Shell V-Power test

[bowtieguy]

hey rick,

i've been using shell for a while now. after testing the few gas stations in my area, it seems to yield the best FE tho just slightly better. have you seen the new shell credit card promotion? 5% rebates on shell gas purchases.

i emailed them to get the specs. it's a citi mastercard. the citi rewards program is very good. if it is a part of that rewards program, i WILL be getting one. just got to pay the balance in full EVERY month. hopefully they'll email back soon.

www.877myshell.com

[Rick Rae]

Thanks for the post, bowtieguy! Results are still inconclusive for me, but we'll see how it goes.

Originally Posted by bowtieguy

have you seen the new shell credit card promotion? 5% rebates on shell gas purchases.

No, but I already have an AmEx Open business credit card that gives me 5% back on gasoline purchases (pretty much any brand), so I haven't been looking.

Rick

[Rick Rae]

Fifth and final "random regular" tank complete; 33.83MPG over 383 miles. Refilled with Shell V-Power to start the second cycle of testing.

Cumulative results:

Random Regular: 3310 miles and 98.543 gallons at 33.59 MPG.

Capsule summary, using five fills for each section (dates are dates of fills):

09/26 - 10/17 Random Regular: 1871 miles and 54.413 gallons at 34.39 MPG.
08/29 - 09/20 Shell Regular: 1687 miles and 49.69 gallons at 33.94 MPG.
08/06 - 08/27 Shell Mid-Grade: 1664 miles and 48.26 gallons at 34.48 MPG.
07/06 - 07/31 Shell V-Power: 1577 miles and 45.30 gallons at 34.81 MPG.
06/11 - 06/30 Random Regular: 1439 miles and 44.13 gallons at 32.61 MPG.

(Note: I flipped the order so the most recent entries are at the top, to match the gaslogs.)

This basically completes ABA testing for the original intent, which was to find out if V-Power "degunking" would have any affect on my FE. There was a jump when I started using Shell that stayed with me to some degree, even after going back to cheap gas. While some of the long-term gain has to be from improved driving technique, it seems possible that V-Power did some cleanup (though I don't notice the engine running any smoother or anything of that nature). If someone else wants to run the same sort of test -- starting with a high-mileage engine that's always been run on cheap stuff so there's some potential for gunkification -- I think it might be worthwhile.

At this point I'm looping through the test again. If I see another step up in FE that partially stays with me, that might say there's still gunk being cleaned out by the V-Power. But I'm doing another cycle because the question came up as to whether V-Power or Shell in general might provide higher FE for whatever reason (lower/no ethanol content, a "slippery" formula, etc.) If so, I'm hoping a trend will emerge from the noise floor of variable traffic and weather, aero mods, tire pressure changes, continued adjustments to the nut behind the wheel, and so on.

Rick

[Rick Rae]

First Shell V-Power segment complete in cycle two; 35.23MPG over 399 miles.

Rick