Super/Premium Diesel - Worth It?
Discussion
Looking at changing from a petrol to a diesel so of course I'm looking at potential fuel costs.
My current car recommends minimum 97 RON so if you go off what the manual says, which I do as they made the thing, that means V-Power.
What's the score with diesel and RON (or equivalent) please? I've never had a diesel so I've never paid much attention but I notice there's "Standard" diesel and there's "Premium" and V-Power and so on.
My current car recommends minimum 97 RON so if you go off what the manual says, which I do as they made the thing, that means V-Power.
What's the score with diesel and RON (or equivalent) please? I've never had a diesel so I've never paid much attention but I notice there's "Standard" diesel and there's "Premium" and V-Power and so on.
V Power / Ultimate etc diesels contain more cetanes I think.
V Power makes a great difference to mine, smoother and quicker through the rev range, I can change up sooner and its mildly more economical.
Meanwhile, Shell Fuelsave makes it sound like a bigger bag of nails, slower, have to hold gears a fair bit longer.
V Power makes a great difference to mine, smoother and quicker through the rev range, I can change up sooner and its mildly more economical.
Meanwhile, Shell Fuelsave makes it sound like a bigger bag of nails, slower, have to hold gears a fair bit longer.
paddyhasneeds said:
Looking at changing from a petrol to a diesel so of course I'm looking at potential fuel costs.
My current car recommends minimum 97 RON so if you go off what the manual says, which I do as they made the thing, that means V-Power.
Never heard of a diesel requiring a specific spec. of diesel (unlike petrol)My current car recommends minimum 97 RON so if you go off what the manual says, which I do as they made the thing, that means V-Power.
ks....I used V-Power diesel for about 10 months in my car (BMW 320d from 2001) and my spreadsheet suggests that it was, in general, maybe a teeny bit more efficient for the sort of driving I generally used to do - stop start commute through town, average less than 20mph. Didn't make much difference for motorway driving.
(This was basically what I'd previously found when switching from Tesco/Esso to normal Shell - nasty town driving efficiency improved a little bit, motorway driving exactly the same.)
The results don't permit any stronger conclusion than that though!
Perhaps the car smoked a bit less, though, and maybe sounded a bit better, and revved a bit more freely? I remember thinking all of that at the time. I'm not convinced, though! - it's a year since I ended my V-Power experiment, and if the car drives any worse then it's not especially noticeable. Certainly not worth the price/lack of clubcard points/etc.
(This was basically what I'd previously found when switching from Tesco/Esso to normal Shell - nasty town driving efficiency improved a little bit, motorway driving exactly the same.)
The results don't permit any stronger conclusion than that though!
Perhaps the car smoked a bit less, though, and maybe sounded a bit better, and revved a bit more freely? I remember thinking all of that at the time. I'm not convinced, though! - it's a year since I ended my V-Power experiment, and if the car drives any worse then it's not especially noticeable. Certainly not worth the price/lack of clubcard points/etc.
to3m said:
I used V-Power diesel for about 10 months in my car (BMW 320d from 2001) and my spreadsheet suggests that it was, in general, maybe a teeny bit more efficient for the sort of driving I generally used to do - stop start commute through town, average less than 20mph. Didn't make much difference for motorway driving.
(This was basically what I'd previously found when switching from Tesco/Esso to normal Shell - nasty town driving efficiency improved a little bit, motorway driving exactly the same.)
The results don't permit any stronger conclusion than that though!
Perhaps the car smoked a bit less, though, and maybe sounded a bit better, and revved a bit more freely? I remember thinking all of that at the time. I'm not convinced, though! - it's a year since I ended my V-Power experiment, and if the car drives any worse then it's not especially noticeable. Certainly not worth the price/lack of clubcard points/etc.
Same experience for me in petrol cars. Using V-Power stuff or whatever else 97+ RON rated made no difference and in some cases it was worse than 95 RON.(This was basically what I'd previously found when switching from Tesco/Esso to normal Shell - nasty town driving efficiency improved a little bit, motorway driving exactly the same.)
The results don't permit any stronger conclusion than that though!
Perhaps the car smoked a bit less, though, and maybe sounded a bit better, and revved a bit more freely? I remember thinking all of that at the time. I'm not convinced, though! - it's a year since I ended my V-Power experiment, and if the car drives any worse then it's not especially noticeable. Certainly not worth the price/lack of clubcard points/etc.
My 330cd does go slightly better on V-Power diesel. It costs about £3 a fill more to use it over regular diesel, but I'd consider it worthwhile. Less smoke and about 40-50 miles further on the tankful is an added bonus. I used some super dooper diesel in Germany earlier this year and it was even better. Can't remember what it was called though and it was over £1.50 a litre! 
I've used Super Unleaded in all of my previous vehicles, some being higher performance and requiring the benefits, some not at all. I've recently taken the plunge to buy a brand new diseasal and haven't even considered using Super Diesel in it, although it is available at my 'regular' Total filling station.
Maybe I should try it? Will be good to hear from a few others who have.
Maybe I should try it? Will be good to hear from a few others who have.
Premium diesel (BP Ultimate is the only one you can get here in N. Ireland) helped on my remapped Astra (200hp remapped 1.9CDTI). It ran badly, very badly on supermarket diesel, and was quite smokey on standard BP diesel. Only way to run it on Tesco diesel was to add two shots of Millers diesel additive.
"modern" diesels with common rail injection and clever ECU's may well benefit
from VPD and other premium diesel fuel but in old school engines you probably
wont notice much difference.
My experience with a 200DTI landy was a very small improvement in power
and an even smaller improvement in MPG with VPD and was not worth the cost.
As a comparison i had a much more noticable "improvement" running pre heated
veg oil regular diesel mix at a 50/50 blend.
from VPD and other premium diesel fuel but in old school engines you probably
wont notice much difference.
My experience with a 200DTI landy was a very small improvement in power
and an even smaller improvement in MPG with VPD and was not worth the cost.
As a comparison i had a much more noticable "improvement" running pre heated
veg oil regular diesel mix at a 50/50 blend.
Interesting and thanks all so far. What I was getting at is that, say, v-power petrol claims more detergents and (obviously) more octane.
The v-power diesel page only seems to indicate it cleans your engine more/better rather than it being a higher "whatever the diesel equivalent of octane is".
The v-power diesel page only seems to indicate it cleans your engine more/better rather than it being a higher "whatever the diesel equivalent of octane is".
paddyhasneeds said:
Interesting and thanks all so far. What I was getting at is that, say, v-power petrol claims more detergents and (obviously) more octane.
The v-power diesel page only seems to indicate it cleans your engine more/better rather than it being a higher "whatever the diesel equivalent of octane is".
That makes it sound like you'd be better off chucking some injection cleaner in the tank now and then, instead of getting bent over every time you fill up.The v-power diesel page only seems to indicate it cleans your engine more/better rather than it being a higher "whatever the diesel equivalent of octane is".
I'd say if you are looking at derv for the saving in fuel you probably aren't going to care that 'it sounds a bit nicer'. Guess it comes down to if there is any/size of improvement to mpg
Smarter ECU's, or more powerful cars it might be worth looking into?
However in some boggo, or low-powered cars, it would not be worth it - this is opinion, not fact though.
While it's not diesel, I run 99RON fuel and it does makes a tangible difference to the overall economy of my car - + 4-5 mpg - and it seems to 'pick-up' from low revs better too.
However in some boggo, or low-powered cars, it would not be worth it - this is opinion, not fact though.
While it's not diesel, I run 99RON fuel and it does makes a tangible difference to the overall economy of my car - + 4-5 mpg - and it seems to 'pick-up' from low revs better too.
Thats about it I think.
When I ran a 330d I couldn't tell much difference between Branded premium diesel and Asda's finest.
I did notice smoother running when using Millers additive, but I didn't notice any significant MPG improvement.
If I was buying a new diesel car tomorrow Asda (or whichever main retailer was cheapest) would be where I filled up.
When I ran a 330d I couldn't tell much difference between Branded premium diesel and Asda's finest.
I did notice smoother running when using Millers additive, but I didn't notice any significant MPG improvement.
If I was buying a new diesel car tomorrow Asda (or whichever main retailer was cheapest) would be where I filled up.
I've found I get 30-40 miles more out of Esso diesel than Shell Fuelsave in the Honda Accord CDTI. I tried using Redex diesel additive for a couple of months and it made sod all difference. V power ditto over the esso so as my local Esso is 4p/l cheaper than shell fuelsave I'll happily stick with that.
Gassing Station | General Gassing [Archive] | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff