Shell V Power vs BP Ultimate

[S3 GHO]

Hi folks,

Before I get slaughtered on here, I'm new to the site and new to S3's after only buying mine last Friday. Also apologies if this is covered elsewhere, I couldnt find any threads on this.

Wanted your opinion - when driving my car back to Glasgow area from Aberdeen last week (and almost losing my liscence in my first outing), I put 'Normal' 95 petrol in the car. Got home and put some more in. On the way down, the car seemed very quick (not sure if its remapped) and more recently, it seems quick, but not AS quick. Last night, went down to my local BP and put BP Ultimate in and straight away, the car seems to run better but i haven't given it the beans as yet.

However, my question is, whats better and why? BP Ultimate or Shell V Power?


Thanks guys

 

[kwistof]

Shell V Power nitro is obviously better considering its 99RON as apposed to BPs 97RON....

If you started a thread about Tesco Momentum vs Shell V Power Nitro then that would have made more sense...as they are both 99RON.

Ohhh and it has been discussed to death on every motoring forum I have ever been on and fifth gear even has even investigated with a video on YouTube you can watch

Edit: Also have a :sign_welcome: from me

 

[@udi A3]

Neither, stick to 95ron , pull a few plugs off to induce limp mode, this will help prevent you losing your license.
:busted_cop:

If by chance you lose it, spend a little time using the search button

Welome to the forum by the way

 

[Westy]

Don't run 95ron for gods sake. Read the sticker inside the fuel cap. It also says in the owners manual to use 97 and above, you should only use 95 if you're completely stuck and can't get anything else but expect reduced performance.

 

[S3_DAVE]

Fifth Gear Fuel test - YouTube

 

[S3 GHO]

Guys thanks for the warm welcome and the info - just watched the Fifth Gear test.

The V Power does give the most HP increase but VBH doesnt recommend the higher priced fuels for normal every day driving?? Do they have a more noticable difference for a car thats been remapped - or am i clutching at straws here?

Also on a side note, is the only way to tell if my car's been mapped to run it on a Dyno or is there another way?

 

[kwistof]

Guys thanks for the warm welcome and the info - just watched the Fifth Gear test.

The V Power does give the most HP increase but VBH doesnt recommend the higher priced fuels for normal every day driving?? Do they have a more noticable difference for a car thats been remapped - or am i clutching at straws here?

Also on a side note, is the only way to tell if my car's been mapped to run it on a Dyno or is there another way?

Please re-read Westy's post above about the HP and read your manual as well dude....it's all in there and says anything below 97 will reduce the performance of the vehicle. VBH is so ****** annoying as well....I couldn't care less what she recommends- I'd rather follow the instructions in my Audi manual regarding fuel

I haven't watched the video for a while but I think the narrator says that it's not worth using on your average run of the mill car...e.g fiesta 1.4.. however cars with a high bhp per liter and also charged cars- such as the S3 will benefit.

 

[<tuffty/>]

For tuned/mapped cars use the higher octane fuel... <end/>

I have used both v-power and Tesco Momentum depending on circumstances (exclusively v-power now)... octane rating counts... Tesco fuel seemed to make my plugs go a funny colour but I have changed my 'fuelling schedule' now so I can use the Shell station by Badger 5 rather than having to use Tesco on the route to work...

Higher octane means less chance of knock/pre-ignition/pinking/whatever you prefer to call it and allows the ECU to run more timing advance... timing advance is free power, 3 degrees can result in 20hp gains (subject to mods etc)... what this means in reality is if your car is mapped on 99octane (v-power for example) and produces 260hp and 270ftlb torque, using 95 octane will drop these figures by quite a bit (you will notice the torque drop more than the hp loss)...

On a std car (to put VBH's comments into context) the tune used by OE's is designed to make the car feel just as powerful regardless of octane but the ECU will learn and reduce timing accordingly so over time you won't notice the loss in power and be blissfully ignorant of the fact...

The effect on tuned cars is greater as the difference between std and tuned is larger

The adverse effect of removing timing is the engine will run hotter and promote the other protections it has in place such as fuel dumping and even more timing pull... it can over a period of time just make performance drop off much quicker...

Your choice of course as there is enough protection built in to cope with octane reduction but personally unless your car is a) std or b) you are stuck for fuel and can't find high octane stuff, stick to he highest octane fuel that is easy to get in your area... this could be Shell v-power, BP Ultimate or Tesco Momentum... 95 ron fuel has no place in a performance car especially a mapped/tuned one

<tuffty/>

 

[S3 GHO]

Excellent reply guys, message recieved loud and clear - dont be a tight A**e and get the good stuff in there! I've been driving diesels for a whilst before the S3 (cardinal sin i know) but wanted to get back to something i can enjoy and do a few sensible mods to get blistering performance. Thanks for the info - much appreciated.

Cheers lads.

 

[Sam_]

I can never tell a difference between V-Power and BP Ultimate. Both are 98 here so I just get whatever's nearest. As said, I never run the risk of 95.

<tuffty/>

Totally off topic but you should update your username to HTML5, <tuffty>. XHTML is old school these days

 

[<tuffty/>]

Totally off topic but you should update your username to HTML5, <tuffty>. XHTML is old school these days

My bad... I do SQL, XML and c# these days... been a while since I played with front end web stuff ;P

<tuffty/>

 

[kwistof]

My bad... I do SQL, XML and c# these days... been a while since I played with front end web stuff ;P

<tuffty/>

Euuurghhhhhhh those words relate to work....that I use this forum to get away from- MY EYESSSSSSSS!!!

Edit - to keep the post slightly on track.....make sure you get a shell points card and build up points - you get double for using V Power. I've had mine about a year and had a good £50 of vouchers sent through to me now for just filling up as I normally do.

 

[The Doctor]

For what it's worth, I've used V-Power for years now, both in the S3 and in my Fiesta 1.25 Zetec (woo-hoo!) before it. Even in the Fiesta I could tell the difference in performance, and so have only ever used V-Power in the S3. I even put it into our Grand Picasso once - problem is that's a 2ltr diesel so it cost me an arm & a leg to get the nice AA man to remove it all for me. Oops. And we were all packed up & ready to go on holiday too. Daddy was not popular that day.

 

[Gops]

I had a fiesta 1.25! Badman car