Goodbye Shell V-Nitro
 

Shell, your $.70/gal (35%) hike for V-Nitro is ridiculous.
Even with frequent $.10 Fuel Rewards & Drive for 5 discounts = $.55 more.

Going to move on to Exxon Supreme.
Its a $.40/gal hike with $.06 discount = $.34/gal more.

I will have to search the forums to see if there is an octane booster w/ detergent additive option for regular unleaded.

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Update: Boom - Exxon is now also nearly $.70/gal more for super unleaded!!!
Today I started using Shell REGULAR - I'll see how it "feels" and how my MPG is affected (If I do slalom race, I will use V-Nitro).

ALSO, since there is only ONE fuel line at the pump, am I NOT getting V-Nitro the first few gallons?
Then the NEXT person IS getting a few gallons of V-Nitro still left in the hose from me?

Shell's V-Power Nitro,usually is the most expensive fuel,in S'pore,1 Litre is selling S$2.32,while Caltex 98 is selling S$2.17...

I noticed this too. NORMALLY I wouldnt care if its within "reason" of competitors. I noticed this last night fueling up, thinking, "well this is BS" as I pull the trigger. Oh my car CAN take 87 with an alleged 4hp loss, its never seen anything lower than 91 though and wont. I hope.

I get whatever 93 octane the local HEB has. Usually ~$2.35/gal lately. The Exxon and Shell stations at the same intersection are pretty much always the same or within a few pennies.

Or yesterday, I had to fill up in the middle of nowhere and paid $2.74 at a Chevron station that didn't even have pay at the pump.

IMO, forget that octane booster BS. Mine as well get a Turbonator if you go that route.

What????????????????????? Shell Nitro last night was $3.17!!!

I used to use the Shell station all the time for their free air and kept tabs on their premium gas prices. But I haven't used it in about a year since I got a compressor for my garage. I'll stop by and check next opportunity I have.

Is ur ride FI? If not who cares just get the best premium u can afford.

You do realize there's a reason for why it costs so much more right?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WPfLnVuQyM

Those tests are nice and all, but I'd want to see the other top tier gas brands tested in comparison - not some unknown competitor premium gas (read NOT top tier). Sure it's significantly better than really shitty quality gasoline - they're not going to test high quality gas in comparison because that's not smart marketing. But how much better is the V-Nitro compared to other high quality gas that costs a good deal less? The video does not answer that question IMNSHO.

Ive used NOTHING but 93 Shell since 2006 when I got my 350Z. Kinda bought into that whole "Cleaner, no gunk" thing. Maybe Ill start looking elsewhere?

Pretty sure the V-Nitro just came out 2-3 years ago? But even so, I'm not going to sit here and say you wasted your money. I think without a doubt you can say your valves are probably cleaner than most out there if V-Nitro has been going in the past few years. Piece of mind is very valuable to some.

But the question in my mind is: is the gas I'm filling up with so much worse that I should be paying more for V-Nitro? I don't have an answer for that. If V-nitro is the best, how close is the gap to the 2nd best gas? What is the range of gunk build up between the highest and lowest quality gas in the top tier category? Those are the questions I'd want to know the answers to.

Now THOSE are very valid questions indeed.

The biggest problem I have with advertising and marketing is they are often deliberately obfuscating that sort of information in order to make their product appear better or more desirable.

It's $2.50-2.60 per gallon in my AO but in Nashville, Hermitage specifically, it jumps to about $2.99-3.10 per gallon.:shakes head:

I don't know if it's going up here or not, all has is pensive here anywYs I guess, but that's what I was planning on running this summer so will have to pay attention to pricing for the next little bit to decide if I tune for it or not.

Appreciate the heads up

In Canada the best gas fuel is Shell 91 with no ethanol addition and because the majority of the fuel is based on aromatic molecules to provide better octane rating. Often the octane giveaway in Shell V-Power is higher than 91.

Competitors don't have as much aromatic content and rely on ethanol to make up the octane, which octane numbers is a calculated number based on the volume of ethanol addition. They don't have to test the finished product, as a mathematical guess, is acceptable. So to meet the octane rating of the fuel, at the pump, more ethanol is added. That's why sometimes gas mileage varies from tank to tank.


The best reward system in Canada is Petro Canada for fuel and Shell can't compete with the discounts. Even compounded with my employees discount, Petro Canada is a better deal. Plus for me, Petro Canada diesel is better than Shells, and I get more mileage per tank. Aromatic molecules are detrimental to diesel cetane and really can cause major damage to knock and pre ignition in diesels. It's from the synthetic oil stock they use to produce fuel from the oil sands, it's full of aromatic molecules. Petro Canada uses more conventional crude in its process to produce diesel.

Wow, this turned into a lecture lol

This is based on my experiences ASTM testing of finished products and raw crude oil, over the years, and working in the field making diesel and gasoline.
The rest is just me trying to save a penny or two and get the best fuel for my dollars.

Sorry for the long read

I was under the impression, from Shell Canada's website, that their 93 had 0 ethanol content. I actually just looked it up a week or so ago to confirm for Sebastian prior to tuning.

93? Are you confusing USA and Canada sites?

I thought Shell Canada V-Power is only 91 Octane

I didn't think so but perhaps I was

Shell is 91 - no methanol.
PetroCanada is 94 with methanol.

Here in Iowa, the three main gas types are E10 (10% ethanol 87 octane), 87 octane regular (no ethanol), and 91 octane premium (no ethanol). Several years ago the gas distributors started screwing us consumers. E10 use to be the cheapest grade with plain regular just 10 cents more a gallon. Plain premium was 40 cents more a gallon than E10. The distributors use to ship 87 octane regular here, mix 10% ethanol to get the E10 blend (this would give it an 89 octane rating). Now they ship an 84 octane regular, mix 10% ethanol to get the E10 blend (it has an 87 octane rating). To get the plain 87 octane regular, they mix the 84 with the 91 premium that they also ship here. What this does is drive the price of plain regular and premium way up. E10 is still the cheaper gas, but now plain regular cost 30 cents more a gallon and premium cost 70 cents more a gallon than E10.
Also here in Iowa, some gas station sell all their gas with 10% ethanol, and the only Shell station for me does that. It gives their premium a 93 octane rating but they sell it for 20 to 30 cents a gallon more then other top tier premium gas. I don't buy it because I don't like using any kind of gas with ethanol in it.

Unless you're FI, 91 is best fuel for the engine's compression. 93 is simply a waste of money, though it only costs a few cents more than 91.

Here in Colorado the best we get on the street corner is 91 octane - but at 5000+ feet the lower air pressure going into a NA engine allows for it so it usually works out.

With a boosted engine up here, like the one in my Abarth, you typically start looking at octane boosters or water/methanol injection because pump gas here is expecting 10-12 PSI atmospheric, but the turbo is supplying 20-30 PSI. :)

i didnt know that about Nitro, ive been putting in Shell 93 octane religiously for ten years. Youre logical about cost/benefit, i might switch to Chevron 91 or 93. Thanks.

Shell is .40 a gallon more expensive in my area. I have moved over to buying BP (93)Ultimate again. 2.79 a gallon compared to 3.19 a gallon.

"And now, the girl in the car WITH V-Nitro, is saying "YES" to her boyfriend!"

Here in Vancouver I use Chevron 94 no ethenol. Best possible fuel available here.. period! Except for the station that just started selling E85 at the pump less than a month ago and only a 7 minute drive from my house. Next up.. Ecutek flex fuel baby, yeah!

Apparently I must have done just that.

Not that it means anything remotely related to our cars, but small power equipment runs best on Shell's no Ethanol blended gasoline. Something about the Ethanol messing up the injectors or needle valves over time.

Hmm I always run premium in small engines though never with any real kind to where from, perhaps I should change that habit. Easy enough to do. Thanks for the tip

should go shopping at sherwin williams for toulene

Shell V-Power
 

Here is what Shell gas sells for where I live. This station is about a mile from where I live.

.

More Toluene, Xylene and C8+ aromatics than you realize. Most of the Benzene is stripped out and sold separately for Styrene production.

Unfortunately the Shell V-Power is different from Eastern Canada compared to Western Canada and the USA. Different Crude oil supplies and blending formulas to fit the local market.

The best bang for the octane rating is Iso-Octane. Pure 100 octane. Forget adding Toluene to gasoline to boost octane route. It doesn't work well enough and you don't really know what octane you end up with and the drivability goes out the window.

However for true drivability and guaranteed octane ...... buy the unleaded race gas from your local supplier. It should have no Ethanol and be around 99 Octane. It will be consistent

And consistently $3.50/litre

I'd love to run MS103/109 but it would cost close to $300 to fill it up! :eek:



Edit: PS that was your 1,000th post!

:vuvuzela:

"It will prevent her from getting pregnant, too!"

No wonder we don't get it here! :rofl2:

Long way to go before I reach the sainthood level of you and cooltoy
but thanks.