, far in excess of the average car driver and often work in arduous conditions under high engine loads, where fuel consumption can be measured in gallons per mile! Engine performance is massively important, but to most operators engine performance is secondary to fuel economy. Fuel cost being the largest expenditure to any operator, it would be obvious that any potential gains from using “premium” fuels, especially in economy terms would have been embraced by the haulage industry long ago.
I believe 5hey would only look at cheapest up front cost.
Very true, most big operators will move the tractor units on by 4 or 5 years service so only worry about meeting latest euro standard for minimising access charges and therefore they run cheap fuel as they are not interested in the long term mechanical benefits better fuel and servicing would add to a vehicles life span
If fuel economy is preferable to engine performance, why do fleet operators choose to pay 20p or 30p per litre more than they could at a service station half a mile down the road? They buy several hundred litres at a fill and I would have thought that saving £60 would be worth going to a cheaper fuel station.
@@coolerking70able of course when you are operating at the scale of a logistics form, it probably works out cheaper to buy your own additives in bulk and add them yourself when filling up.
Their
Thanks Ryan and the team. We appreciate your time.
BP Ultimate Diesel all the way, highest cetane rating in the UK. Shell V Power has good friction modifiers for the diesel fuel pump, help keep the engine quieter on journeys...
I agree, I do so longer drives and test the brands against each other, BP and Ampol are good in Aust then shell and Caltex.
And with all that, their race car does 6k revs and gets abuse on track, on standard fuel, without any of those issues
@@possle its a race car, not an audi A4.
@@paulken1919 Exactly, it's a strung out race car that gets driven hard, not an A4 cruising down to the shops.
@@kristoffer3000 All the more reason it would show fuel differences and limitations...
after 20+years of running diesels the only additive i use now is millers Diesel Power Ecomax easily an extra 50miles on a tank on long runs & no fancy diesel in the vehicles neither, local garage stuff in most cases. good very involved test tho lads with the sum up V-Power helps but at a cost.
Lucas upper cylinder lubricant does the best job. I've tried so many and this one comes out to be the best.
I’ve tried Ecomax too for the 2EHN component. I have seen no difference in range, but subjectively a Toyota diesel felt sharper and slightly less clattery. On a Mercedes 220, no difference at all.
Ecomax works out around 3.3ppl (pence per litre) at 1000ppm treat rate. Somewhat less than other pump options.
If the additive you use cost around a 10er you will get at least 50 miles off that in diesel so its pointless
Same. And I’ve tested different ratios, drives, types and settled on millers for every tank woth tesco standard. All logged and various runs and drive styles over 70k miles and 2 cars. The price point is about break even for cost vs extra mpg but for all the claimed benefits and me having 0 issues with dpf, injectors, starting i will continue to use for the foreseeable!
The main advantage of premium diesel is all about cleaning your engine, especially injectors, not making more power. And there is a big difference with my car starting on freezing winter mornings when i use regular diesel, versus when i use premium diesel. If you live in a cold country where temps fall far bellow freezing i would strongly recommend using premium diesel in winter. Premium diesel has also much lower freezing point than regular diesel.
Interesting points
Cold flow improver is not part of the additive mix.
There is zero difference in cloud point and cfpp for premium diesel. Where the fuel comes from decides this.
@@BRMCaptChaospremium dinosaurs were used mate 😎
@@BRMCaptChaos Depends on weather, some actual data from a place with freezing winters about the CFFP of Diesel:
-summer:
@@petermolnar8667 we don’t have a winter premium spec in the 590 annex. So we go to -15deg C. In reality, pre war, east coast UK was predominantly RUS fed with CFPP c. -22 to -26 Deg C. The problem being the CFPP was induced by cold flow improver, so one would have a -5deg c cloud point with a -25deg c cfpp, basically it was rubbish.
Ive used normal supermarket diesel all my life but made the change to v power and i can honestly say it feel way more responive then regular diesel fuel. So i will be sticking with v power
Shell diesel was giving me 35mpg but my car ran like cr*p. Switched to VPower got 41mpg but thats started to creep down sat at 38mpg so made a switch to BP Ultimate which now is slowly going back up.
@@IBobaFett I too love paying extra for that delicious placebo effect, after swapping to Shell V power extreme ultra deluxe preorder limited edition my car doesn't even need the engine running to move, gets infinite mpg, it's vibration free and it only emits unicorn farts!
Truly is magical stuff.
@@kristoffer3000 😂🤝
😂😂😂😂It's all in your head 😂😂😂 Facts and Figures don't lie.😊
@@kristoffer3000 Pissing myself hahaha
Used to build filling stations and was quite involved in the process of buying / selling fuel. I can tell you the condition of the forecourt is far more important than the brand. All fuel comes from the same refineries, the additives difffer. A poorly maintained forecourt is far more likely to lead to dodgy / contaminated fuel & cause issues than supermarket fuel. Supermarkets make very little profit on fuel. Their margins come from people visiting the shop before/ after they’ve filled up. Worth millions per year per store.
Basic supermarket fuel (usually from Tesco) plus a 1:10 dose of Archoil AR6900-D Max (from Opie) in every tank has worked well for me in two successive BMW 520ds (F series and G series) - around 5-8 mpg better economy, stronger torque at low revs and smoother and more responsive performance from its ZF 8-speed box. The difference is tangible and measurable (in terms of cost of fuel used) and it’s much cheaper adding your own additives than paying Shell or BP. If it wasn’t clearly beneficial I wouldn’t keep doing it. Smoothness, drivetrain responsiveness and efficiency are hard to measure on a dyno, but I appreciate your efforts.
How many ml per tank
@@ozhoneybadger - around 54-56 mpg, or a little under 800 miles from the tank. I was getting 48-49 mpg before using the AR6900-D.
We have 3 deliveries of diesel per week at 36,000 litres a time, talking to the delivery driver and he told me that all diesel is identical out of a refinery, the only difference is the phial of additive that the driver is given to put in each pot in the tank including the red dye for agricultural fuel which reinforces your results.
Sorry, not true, drivers are given any pots of magic additive at 36.000 litres per tanker they would need a lot of magic pots.
All diesel after 2000 has been trash. They have reduced the sulphur content to satisfy sulphire dioxide emissions however the sulphur acted as a high pressure lubricant for the tight tolerance parts of the injection pump and nozzles. Prior to common rail diesels there was TDI or IDI diesels which injected fuel at 3000psi and had cylinder compression ratio of 23:1 or 14.7 x 23 = 338psi
Newer common rails diesels use 230-250psi cylinder compression and 29,000psi injection pressure.. you need lubrication for these pumps! Modern fuel is dry. Its crap. I put 300ml of mineral 2 stroke oil into every fuel tank full. Better mpg and quieter injectors.
@@1700iDiGuyThanks , I ll try your way.
I think that it isn’t really that important how many extra bhp you can get from vpower diesel, because we aren’t looking to be racing our cars/vans about. More important to know is if it does what it says on the tin and makes the engine cleaner, and does it give any extra mpg.
@@markpaul1154 the drivers are given phials to suit the amount of fuel and which customer Tesco Sainsburys etc . There’s only 7 pots per tanker, basic petrol has no additives like base diesel, it’s only the V power etc that has the additives.
I've been running Hydra EHN-99 in my stock Golf 1.9TDi -149K miles for the past couple of months. After the second tank full there was a noticeable difference in how the engine sounds. Gone was the slight shudder at tickover. The engine picks up with no hesitation and drives great. 60+ MPG too.
I’ve been running the cheapest diesel since I started driving decades ago with no issues so unless I get some solid proof of an advantage in premium diesel I will not change because in my personal opinion the only benefit is a bigger profit to the manufacturer of the diesel….
With what I do for a living (taxi driver) I see very little difference between fuels in 240+k in a ford with df5v (duratorq/ PSA hdi). Had more bother with contamination in the tanks and I put in the nearest garages fuel.
Old scrapper fuel test:
1- cooking oil and kerosene or straight cooking oil. Seen it run in old iveco 2.5 non turbos and surprisingly ran better on it
2- jet A1 (dewatered diesel, no additives)
Diesel is diesel, you can boost the cetane rating but realistically it wont make much if any noticeable difference. This test is even run on a highly tuned engine, the fact that theres no difference here proves the point.
Octane rating makes a difference in petrol but diesel is compression ignition anyway. Best thing to do is ensure your injector are clean.
2.0TDI TT with 180k miles on it here, never had engine issues on standard fuels.
True, ppl don't recognize that you actually need a proper remap of your engine for better fuels. Like advancing the spark timings on a petrol engine while using a higher octane fuel and higher compression ratios ^^
for a stock diesel you might consider the cleaning function, but the price difference in my country is huge. Fuel save diesel 31.24 thb vs V-power 46.94 thb
There is very little lube in modern Diesel. This has proven to be hard on things like HP fuel pump valve stems etc... So I have taken to adding like 200cc of 2-stroke engine fuel mix to 16 gallons of diesel. It can't hurt the engine as it all burns and it may help with internal lube. Things like HP pumps and valve stems may benefit from a little lube.
Basic forecourt diesel in the UK and EU is better quality than than most of the world including North America but boosting the Cetane rating still has benefits. A simple test is to compare how much soot is deposited on the back bumper.
I noticed with my vw tdi cetane booster definitely helps combustion and performance.
My Re Mapped 535d running 390 hp has been on a diet of Shell Vpower since 40000 miles and now at 270000 never had an injector problem and still runs sweet as a nut !
That's the "rub"...... time and effort "most people" don't bother with it. Good luck to them and every continued success to you, spent your money getting your car where you want it then run it on cheep fuel??? Most people simply don't care. 535d NICE.
That proves literally nothing about the fuel though. For all you know you could never have an injection problem on nomal diesel.
The 1986 diesel engine in my boat has been running for 36 years with no injection issues either, and its been ran on the cheapest shit available, red diesel that's been sat in tanks for too long etc.
Exactly that - I always filled up with premium on all my cars. 1.5dci has been running since 60k sitting at 215k with nothing needed other than regular servicing.
My 4.2TDI & 2.0TDI run sweet as too.
@@ceirwan Well all fuel is the same.....
@@AmeriaUprising Had a 1.9 tdi that clocked 750k km and only ever put the cheapest stuff, nothing ever went wrong. I'm sorry but only fools put expensive diesel in cheap car, why did you buy a cheap diesel car if not for lower running costs as you're doing a lot of miles?
I use shell v-power diesel in my standard daily. A friend uses supermarket in his tuned diesel daily. I get less smoke and what appears to be less lag (both have same turbo) and when it comes to services my filters are cleaner! So I’m continuing to use the V-power. Someone else I know, who drives the same daily vehicle he adds MANNOL Cetane Plus to his Shell V-power and it appears on Road to make a difference again!
this is sort of where I"m at.
I have an Audi 2 0tdi with around 193k on the clock. I removed the EGR vslve and coolervyears ago. No smoke and good emissions.
We tried Shell V Power briefly a few years back. The only difference we found is it empties your bank account quicker!
I've used a dash of 2T oil each fill up for years, maybe it works, who knows. But a few months back I rigged up a Liquird Moly filter to clean my fuel system. I'd seen dramatic results on other peoples cars with the Moly coming out brown. Mine came out the colour it went in. I was disappointed, but maybe my fuel system is clean. Now I used fill my fuel system with Liquid Moly every year when I change my fuel filter.
i worked at the plant that made 2EHN and it is already in all fuels that you buy anyway especially diesel, its a cetane improver, and in most injector cleaners and so called performance improvers. not sure if it will give you the boost you might expect. word of warning if you get it on your skin it will give you a headache as it is a vascular dilater.(makes you veins swell up) chemistry to make it uses very strong acids and is made in a way very similar to nitro-glycerine.
Drink some coffee after then as thats a vascular restrictor
been using a Supermarket Diesel + 2-EHN/2 Stroke Mineral Oil Mix for 3/4 yrs now in an old PD140 (~1/5 ratio @ 300ml per tank) and the biggest noticeable difference for me is noise and cleanliness - far quieter and waaaaaaay less gunk caught in the catch can. Performance I could not care less but keeping it running a few more years is the incentive for me. also better smoke tests at MOT for those years as well but unknown consistency of their machine obvs.
I think mine pulls 0.02 in the mot test. Always ran v power and nothing else.
did the same EHN + 2T combination to my A3 BKD PD140 last 5yrs /60k miles when sold the car at 210k it ran waaay better than when i originally got it..
Heating oil with a dash of hydraulic oil for lubrication and upping the compression always goes well.
I tested fuels and lubricants for 5 years and V-power was the best fuel by a country mile. The test I conducted was injector coking where we additized a base fuel that gave a known coking value. Then we run V-power through and the engine would regain power back within 8hrs. So when shell made V-power it was to clean up the engine and bring back fuel economy lost to lacquer build up on injectors and fouling caused by the combustion process. Just my 10 pence lol .
send us some of the results via email :)
I've used v-power for the last 12,000 miles and don't know about power, but it does clean the engine out the more you use it.
My mpg has slowly got better the more I used it. So it's clearly cleaning the combustion chambers etc.
It no good using it just now & then. It an accumulative effect, ie the more you use it.
I've run my car on v power diesel for the last 10 years it's runs perfectly. I used to run my small work van on v power it once said 915miles to empty on a 55 litre tank.
The company said were not allowed to use premium fuel so it got shell fuel saver. When it adjusted to the fuel it felt like the turbo had failed I was on the motorway going 70mph and suddenly had less power I could barely pull over 50mph. It slowly improved but after I had to work the engine much harder. I only showed 575 at best with a full tank and the power was very on/off and surged back and forth it was horrible to drive. I now have an electric car and it's lovely.
@@chrishart8548Sounds more of a van issue than the fuel, higher cetane diesel is not going to give you 35%+ of extra fuel economy, that’s utterly ridiculous.
@@TrueSkyl1n3 you can't believe the distance to empty number anyway but it was very impressive to see 915miles. I did get it as low as 372miles once. That was foot to the floor everywhere for that tank of fuel
I always thought that the higher price was because they had cleaning additives added, keeping injectors and fuel pumps clean and better lubricated etc, and coke deposits down in the engine, giving better fuel efficiency long term, great post, thanks for your hard work.
This all makes me chuckle, I have a 3ltr 30 year old Toyota. I just fill up at Tesco's because where I live there is nowhere else. Always starts first touch of the key, goes up hills like they weren't there, and I love it.
This made me smile. I bought a 1994 Corolla GXi off a friend years ago for £1000. He let me have it cheap because he said the original clutch was on its way out. I drove the car everyday for 7 years with that original clutch 🤣 only repair, other than standard service parts, was a wheel bearing. Traded against a 2008 Yaris (which was horrible) as we needed a 5 door. Always regretted getting rid it was a an amazingly reliable and fun car.
All good stuff 👍👍 I’ve never believed the hype about V Power Fuel . Being a Truck Driver who has had professional training on how to get a 44 ton Truck to do 8 mpg from 7 mpg it’s absolutely about your right foot and nothing else .
I've used kerosene in an older diesel engine (98 Nissan Patrol 2.8) from a 205l drum - i just mixed in a 10l container of 15W-40 engine oil to give it some lube and that served me well (each drum was about $100AUD in about 2008). No idea what the performance difference was (daily average ambient temp was 35 degrees celsius), but it certainly burned a little faster; I wasn't complaining about cheap fuel anyway
How many miles did the Patrol cover using the kerosene mix?
@@frenchenstein I can't recall the numbers, but it was about 15% less efficiency than diesel
Here in Argentina the main difference is the amount of sulfure, v power has a very low ppm and is used in common rail systems, while the common one is at least 400 ppm, and its the ine used in older mechanical pump cars, it's been proven that the sulfure in the common diesel and common rail systems dont get along and viceversa, vpower and mechanical pumps dont get along either
I’ve never noticed any performance difference what ever diesel I used, I have used the Dipetane as it was meant to heat the dpf up quicker and to higher temps. I never had any issues so I assume it worked 🤷🏻♂️
Love it you use the cheapest fuels in the race car, keepin’ it real 👍🏻
Good test
I drive a 2010 skoda tdi
Ive used most if not all but top ones for me are:
Shell standard derv (get more mpg just a little)
BP standard derv (runs quieter smoother)
Costco(don’t notice anything its just cheaper out of all of them)
I understand the fuel comes from the same place it just the additives that change them.
I run the car 100 miles a day 5 to 7 days a week 95% motorway @70 mph (save fuel)
Did the same with my GS300 for years same result with petrol and noticed the diffrence more because the car was ultra quiet and very sensitive to all fuel.
I also find texaco is the worse out the lot of them for some reason both petrol and derv
As an Hgv driver. I would believe that your common diesel is the best as we are left to fuel that up, mpg etc fuel economy and wear and tear are all key to the job. This normal diesel will do just the same as Vpower. What I believe Vpower maybe better at is if you’re not fueling up as often the Vpower will not degrade as fast. Thus keeping the engine running well.
So maybe a test could be get a tub of diesel in a fuel tank like container.
And a tub of Vpower ect do the same leave them both a month give them a try and see then if theirs a difference that would be interesting.
A few years ago I used to get the v-power for my euro 4 transit, a noticable mpg improvement, checked regularly,.
In the Euro 5 diesel relay I've covered 50k in 18months, absolutely no difference in mpg whichever diesel i buy,
Better buying the cheapest and adding, additive or some 2stroke occasionally
F11 535d mapped to around 380bhp and 700nm. Ran on supermarket fuel for the last 100k and absolutely fine spend 6 mknths running it on v power, same commute every day using cruise and made absolutely no difference to mpg, noise or perceived performance. Last 3 diesel cars prior also all on supermarket with over 200k and also all fine. The only time premium fuel is needed is in high CR petrol engines where they need the extra octane for knock protection but that can also be solved with mapping.
Great test thanks! I believe super diesel retailers pitch is better engine efficiency leading to better economy and a cleaner engine. As a mechanical engineer (retired) I believe the super diesel is ideal for low mileage, short local running vehicles where the engine never really gets up to operational temperature, it runs cleaner assisting with a reduction in carbon build up. It is absolutely pointless using super diesel in high mileage vehicles, particularly where higher speeds lead to optimal engine operational temperature, motorway use etc, in this situation carbon build up is minimal. I run a diesel 3.0 Macan covering something like 3k a year most of that very local cold running so I use super diesel. On the rare occasion I do a long hot run motorway journey it’s normal diesel. So basically I use super diesel to assist in keeping my engine internals slightly cleaner thereby maintaining engine life longevity and overall efficiency and at 82k it runs like it’s covered 8k returning a local average fuel consumption of 39 mpg and on that long run 55 mpg!
The biggest thing these fuel companies advertise is cleaning properties. You should have also been measuring exhaust particulate as well during the tests to see what fuel burned better. Yeah they might have made similar power but you could see with the exhaust smoke changed dramatically during certain pulls. This would be the biggest reason to use a more expensive fuel. Cars nowadays are suffering from excessive carbon build up and it’s killing manifolds and exhaust after treatment systems. I always run my diesel on Esso supreme or v power and I have never had a diesel engine suffer from DPF or EGR valve issues.
If it keeps away DPF problems it's worth every penny. And also injectors. It's all really costly stuff if a problem arises.
Thank you guys... this was a very comprehensive video that must have took you forever to make... very much appreciated 👏
Good stuff, cleanliness is the only thing for me, my DPF does a forced regen much more often on supermarket fuels than just normal Shell. Performance wise is obviously much of a muchness but would rather put slightly cleaner, branded fuel in
I use V-Power for the additives. My dad did a 6 year experiment on V-power versus normal diesel by recording every fill up for that time. After using regular Shell diesel for 3 years then started using V-Power. There was a marked increase in MPG (don't know about power) that offset the extra cost. This was 10 years ago mind. This was on an AMF 3PD.
So is it fair to say that one should basically fill up the exact same way you use cleaning additives, i.e. every other tank? Meaning one tank regular, one tank premium?
Your old man sounds a right laugh
Why would air/fuel ratio change? That doesnt make sense. Most of the cars don,t have flex fuel sensors to measure the octane on the diesel. I will burn the same amount no matter what diesel you habe.
@@MrSamueladerach I can only imagine that the additives allow a better burn? Shell claim better mpg but I am not sure why they say that. The V-Power is a powerful cleaner and on my vintage motorbikes I use it and keep the tanks topped up as you can see clearly how it keeps everything mint. With high pressure pumps and injectors maybe this makes a difference.
@@ShalomBrother he is 93 now😂😂
I have used Shell V Power for years now, after a few local supermarkets allowed contaminated fuel to damage a few customers cars. I have always believed that V Power would just keep my injectors clean, I do more motorway driving than urban driving so the DPF gets a regular blast out.
cant think of no other team to do this experiment, hats off to you!!
The cetane number for shells Diesel fuels - Shell V-power Diesel and Shell FuelSave Diesel are conform to the EN 590 specification - so they both have a minimum of 51 cetane.
I think it would be very interesting to come back and also test Shell GTL diesel if you can. Its made from natural gas instead of crude oil, and should in theory atleast burn much cleaner than traditional diesel, great video BTW. :)
Very interesting test. I have played around with Vpower diesel in the past. Some cars I could tell no difference. Although I used it in a Pug 106 1.4 na diesel. Think this was when it was called Optimax originally. There was an audible difference. I can’t swear it was quieter, but the sound did change. I drove it very economically as I was commuting 120+ miles a day on a very small budget. So I can’t comment on power or smoke. But it was definitely more economical. I did the same route daily for over 2 years. The 106 would regularly return 62-64mpg (I would manually calculate for every tank). The Optimax returned a high of 78mpg. And was never lower than high 60’s.
As a fuel industry person. All branded diesel with one exception is the same as unbranded diesel. Exxon/Mobil is the exception because they have a unique formulation of additives that can be tested for.
That's good to know, thanks for that 👍
So is Exxon/Mobil a better quality diesel than others or is just identifiable (via testing) as different?
Thank you.
@@tonypaddler for sure it is testable. Allegedly, it is better. My old 7.3 powerstroke seemed to run better with Exxon diesel but that was a subjective observation.
@@davissp2
Hmm, I think after my next fuel system clean out I'll give my 2.0 HDi a few tankfulls of Mobil as a test.
Thanks again 👍
@@tonypaddler if you remember to, post here about it. I’m curious to see someone else’s experience.
@@davissp2
I will do 👍
I have always believed its continual use of V power that improves the internal cleaning of the engine. Ive owned this car for 3 yrs and only commute 4 miles to my work. Never had any DPF problems or any forced regeneration.
I've been using shell v-power diesel in my BMW f11 530d with a stage 1 remap for the past few months. I read many constrasting articles & reviews beforehand. My mechanic advised me to use as he rates it. I've honestly not noticed the car being any faster, quieter, smoother or better mpg. It costs me approx £10 more per month. When my mech mot'd my car he says it was running 'cleaner' than last years mot as some sort of justification that he's been proven correct! 😁 After watching this video, I think I'll just switch back to std diesel & stick an additive in every now & again
Stick your normal diesel in, without an additive and don’t tell your mechanic, I bet he will still tell you it’s running cleaner than it was, just to make himself fell like he knows somert you don’t.
what may matter is if there are cleaning chemicals in the fuel that work. otherwise you can compare fuel consumption yourself. The road and the Dyno are not quite the same thing
@@ShalomBrother In theory, should a higher cetane content mean better combustion? If it's clean exhaust you're looking for then you should look for Hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO If you have it in the UK
Horse power aside isn't the big selling point of v power etc the cleaning additives? And therefore long term maintenance of power and performance?
Be interesting to run 2 engines for long period then see if the cheap fueled one is all coked up a year later while additives one still clean with good spray patterns, EGR valve etc.
I've genuinely revived poor running diesels with a tank of v power etc or an additive into fuel.
Maybe that's where the performance is at, revival and maintaining?
I normally average 46.0mpg in my i40 , but when I run premium diesel it goes up to about 47.0. But the extra cost doesnt really justify the extra 1 mile per gallon
Loved the video. Learned that cheap diesel is ok.
If you guys do another one. Id like to suggest diesel test fluid used in test centers that do pump and injector rebuilds . That stuff runs insanely clean
Thanks for doing this test.
I logged the fuel consumption over 180k miles on two 330d BMWs. I ran one in supermarket diesel for 20k miles, and had issues with poor throttle response, which required BMW to do a lot of internal cleaning of various components. For the remaining miles, I initially used branded standard diesel, then switched to premium whenever I could get it, and the spreadsheet showed a consistent improvement in mpg on the premium fuel - maybe not the first tank after some standard fuel, but certainly thereafter. And certainly enough to justify the extra price. BP seemed to have a slight edge over Shell, which seemed better than Esso.
More recently, I haven’t been quite so meticulous with my records, and run 4x4s, with a much lower annual mileage. My default fuel is premium; I think the vehicles are more economical (but lack numeric evidence to support this claim, and clouded by my current driving various in type and distance), the cars seem to run smoother and start better on premium, and for sure the mpg is much better when towing heavy trailers.
That’s just my opinion of course 😁.
just out of interest, when you say 'premium', do you mean branded regular diesel (i.e. 'premium' brand) or the full fat poncy V-Power type fuels? When I had a bimmer I used to run a tank of the BP equivalent of V Power now and then, normal BP probably 1 in 3 tanks and supermarket the rest of the time. Not sure if I ever saw and particular improvement in anything, but then I wasn't paying that much attention either, and I got rid of it after about 37k. Now I don't do so many miles and run a Focus 2 litre tdci (160bhp version) and I hate it so it gets supermarket only since it doesn't deserve anything else 😁
@@stevepettifer4896 By premium I mean Shell V Power or the the BP equivalent. I know there are so many variables and so many opinions, but I personally never saw the benefit in running an occasional tank of V Power and standard fuel the rest of the time. Somebody else mentioned that premium diesels store better - that’s my belief too (no evidence of course), and given some of my vehicles are left unused for extended periods of time, it adds to my personal argument 😁.
I use the premium in the T6. While loads on forums bemoan the EGR and DPF I've never had that issue. Of course run times and servicing will vary too but fuel with more detergents will surely keep the entire system cleaner over time?
I would add for mpg I find premium worse.
The more I think about this, the more my brain hurts. Now I’m wondering about the impact of different fuels on the need for DPF regeneration, and therefore impact on oil dilution rates. And then how different diesel fuels might affect engine oil when oil dilution occurs. I am going to stop thinking about it 😁.
When I bought my TDV8 RR last year, I filled it with `premium` on the way home. It went better from that moment on. Months later, and with a new fuel filter installed, it's even better.
Former owners only bought theirs from a supermarket `Sainsbury's` I think.
FINALLY! Always wanted to see a test on this!
Agreed i saw officially gassed results on the petrol ones and always wanna see the diesel comparisons
@@lukearmsby5507even then, different engine types react differently to premium vs regular. My old 1.9 E36 used to respond incredibly well to 99 octane over 95 - 6 or 7 MPG improvement in economy, and noticeably quicker (even more noticeable drop in performance if you put 95 in after running 99 for a while). But my V8 7 series of the same age, absolutely pointless running premium fuel in it, no discernable change in performance running 95 vs 99.
Fantastic! Finally somebody who really does a proper test. Subscribed to your channel after seeing this video.
Seems like for the cost of the Shell VP you'd be better off to just buy regular diesel and put a concentrated additive in every tank
Astra CDTi. 80k on the clock. Prem diesel gives me 50 - 70 more miles per tank. I don't use premium diesel every time but when I do it clearly moves 50 - 70 more miles before the red light comes on.
Thanks for doing this. I'm one of those who's always just gone for the cheapest diesel available. I'd always get told how I'm missing out on power, or it would run better on premium or I'm killing my engine using supermarket fuels. On the occasions I did use premium I never felt a difference in power, responsiveness or noticed any difference in sound or fuel economy so I went back to good old supermarket fuel. It's nice to finally see some actual data to back up what I thought and what I've felt when switching between standard and premium, i.e, no difference.
You might not feel it, but there is a difference for sure. A semi blocked injector over a couple years will not produce the same power as a clean fully working Injectors
If you have a chrome history at the back of the exhaust pipe, HVO Diesel can be an advantage, it soots less And you don't have to worry as much about the particle filter. I have googled there should be HVO Diesel in the UK to buy
Top work! Happy with your results. I personally run supermarket fuel with the ehn-99 and I've always felt the car was not faster but felt a bit smoother and eager. Deffo interested in seeing the "race diesel" test!
Perhaps you should consider a diesel boosters are also said to clean particle filters or to make sure that it does not get dirty as quickly
I experimented with a lot of additives and diesel fuels. I blew up the engine in my petrol Giulietta after 99 petrol from Tesco messed up with the injection system. So, I'm done with supermarket diesel. I use only Esso (just closer to me) with Lucas upper cylinder lubricant. Now in both my cars petrol and diesel the engine runs better. I can clearly see reductions in fuel consumption and sensibly more power. Also i used heating oil (kerosene) + oil (10%) in an older cast iron engine. It was getting hot faster. Other than thst no difference...
Would love to see how some JET-A1 does in this same test, maybe get some for the next round...and maybe stack that against red diesel and heating oil, I've seen all three run just fine in diesel vehicles over the years.
Red diesel does not excist except from adding a little red collar into blank diesel...
It might f.. up your diesel pump. Since JET-A1 is actually not known (and needed) for lubrication. The Diamond DA62 uses JET-A1 for its diesel engines and her pumps are additionally lubricated for that qualification. A typical self-lubricated diesel pump (means lubbed by the diesel) simply would die with JET-A1..
@hoodhangerz4315 that's interesting, was any additives added for lubrication?
I use vpower or Tesco momentum petrol in my 19.4L bike tank and get 45-50 extra to a tank every time. I don't use anything else.. Prob works out no cheaper but reduces petrol stops.
I used to oversee the department for Tesco that handled initial legal complaints.
We used to see quite a few claims from customers where their mechanic advised them that the supermarket fuel had damaged their engine. We would normally ask for an independent engineers report and in all my years there, not one of them showed that the supermarket fuel was to blame. It was usually down to misdiagnosis or lazy initial fault finding.
The fuel is mostly all the same, only the additive is different. Tesco used to get their additive from a major oil company and while it wasn't the most up to date 'blend' it wasn't far behind what you would find the oil companies producing.
Really cool video, thanks for taking the time to make it.
Thank you for sharing your experiences and opinions.
There are many variable factors that play a role in potential problems with internal combustion engines, the fuel is just one part of it.
And there is a select audience that does not shy away from fraud or the exploitation of a situation.
I live in Belgium and I recently heard an interesting topic on the radio about what initially seems banal but says a lot about drivers in general. In short, there are not many people who know how to add engine oil, add fluids in general.
I am and remain of the opinion that good and frequent maintenance of the car contributes to the quality of the engine and performance. As well as the driving distances etc.
Right.... My wife got a 2007 Citroen C4 1.6hdi 16v with about 60k miles. Kept putting Tosserco diesel in and EVERY couple of weeks it was hunting and generally being shit! So I had to do an Italian tune up every couple of weeks 🙄.... I persuaded her in 2013 to use BP Ultimate diesel for 3 months to see if it would help. Well, that was 2013. 2021 I had to do a clutch change so I removed the engine & box and did everything that needed to be done (timing belt, timing chain....because the DV6 16v has both, glow plugs and whatnot) I decided to remove the EGR valve to see what it was like. I have NEVER seen such a clean EGR!!!!!!!! Bit sooty, but other than that, it was fully functional (and STILL is) and just "clean" AF. Anyway, she regularly returns 70mpg and passes MOT emissions every year with no issues. So I absolutely give BP Ultimate diesel the thumbs up for an older car with (now) 101,000 miles that STILL gets great MPG ( can't argue with 70mpg for a 17 year old car on it's original turbo.....
Did you ever have to do the Oil feed pipe on the C4? Common problem on the DV6 I recently changed mine as it was leaking badly DPF/EGR off and remap to 142BHP
Awesome test, I’m an Aussie diesel mechanic who used fo drive fuel tankers, it’s all just marketing BS! Would love to see some JET A1 tested, I don’t think it’ll go any better, just out of curiosity! I’ve ran a couple of CRD’s on jet and noticed no difference
I've worked in the oil and gas pipeline and storage industry for 35+ years, including white oils (ground and aviation fuels). Near the start of my career, I read a report on a study commissioned and undertaken by the USAF to determine if JP8 (aviation turbine kerosine, i.e. JETA1 fuel with an icing inhibitor) could be used in diesel engined vehicles instead of diesel to eliminate the logistical need to transport and store the additional fuel grade. The concern was mainly around the lower lubricity of the jet fuel, and the potential additional wear to the fuel system (pumps, injectors etc.). The trials were quite extensive and included stripdown and microscopic inspection of the wearing components. The conclusion was that there was no additional appreciable wear on the fuel system and that running diesel engines on jet fuel was OK. What should be borne in mind though was that the study would most likely have been conducted on non-common rail engines, so it would be interesting to hear of any more recent similar studies conducted on common rail diesels.
In my experience/ opinion the higher cetane diesel would burn differently spooling the turbo 100-150 rpms earlier in normal driving conditions which would allow a higher gear selection sooner dropping the rpms or the difference between 4th and 5th gear cruising at 30 or 5th and 6th at 40, which is where economy gains can be found. Do those gains offset the extra cost? Probably not unless cetane booster is used over premium fuel. Obviously driving/ testing at flat chat isn't going make any economy difference.
Some interesting tests with the different fuels would be a burn speed test in a windowed or clear combustion chamber with a slo mo camera, or a cylinder wall combustion temperature test, but obviously these would be very difficult to engineer.
When I had my Mondeo st tdci I ran shell vpower diesel and it made a big difference, not in cleaness or power but I did get more mpg. About 55 instead of 50 without changing anything else.
But did the extra cost negate the extra mpg? or was the vpower cheaper overall?
I would say vpower diesel makes a big difference in some cars. My 1.6 hdi runs like a dream with vpower diesel. Standard cheaper diesel it has no power and less mpg. But then my avensis I wouldn't say it makes any difference
Thank you for the time and effort doing the tests , it was nice to see the results and learn more about the differences in them .
I also feel little happier buying tesco fuel knowing there's not much benefit of buying the premium fule . I do use cleaner additive every 6 months though just for pice of mind .
Started using 'fancy' diesel on a Volvo C30 with 120k. Was getting average 51 mpg. By 125k Im getting 55mpg so the cleaning of the fancy diesel has definitely worked. I now run 3 tanks of standard diesel and then one tank of the good stuff.
I've got a V50 1.6D and has 166K miles on it so if it works on your c30 then deffo it will work on mine too. What else have you noticed with the "fancy" fuel?
@@VinDieselS70 same... 1.6D S Drive. The super-diesel did a great job cleaning the engine over around 5k so now i just use normal diesel for three fills and the 'fancy' stuff on the fourth to help cleaning. I use a DPF cleaner additive about two weeks before MOT and drive in 4th for about 10 miles to get a good regen going. 👍
@@AndrewGibson22 thank you Andrew. As this is my first Diesel with a DPF all hints and tips are welcome. The previous S70 and V70 D5 didn't have any DPF nonsense.
Mind you, the old S70 was happy with veggie oil from Asda.
@@VinDieselS70 'cough, cough' gut it 'cough, cough' 😉
@@VinDieselS70 - I found Costco veggie oil really so much better than most others in my old Mitsubishi Pajero, it had a much higher chip butty and candy-floss aroma level than other regular cooking oils
Just to chuck in my 2 cents there, maybe might help to add.
I've been an avid user of just regular old texaco fuel, until it sadly shut down around my area, but I proposed my own mini-test. I switched to Supreme99, then had to use shell-vpower due to it being closed down.
At the beginning of the 3 month trial, I noticed a significant punchier throttle, as well as a cleaner engine noise. It ran smoother, and a little bit punchier, but again the punchier feeling might just boil down to me being placeboed lol.
However after 3 Months, I switched to regular shell fuel, I did notice no difference, but sometimes I would notice the fuel not being as responsive, and on some given days it would literally feel the exact same.
I'd say these premium fuels do have a better consistency maybe, with the added additives to clean your engine fuel systems.
I'd love to see this test done on a long-term basis, how similar cars with similar journeys would perform, what wear and tear it can cause, but there are too many factors for that to even be accounted for.
Personally I'd say every once in a while for the next few fill-ups maybe just up-to a month, add a bit of "Premium Fuel" in, to let it clean your systems, injectors , etc. then just switch back to regular old fuel.
Or the better option which I am now going to potentially trial out, is adding these additives yourself, such as injector cleaners etc. I think currently I just pay an extra premium to have it done all in one fill haha
You might have accounted for this anyway, but there might be a difference when running extremely hot. Sustained maximum temperatures. On a petrol you will get a difference in power there where the higher octane prevents pre ignition. Not sure about a diesel.
I use 2% two stroke 1%redex diesel cleaner. What i am quite careful about is not putting contaminated fuel in diesel being hydroscopic.
So fir 2 stroke you put in 2ml per 100 litres diesel? Which 2 stroke do you use?
2ml per litre mineral two-stroke 👍
Would be interested to see how Costco "premium" diesel compares to other premium diesels. Also if you guys are able to hub dyno you could eliminate a few variables
Hello. I use Shell V-power only. The truck runs very smooth at idle and overall a better performance. It is said that the injectors will last longer compared with cheap diesel. 50.000 km difference Bosch said. I have a 2010 Ford Ranger 2.5 tdci, tuned as good I could do about 372 bhp and 700 rwNm. Could be more, but I declined smoke.
My brother is a fuel tanker driver, it all comes from the same tank.. a bucket of additive is thrown in for the premium stuff...so use the Tesco stuff and stick in redex now and again
Same as what a fuel tanker driver told me, he was running out of Stanlow, also said that customs and exise put dye in at the gate to make red diesel, so that's no different or lesser quality to white, I think the only difference you may notice is which refinery produced it or whether it's imported from another country with lesser quality standards, I seem to recall one winter Craggs energy got a batch of diesel from Russia and none of our tractors would run properly off it.
🤣 tesco fuel is shit shell Vpower is the best fuel
I have a 2018 Mitsubishi Barbarian and find that it runs quieter and smoother on premium diesel but now I buy the cheapest diesel and add fuel improver which dose the same, also once a year I add a con of liquid moly injector cleaner, only do this as I never believed that such things work but then I purchased an old 5 cylinder Kubota tractor to maintain the paddock and it was hard to start and blew black smoke and rather than just swap out all 5 injectors I gave the cleaner a try within a few minuets the smoke stopped and afterwards it started on the button and runs with no smoke on full load when mowing so it definitely works..
£7 difference per TANK between morrisons and shell V power diesel running a BMW 3 series 2.0 (190 brake) for 4 month a big difference on cold starts
Shell V power is GTL so distilled slightly different, this gives a slightly higher cetane number which means it runs cleaner but slightly lower calcific value.
What do you use in your motor Neil ?
Superb test lads, thank you for doing this. Proves so many points. Simply use supermarket diesel and use a decent cleaning additive once a month depending on the mileage you do. 👍
Its different in additive, so depends how long you will keep your car.. if you buy new car and plan to keep it 10 years buy premiums because filters will not be stuck, its expensive for changing.. my car always premium and always driven fast on open roads, when they connect it to computer and see that DPF was stuck only 14% they can't bolive.. 🙂👍
It's atmospheric preasure making the biggest difference and tyres heating up
I love that people will watch this, see a thorough test using a dyno and good process; and still argue they are right. We ran a Merc 300TD on veg oil 50/50 diesel and it made exactly no difference to how it drove. Diesel engines aren't fuel limited like turbo petrol engines are.
I was always under the impression Vpower diesel is for maintenance purposes and thats why i run a tank full every now and then. Especially when going on a good run
Think this is a good strategy tbf.
Diesel need a boot full every now and then
Using Millers ecomax i have far fewer DPF issues, cheap diesel plus an additive is the only way to go.
Interesting, i am using BP ultimate at the moment and it seems to reduce the frequency's of the regens, i am hooked up to vag dpf app , i would be interested to know the longer term effects on the egr valve ect
excellent video
My Little Toyota 1.4Ltr Diesel has never ever done a Regen Cycle and I always use the cheapest Diesel I can find 😊 I always make sure it gets a blast up the Motorway at least once a week.
😊
@@stephenjones9153 thars unusual to just have passive regens plus the ecu on most will kick a regen in at a predetermined milage say 1000km, i know some never notice a n active regen as its done when they finish their journey
@19:20 time mark He's talking about power differences based on tire pressure because tire heats up. If they have had their calibration right and let dyno to calculate run-down, you could see Crank hp without losses in tires and other parts that affect power output based on temps.
Thsts the main reason I love inertia dyno. Always correct.
DD don't do a coastdown
Only ever ran Vpower in 335d never had any EGR or DPF issues. Ran perfectly for the entire time i owned it.
Only ever run the cheapest on my 335d, never had an issue. My understanding is that diesel has to meet a minimum standard and therefore BMW will have built their engines to that standard. Anything else is marketing?
I used to run a E270 Merc on Esso super diesel. Took the EGR valve out to clean it as I was expecting it to be black and gunky like you seem them and it was clean as a whistle. Not sure if it was fuel related or not.
Now I’m in a 1.6hdi Peugeot and just use the regular Esso but will put a bottle of Forte diesel flush in once a year before MOT.
Cant comment on v power diesel but my missus works for Shell and shes been to their fuel lab on the continent and the petrol they supply Ferrari F1 team has only very slightly different molecular chemistry to v power petrol. The commentor who said about the base fuel coming from x refinery and then the additive package being put in at point of transit is spot on. This is how the industry works across the board but effectively supermarket fuels have less additives and hence the lower price. The customer retention on v power is immense so Shell must be doing something right, even if its just the marketing.
a delivery driver said they go to the refinery for multiple companies, they have a key ring with a bunch of credit cards on it, they look the order up, select the credit card to match, shove it in and the machine dispenses the additive for that company, the base fuel for all the companies was all the same, The no name discount fuels get no additive package, so your really not saving anything in the long run.
Well that depends how good the additive is. If it makes the engine run smoothly and cleaner and improves mpg its more than worth it.
The V-Power is full of detergents which probably cleaned the system and engine out (judging by it's smoke level) which resulted in the improvement from the supermarket fuel, I would hazard a guess the EH99 may have achieved something similar.....
I always use Red Diesel in mine, and can easily pull a six furrow plough no problem. :-)
Try driving something that can go faster than 30mph. 🤪
Shell Vpower 100% has faster response time and pulls harder on my 335d. Will use normal diesel for work then Vpower on the weekends sometimes
Over a years motoring, while i owned a diesel, i would put 2 to 4 tanks of Diesel V-Power in between all the tanks of regular supermarket diesel.
This was on the off chance that it had special cleaning additives to get rid off carbon build up inside the engine.
Car knocks like a bandit on cheap fuel sounds like the big ends are gone as soon as I put premium in sound disappears runs lovely and is 10mph faster something to do with fuel explodes at the right time I think, doesn't explode before it should an no management lights since, 🤔
Great work, Ryan. Thanks a lot for the time and effort, never bought diesel from Shell due to price, usually buy what's closer to me and that's Tesco and Morrisons.
A few years ago I drove a Defender 110 2.4 TCI Diesel from South Africa to London. My research indicated that diesel quality varied greatly in quality in different Africa countries. It certainly did. In Ethiopia it was bad and the brand name was , believe or not, "NOC" which was unintentionally fitting - the motor "knocked" loudly in protest. In Sudan it became very good and was very cheap. In Egypt I encountered the worst diesel of all - 10,000 ppm of sulphur. As soon as I filled it up the car's performance plummeted. I was required to travel in a police convoy and found to my embarrassment that I struggled to keep up with them at 100km on a flat open road. In Namibia my normal cruise was an effortless 130 kmh. When I shipped the car to Turkey I filled up there with their expensive premium diesel (Total brand) hoping the car would run better again. It took the engine computer about half an hour to somehow recalibrate and suddenly it was flying again! An extraordinary difference. Now it runs in New Zealand) on BP diesel refined in Singapore - also very good. When know-alls say there is no difference between diesel brands and "just get the cheapest" I shake my head. They really don't know what I learned from using the same engine ii quick succession through 10 countries.
I've had similar experience. I could barely maintain 50mph and thought the turbo had blown. But it was just the fuel. Once the vehicle worked things out it improved.