octane

[attwood]

Living as I do in the south of the Netherlands very close to the German border, I usually buy my petrol in Germany because it's typically 10 eurocents cheaper.

For years the standard petrol grades available in Germany have been around 92, 95 and 98 octane unleaded. In the Netherlands we usually only get 95 and 98.

Recently at the Shell garage I use regularly in Germany I was surprised to see that they have dropped the (relatively) cheap 92 grade and replaced it with a 100 grade called 'V Power Racing 100'.

Is this a new trend? Is there more demand for higher octanes now?

Dave.

[Heuer]

Dave

Shell Optimax (as it was known in the UK) or V-Power (everywhere else) was always advertised as a high octane fuel suitable for turbo charged and other performance cars. The octane value has been variously quoted as between 98 and 101 and I understand the variation was due to the refinery and quality of the standard fuel it was based on. Shell claim more bhp and better fuel economy for this premium product and have partnered with Ferrari to promote it. BP have responded with 'Ultimate' which is rated at 98 octane. In a car capable of using them these fuels do work as advertised but there have been problems. My Alpina B5 (supercharged V8 ) responds particularly badly to V-Power (rough idle, poor starting) but is quite happy on BP Ultimate or any 95 octane fuel, so I have stopped using it. There has been a lot of internet discussion comparing these two fuels in particular and it seems the BP product is generally considered the better one. Shell seem to be changing the formulation of V-Power to overcome these difficulties and throwing some marketing effort at changing users perceptions. I guess the name change to 'Racing' is part of that.

My E-Type has a 9.5:1 compression ratio so I always use 98+ octane when I can get it, Shell or BP. In the UK these premium fuels are seen as a 'luxury' so are disproportionately taxed, typically between 7p and 10p a litre. We stopped selling 92 octane many years ago so 95 octane is the generally available fuel here. From personal observation most V-Power users tend to be young people with smaller cars and big exhausts hoping for the Ferrari effect!