Do Not Sell My Personal Information Jump to content


I Tried...v-power... :-(


Recommended Posts

Well I got these vouchers from Shell £4.50 off my next fill up on v-power...which near enough covers the difference in price..

lets just say im not happy at all! with my usual fill up (always use the standard shell fuel) i get between 370-390 and that was constant every time..

now this time on v-power i only got 260-265 miles on a full tank :-| :-|, filled up again with standard fuel and the read out range is 345miles... (usually the range approx is true and i used to get 380-390miles) before this crappy vpower...

anyone else experience this?

this is on the 250 auto btw

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well I got these vouchers from Shell £4.50 off my next fill up on v-power...which near enough covers the difference in price..

lets just say im not happy at all! with my usual fill up (always use the standard shell fuel) i get between 370-390 and that was constant every time..

now this time on v-power i only got 260-265 miles on a full tank :-| :-|, filled up again with standard fuel and the read out range is 345miles... (usually the range approx is true and i used to get 380-390miles) before this crappy vpower...

anyone else experience this?

this is on the 250 auto btw

You will not notice any difference at all with one tankfull. Regardless of whether you reset the ECU or not it will take at least 2 tankfulls for the ECU to adapt from 'standard 95' to the improved fuel whether it's Shell V-Power, BP Ultimate or Tesco 99 RON for that matter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have read a few people saying that get better milage on say Sainsburys 97 or Tesco 99 as opposed to V-Power, I'm supposed to run 100 in mine though so have to stick to the 99 RON stuff otherwise it's similar to it being that time of the month for the other half! Mine definitely runs better on the 99 stuff though and there are proven tests on certain vehicles out there so it's not a placebo thing.

As it's been said about though - you really do need to run a few tankfuls to get it used to it - or alternatively reset your ECU as soon as you start using it but then you'll use more initially anyway as the car is adjusting itself.

Maybe the newer IS range is just expecting 95 and so doesn't adjust the timing as much when it gets the better stuff.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've heard the high octane fuels are better than V-power too.

V-Power already is 99 RON mate? It also is supposed to have the most additives to clean the engine etc.

There's only BP offer one which is higher - in around 5 service stations around the UK but is priced way off the chart at 102 RON.

There are also all the additives you can add to the existing petrol to increase the RON rating, don't know if any of them were any good though, I think Kieron used to run the Millers stuff in his car quite a lot?

It is like marmite though - some people love V-Power and some people hate it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Yeah the Tesco stuff is pretty good mate, I fell on my feet with that one, when I had the SC'd IS I was constantly going travelling quite a way to get Optimax as it was at the time, then when I looked at the Aristo which needs as good as it can get Tesco had just started selling 99 RON at my local store, a mile down the road :D

The Tesco 99 stuff is actually made by a different company for them, Greenergy I think they're called?

Slightly different as supermarket stuff is usually bought from one of the big petroleum companies and sold on!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

can you tell me know much more the Tesco 99 is than normal unleaded at the moment mate, I might give it a try :)

Have a look HERE Matey it'll give the prices and garage locations in your area :)

My is200 runs terrible on V power but runs fantastic on Sainsburys super plus and only 86p a litre? ;) Tesco round here for the super is around 87p ltr :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah tried the Sainsburys 97 once when I was running out and couldn't find a Shell or Tesco and was very surprised how well it ran - didn't want to risk it though so ended up sticking to Tesco and V-Power now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i never believed the talk of using these 'better' fuels until i tried them.

i honestly didn't find any difference in tesco, saisbury's or BP ultimate higher RON petrols, but V-Power was bloomin obvious!!

the car feels so smooth and there is no 'juddery' pull aways when in 3rd or 4th at low rpm with the s/c!! you really can notice a difference in smoothness/performance. when i 1st had the s/c fitted, at low rpm in a higher gear, there was a horrible judder/lag that i couldn't get rid of. tried v-powr a month later and to date, its done the bizzo, so i'm a happy chappy, lol!! not so sure on the economy factor, but that's not what is the most imprtant thing for me - it was getting the smoother more refined ride.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

IMHO Sainsburys 97 is a good one. It is the smoothest and the torquest and it's the cheapest where I live. It's only 3p per litre more than the bog standard. A real bargain. Someone told me it's BP Ultimate really. Don't know if that's true.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


BP Ultimate I think is 98 RON.

Basically this is a bit of a blanket statement but all super unleadeds are 97 RON, apart from Tesco which is 99 RON same as V-Power :)

The Jap cars run better on this as they have less issues so there's less reason to retard the settings.

Another good think to try is if you do lots of city driving or pootling about then pop off to a motorway and give the car a bit of hammer - as many full throttle runs as you can and just watch all the crap fly out the back of the exhausts :lol:

Had someone who was driving a bit too close for comfort the other month so dropped it into manual mode into 2nd gear, let them get right onto my arse and then gave it some welly - I nearly cried as I'd not opened it up properly for a while and it blew all sorts of rubbish out the car right at them!

Suffice to say when I let them catch up they observed the correct distance :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

BP Ultimate I think is 98 RON.

Basically this is a bit of a blanket statement but all super unleadeds are 97 RON, apart from Tesco which is 99 RON same as V-Power :)

The Jap cars run better on this as they have less issues so there's less reason to retard the settings.

Another good think to try is if you do lots of city driving or pootling about then pop off to a motorway and give the car a bit of hammer - as many full throttle runs as you can and just watch all the crap fly out the back of the exhausts :lol:

Had someone who was driving a bit too close for comfort the other month so dropped it into manual mode into 2nd gear, let them get right onto my arse and then gave it some welly - I nearly cried as I'd not opened it up properly for a while and it blew all sorts of rubbish out the car right at them!

Suffice to say when I let them catch up they observed the correct distance :lol:

Excellent post, made me laugh! A chap was admiring my car yesterday (the Polish boys had just given it the hand job) and he asked what fuel I use. Funnily enough I had just seen the earlier posts in this thread, I hadn't even thought about it and have always just stuck in the normal unleaded. He raved anout the V Power (apparantly Clarkson believes in the stuff too?) so I am going to give that a try. I am not bothered about mpg but anything that improves performance and is easy to implement gets my vote.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They'd given it the hand job :lol:

It's always worth a go mate, thing is you really need to run a few tankfuls to notice the difference a lot of the time so that's worth bearing in mind - you could always reset the ECU of the car when you use it but the thing is if you're ECU has settled on a strange map just resetting that can make a big difference!

Will never forget the first time I reset it in my IS - it was like a different car afterwards in terms of pickup!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They'd given it the hand job :lol:

It's always worth a go mate, thing is you really need to run a few tankfuls to notice the difference a lot of the time so that's worth bearing in mind - you could always reset the ECU of the car when you use it but the thing is if you're ECU has settled on a strange map just resetting that can make a big difference!

Will never forget the first time I reset it in my IS - it was like a different car afterwards in terms of pickup!

I think I will try it and take the hint re running a few tanks. Resetting the ECU is a strange language to me, I don't even know how to open the bonnet. Is it a button you press or does it involve something more tehnical?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's really easy mate :)

Open the bonnet, and towards the Battery you'll spot a fusebox with the cover on.

Open this box, and on the underside of the plastic cover there's a legend of all the fuses.

Remove the EFI and ETCS fuses for a minute or two, and then replace.

When you start your car it will relearn so take it for a drive as you normally would and it should feel more responsive - although saying that I'd always give it some after resetting the ECU :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's really easy mate :)

Open the bonnet, and towards the battery you'll spot a fusebox with the cover on.

Open this box, and on the underside of the plastic cover there's a legend of all the fuses.

Remove the EFI and ETCS fuses for a minute or two, and then replace.

When you start your car it will relearn so take it for a drive as you normally would and it should feel more responsive - although saying that I'd always give it some after resetting the ECU :)

Thanks, I may try this. It sounds easy but you have no idea of my lack of ability in things manual.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's really easy mate :)

Open the bonnet, and towards the battery you'll spot a fusebox with the cover on.

Open this box, and on the underside of the plastic cover there's a legend of all the fuses.

Remove the EFI and ETCS fuses for a minute or two, and then replace.

When you start your car it will relearn so take it for a drive as you normally would and it should feel more responsive - although saying that I'd always give it some after resetting the ECU :)

Are things the same on the 250 as they are on the 200?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are things the same on the 250 as they are on the 200?

Oops I didn't notice the 250 bit!

It's the same on my car as well but good point?

Had a quick nosey and they're just saying disconnect the negative Battery terminal for 30 mins on the 250 - assume the theory behind your post on the IS200 would still be the same though Colin?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

can you tell me know much more the Tesco 99 is than normal unleaded at the moment mate, I might give it a try :)

Have a look HERE Matey it'll give the prices and garage locations in your area :)

My is200 runs terrible on V power but runs fantastic on Sainsburys super plus and only 86p a litre? ;) Tesco round here for the super is around 87p ltr :)

Aztecbandit 1 i think our IS`s are alike....my car runs rubbish on SHELL V-power ( 98 ron ) but runs sweet as a nut on SAINSBURY`s ( 97 ron ) and i get more MPG from it.... :ohmy:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Aztecbandit 1 i think our IS`s are alike....my car runs rubbish on SHELL V-power ( 98 ron ) but runs sweet as a nut on SAINSBURY`s ( 97 ron ) and i get more MPG from it.... :ohmy:

V-Power is actually 99 RON in the UK - Optimax was their 98 offering.

Shame we don't get the stronger stuff like they have in Europe - Mat & Rob will tell you all about that but think it's 100 RON over in Germany?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Aztecbandit 1 i think our IS`s are alike....my car runs rubbish on SHELL V-power ( 98 ron ) but runs sweet as a nut on SAINSBURY`s ( 97 ron ) and i get more MPG from it.... :ohmy:

V-Power is actually 99 RON in the UK - Optimax was their 98 offering.

Shame we don't get the stronger stuff like they have in Europe - Mat & Rob will tell you all about that but think it's 100 RON over in Germany?

Oh right didnt realise that Aido shell being 99 not 98 ...my car still runs rubbish on it......

Good old blighty we get the crap stuff not super dooper 100 ron... :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share



×
×
  • Create New...