Canada: Shell V-Power Diesel vs Conventional Diesel + Additive

Hello All:

Trying to compare apples to apples with my fuel purchases in S. Ontario, Canada.

There are 7 fuel stations within 10km (6 Miles) of my abode, and a new one opened up this past August.

Recently, there were advertisements on television (last winter), touting the benefits of the "Cleaner burning" fuel branded as "V-Power Diesel", from Shell.

The problem is the "Green washing" price associated with the 'premium' diesel brand.

According to the chemists in Houston, Texas (Where shell's lab is), they have added a proprietory formula for "Cetane Improver" and engine cleaning of injectors, along with the usual depressed pour points in the winter blend(s).

So, I normally (In the summer anyway), do not worry about "Gelling up", my fuel lines with an '01 ALH, but was not so sure abut the "performance boosting" features of the Shell V-Power, espescially, since the ULSD is already having an additive package that restores some of the lubricity, and the cetane levels of basic diesel to bring it to CANADIAN D2 standards.

Does anyone have any experience , MPG wise, of the V-Power in the Winter time improving the MPG, and-or the 'clean' factor for an MK-IV engine?

The Winter additive, I used last winter was CTC Fuel Conditioner with anti-gel http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/motomaster-fuel-conditioner-with-anti-gel-0387810p.0387810.html? and so far, the MPGs were OK, but suffered during the low temperatures of February and March.

The ponderment is due to the relative darth of information available from Shell, and the whole additive biz, vis-a-vis the actual constituent components and their sources.

Apparently, Shell use a compound called "NEMO 2061" , and they blend it at the pump at 4000:1 , while the Dosing chart for the CTC stuff suggests 2300:1.89L for summer and 1800:1.89L for winter.

Current pricing for the CTC stuff: 1.89L is $18.50 (Plus 13 % Sales Tax) = roughly $20.00 for Southern Ontario, while the Shell V-power goes for a premium 10c per litre more at the pumps (All taxes in Price).

Which way is least to waste $$ on fluff and advertising, vs product and quality?

Richard

V-power is just regular diesel with additive like you said... essentially any diesel can be made "premium" by buying and dumping some additive into your tank.

I bought V-power for 6 straight tanks because there was an air miles promo going on (not because I wanted "premium" diesel) and I saw no difference.

In my opinion, go for a fuel brand that will give the best rewards. If we're spending money on fuel, why not get something in return. For me petro-canada seems to work out the best since I end up collecting a ton of petro points.

Dont know if this helps or not, but I used to avoid PetroCanada stations just because. When on a road trip on my bike ( hi compresionBMW} , got caught short of fuel and had no choice but to fill up with Petrocan. Was absolutely amazed at the improvement . When I ran my observations by the owner of a local hi performance dealer he said he wasnt surprised, 98% of the bikes brought into him with carb problems used ESSO gas. Seems to suggest that the feedstock used by the local refinery has a major influence on the overall quality of the fuel produced but I dont know how to use that info to my benefit.

2.2TDI said:

I bought V-power for 6 straight tanks because there was an air miles promo going on (not because I wanted "premium" diesel) and I saw no difference.

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This is what I was afraid of....

2.2TDI said:

In my opinion, go for a fuel brand that will give the best rewards.

If we're spending money on fuel, why not get something in return.

For me petro-canada seems to work out the best since I end up collecting a ton of petro points.

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Thanks.

Your point about 'rewards' has merit, when the price of the fuel is the same across vendors. (Brampton, GTA, )

Fortunately, the vendors around my area (Oshawa to Belleville) have occasional pricing differences on the order of 10c per Litre, so for a driver such as yourself, that makes a big difference.

10c / L * 5191 L = $519.10 in Rewards that would be in your pocket....
vs Whatever 'air miles' gives in exchange. (Over 2 Years - 99,397 km)

For me not so much, 10c / L * 1688 L = $168.00 (over 2.75 Years - 35,588).

The retail differential on Fuel Pricing, plus my lower consumption rates, means I won't get the discounts you would given the miles driven per year.

Would be great if Petro Points gave 10c discount on fuel per litre, but the 'rewards' program does not wash out for my location.

YMMV, However Petro-Can is always the highest price retailer in the area.

http://www.ontariogasprices.com/GasPriceSearch.aspx?fuel=D&qsrch=Cobourg, ON

But , at least it confirms what I was thinking.

miningman said:

Dont know if this helps or not, but I used to avoid PetroCanada stations just because. When on a road trip on my bike ( hi compresionBMW} , got caught short of fuel and had no choice but to fill up with Petrocan. Was absolutely amazed at the improvement . When I ran my observations by the owner of a local hi performance dealer he said he wasnt surprised, 98% of the bikes brought into him with carb problems used ESSO gas. Seems to suggest that the feedstock used by the local refinery has a major influence on the overall quality of the fuel produced but I dont know how to use that info to my benefit.

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Thank you Miningman, I was not sure either, until I looked at the fuel numbers over 3.75 years. Mostly Ultramar, Esso, and Shell . Rarely a Petro-Can Fillup (Just Because - like you suggested).

Now, How Can I be sure of my numbers.?

Well, here is the catch. I have kept track of the fuel put into the tank, and I have noted the type of driving I do. Mostly Highway. Some Urban.

The 'Secret' to TDI driving is to occasionally give it an 'Italian tune up' and Run it on Hot Turbo mode, so the EGR gets HOT exhaust going into the re-circ system, which cleans out the CARBON deposits on the Intake throttle body.

4000 RPMs on an 80 km/h road in 2nd gear usually does it .

It is harder on the Turbo bearing, but for S. Ontario, [Edit:The Diesel Fuels] they all have to be minumum Cetane of 40.

PS. ULSD caused a 5% drop in MPG with existing engines when the cut-over happened in 2006

Shell V Power diesel to there regular diesel is 10 cents more for the V Power. $5.00 a tank more for what? Buy your own additives and add.

Terrific-In-Tahoma said:

4000 RPMs on an 80 km/h road in 2nd gear usually does it .

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Thanks for the tip!

miningman said:

Dont know if this helps or not, but I used to avoid PetroCanada stations just because. When on a road trip on my bike ( hi compresionBMW} , got caught short of fuel and had no choice but to fill up with Petrocan. Was absolutely amazed at the improvement . When I ran my observations by the owner of a local hi performance dealer he said he wasnt surprised, 98% of the bikes brought into him with carb problems used ESSO gas. Seems to suggest that the feedstock used by the local refinery has a major influence on the overall quality of the fuel produced but I dont know how to use that info to my benefit.

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My job is to build/maintain these refineries.

Currently I work at the Suncor Edmonton refinery, which is the local supplier for Petro-Can outlets.

What I can say is the feed stock is essentially the exact same product for every company. The geographical location of the source bitumen is located within a very short radius for Shell (Albian), Husky (Sunrise), Suncor (Firebag), and Imperial Oil (Kearl Lake).

What makes the crucial difference, from what I can see, is the priority the company places on maintenance. Before Syncrude was taken over by Imperial Oil it was a great place to work. After, they insist on nearly running the equipment into the ground before doing maintenance. Little things like making you struggle to remove old, corroded, used studs... and re-use them. Instead of paying for new studs and bolts, they want to pay 3x the labour cost.

In a nutshell, Imperial Oil's refineries are filthy. Everything is running on the knife's edge, one step away from failure. Over at the local Petro-Can or Scottford (Shell) refineries (for instance), you could almost eat off the floor in various units.

Once I saw the difference in how Shell/Petro look at their equipment, I decided to never again use Esso fuel unless absolutely necessary.

^^^^^ great info. Thanks for advising.

Interesting thread, especially with the comment from PRY4SNO.
That being said, what’s the conclusion on V-Power? Is it the same, better or worse than using an additive (ie; power services) plus regular diesel. I’m especially interested because V-Power is only 5 cents/ litre more here.

If you add your own additive you then know exactly what is in it. If you buy from the pump you only know what someone tells you.

IIRC, PetroCanada has the highest cetane numbers in Canada. It's what I use, or Husky, and I use power service year round. No issues with fueling ever. I also use the Gas buddy app to find the cheapest fuel in the area I am in.