Shell V-Power- car sluggish

WeeG

Active Member
Nov 5, 2008
3,407
4
Largs , Ayrshire
I usually use tesco momentum 99 to fill up with as it's closer to home. But on a rare occasion I'll throw in shell v-power. I've never noticed any difference in performance between the fuels before, so this is more of an observation. Last week I put £60 of v-power in the car from hillington (near Braehead) the car fuel guage was into the red. Never really booted it until a day or 2 after when I had the car out. The car felt pretty sluggish, especially bottom to mid range. I thought it might've a placebo since I got my catback fitted. Butlast night i filled her up with tesco momentum and almost straight away she was running so much better, with good throttle response, mid range punch etc.

I have heard of bad batches of supermarket fuel, but never she'll premium. Has anyone had similair experiences? As I'm guessing it was a bad batch?

Cheers
 

WeeG

Active Member
Nov 5, 2008
3,407
4
Largs , Ayrshire
I've never had any problems with v-power and my car hast seen any other kind of fuel since I got it. sounds strange though as I've also never really heed of shell having a bad batch :(

I never had an issue either bud. But defo strange how it felt fine again after tesco fuel up
 
Feb 26, 2009
5,275
1
Wolverhampton
I've had a couple of times where I've filled up with super and it's performed worse. It seems to be in areas where it's not very popular, so it sits in the tanks for a while.
 
Feb 10, 2012
617
1
Newquay
Every time i've used v-power my car feels like it misfires and is jerky low down but on 99 or any other fuel it's fine but then v-power doesnt get used much where i am so the old fuel theory could be true
 

Seatmann

Rough around the edges
Sep 16, 2010
5,575
10
Scotlanda
I think modern cars are set up for the lower octane fuel from the factory so unless otherwise re tuned they probably will run better on the cheaper stuff.

My experience of petrol cars has been the same as most of you unless it was an older car like the Mk1 mr2 I had.
 

WeeG

Active Member
Nov 5, 2008
3,407
4
Largs , Ayrshire
I think modern cars are set up for the lower octane fuel from the factory so unless otherwise re tuned they probably will run better on the cheaper stuff.

My experience of petrol cars has been the same as most of you unless it was an older car like the Mk1 mr2 I had.

My car is specifically tuned for 99. Can't run on anything else.
 

Seatmann

Rough around the edges
Sep 16, 2010
5,575
10
Scotlanda
V-power is 97 i think with far too many additives

It could well be, it was superb in the old toyota though, I can't deny that but anything more modern I've had never seemed to get on so well with it.

I'm often finding the same thing with my tdi, I just stick with the cheaper fuel but only from BP or Shell
 

calvR

Active Member
Oct 21, 2011
392
2
Kent
V-power is 97 i think with far too many additives

V power is 99
Bp is 97 and ridiculously overpriced
Tesco momentum is 99 and excellent if you dont mind cleaning tailpipes regularly. It seems to throw a lot more soot out the back but I can live with that as its much cheaper than shell where I live and the feels brilliant running it
 
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EndlessNameless

Keep it Maximum
Jun 26, 2012
263
0
My old suzuki swift needed 98 octane (I believe that's the rating of "cooking" petrol in Japan), and the only things I could fill it up with were Shell VPower and Tesco 99/Momentum, which are 99.

Everything else's "super" is 97. Unless you can find the BP supermegaultradeluxegoldstar petrol, which I only saw once. That was about twice the price of normal petrol, and was about 102RON. My mate's prelude ran really well on that stuff, though he only filled it up once.

I'm using Sainsburys 97 in my car at the moment, and it seems fine on it. I've not had it mapped though.
 
Last edited:
Feb 26, 2009
5,275
1
Wolverhampton
Unless you can find the BP supermegaultradeluxegoldstar petrol, which I only saw once. That was about twice the price of normal petrol, and was about 102RON. My mate's prelude ran really well on that stuff, though he only filled it up once.

I heard rumours about that stuff, but I never found a petrol station that sold it. I'd have loved to give it a go.
 

Al

Active Member
Aug 29, 2005
7,326
9
V power is 99
Bp is 97 and ridiculously overpriced
Tesco momentum is 99 and excellent t

Agreed on the BP comment. I have no idea why people bother with what on paper is an inferior product with a higher price.

Personally my car has never had anything other than V Power except once when I put in Tesco 99 Fuel when I ventured to the other side of the city. Also, I cant say I have ever noticed any "fuel issues" in almost 20 years of driving. And sluggishness is down to the car itself in my experience.
 

DaveysFR

Active Member
May 28, 2008
526
5
Northern Ireland: Limavady
Agreed on the BP comment. I have no idea why people bother with what on paper is an inferior product with a higher price.

Personally my car has never had anything other than V Power except once when I put in Tesco 99 Fuel when I ventured to the other side of the city. Also, I cant say I have ever noticed any "fuel issues" in almost 20 years of driving. And sluggishness is down to the car itself in my experience.

I have no choice living in Northern Ireland as the only high octane fuel we get is BP Ultimate, or Texaco Super Unleaded both of which are 97 ron :(. Tesco or shell don't sell their high octane fuels here
 

DOLBY

Active Member
Jun 24, 2006
2,934
98
North of London
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I agree with one of the above comments. You should ideally use a very busy petrol station (always fresh fuel). Fuel that has been sitting for a while will always react different.


Sent from my iPhone when I should be working....
 

GREG_R84

Keep right on
Oct 3, 2007
656
0
Tamworth
My car was mapped on BP ultimate so i always use that. However the few times i have filled up with V-power i must admit the car felt slow.
 
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