Premium Fuel claims to clean as you go..HMM??

[Bigchad]

Today on the way to work my 220d jumped into limp mode,,the OBD reader came back with air flow on Egr.whipped the egr off and indeed it was massivly clogged (now ok running sweet again) not unusual you might say but given since its last flush out I've only used a premium fuel which states on Tv it supposedly magically prevents this so I feel a bit ripped off with the claims..I'm no stranger to dpf egr problems with other marques so now I drive on the duals with a bit gusto in lower gears to aid the burn but seems all I have been doing is burning cash not Gunk!...Anyone else had similar experiences??

[Linas.P]

My experience and knowledge is more applicable for petrol and not diesel. That said premium fuel is known to be cleaner and burn cleaner reducing accumulation of carbon and other dirt in engine. In other words - engine becomes clogged slower, but it will eventually clog-up. The only trusted way to clean engine is by using service like Terraclean or similar. As such I always run cheapest fuel with some fuel system cleaners from time to time and do Terraclean every 2 years of 30k miles, this as well works out cheaper then premium fuel.

Even then I guess you will need to clean EGR "manually" or do Terraclean like very 10-15k instead of 30k like on petrol.

 

[999101999]

Agree with Linas.p on this one, I stopped buying Ultra at every fill and now only one in 4 tank fills. I do add Normfest CT100 for our petrol and CT60 for the F Sport at every 4th fill. Worked well on the 220 and seems to keep the F Sport cleaner as well. That a bit of a motorway cruise every so often!!  The whole EGR subject and how best to stay clean and trouble free is a wee bit contentious so as a non expert this is what works for me :-) Always happy to hear other views and advice though, since there is always a better suggestion lurking !  Not tried Terraclean but its well reported and recommended by many.

[999101999]

[Shahpor]

Yep, even though I only use Shell V Power diesel in mine, I still need to clean out the EGR Valve regularly.  I suppose as long as there is unburnt carbon coming out of the cylinder, the EGR will eventually get clogged unless you clean it.

That is why I hate the EGR system;  in the majority of cars it seems to be a case of when, not if, the valve will clog.  The issue is - in its current form - the system seems to be designed to need regular cleaning in order to keep functioning?

I can appreciate that things like air and oil filters need cleaning/replacing, but the EGR valve shouldn't be class like such items.  Granted in the case of the IS220d it isn't difficult to remove and clean, but it is still significantly harder than changing an air filter is.

It is frustrating because you know the car would run much better without the EGR system if only they could find some other way of reducing emissions.

[jumbojake]

i thought the premium fuel is more about injectors and valves

[Bigchad]

Its about the whole system..the claims are that the catalysts addd to the fuel reduce the 'Burn off' temperature of soot making the system (dpf egr) more efficient and effectivley self cleaning..who can say for sure??

[Bluesman]

I have seen lots of these trial on TVs motoring programmes and none of them live up to their claims and in a lot of cases, they are worse.

[Linas.P]

They are often worse in terms of performance or performance/price ratio. One major thing TV programmes fails to achieve is long term results, actually nobody claims that one tank will clean your engine and improves the performance (even though adverts usually are designed to be confusing and borders on implying exactly that). Actually, I have seen quite a few studies where the engines were run in simulated condition and then are cut in half to show the difference - there is definitely the difference, but the engines are not sparkling clean, they are just less dirty. Now if you take engine which is already dirty and run same test I believe end result will not be much different.

That said premium fuels are questionable investment and if anything have placebo effect to them, I guess it can be compared with nitrogen in tires - they do not hurt, they are theoretically better, but in real life the result doesn't justify the premium.

Finally, premium petrol exists for a reason - some cars requires higher octane petrol and it would be wrong to use regular 95 instead, but premium diesel has literally appeared when private diesel cars became popular and some owners started looking for ways to waste some money hoping for some miracles. I would probably go as far as stating that premium diesel is not a thing - it is same diesel with some additives, but for results you would need to run the engine for like million miles before they would be visible.

[Rebecca]

I used bp ultimate religiously in my previous is220d. Still had dpf and egr issues so it' a waste of money in my opinion. 

Different story with my current 250 petrol though. Due to the high compression ratio of the V6 it definitely performs better on shell nitro than regular unleaded. 

 

[ahmedali44]

Recently watched a test on different kind of fuels shell v power came top, BP ultimate came out useless for money you pay and asda was worst.i always use shell or esso. 

[Ben1001]

I only ever use Shell, usually go for the Standard but every 5k I'll treat it to a tank of Premium/V Power. Can't say I notice much difference in MPG, smoothness or power but I figure it can't hurt.

[DanATR]

Since my Honda I only ever used VPOWER from Shell. In my Honda this made my engine clean (I had to clean it first) and it made more power and kept it clean, although I always drove it like I stole it and so nothing in the engine really settled (no carbon build up). Now, with my BMW 330D it was caped in at least 3mm or more of black hardened carbon. So... after cleaning it there was still quite a bit in the inlet and EGR area.... now, many miles to wales and much VPOWER .... it was spotless....

Basically, with diesel cars, they don’t like short distance and low temps. Diesel cars are made to go long distance and with high temps and with something to pull. If you drive it hard it will always keep clean, but if you drive any car like a Sunday driver then I’m sorry but any engine will get clogged up and suffer. I only like buying motorway cars and cars that have been on track. Over time your only going to be spending the money you "save" in driving like a snale in loss of MPG and in parts that go pop like sensors and gummed up parts etc...

[Linas.P]

I partially agree with above e.g. if you run car for extended periods on motorway at optimum temps it will burn carbon deposits and other stuff, but I have not seen evidence of fuel making any difference be that VPOWER or otherwise. It is purely the thing of driving car correctly by design, especially diesel cars - they are designed to crunch motorway miles  at 90MPH and 2500rpm, bot being used on 5 miles start and stop city journeys. If you run the as designed they will run forever, but if you run the in the city like "Sunday driver" all kind of problems will pop-up just because you are not letting car to get up to temp and burn or gunk. 

[Texas]

Diesel powered engines are ideally suited for constant load ( Heavy) constant revs and long run periods ( Hours, Days or Weeks even as in the case of Trains, Ships & Generators for example) Not (and it beggars belief that it is a surprise when it causes problems) in the case of a school run then coffee morning super clean ( as in never been in the mud) 4x4 Chelsea Tractor with Stop/Start!!!!

Horses for courses as they say but I feel that the DERV is doomed ( for small short journey vehicles anyway)

paul m.

[DanATR]

Fuel does make a difference. We did test on the ATR owner’s forum and VPOWER was the best for the extra power, MPG, and cleaning engine.

But, it does depend on the condition of the engine, and also for how long you have been using the fuels. The Octane rating in petrol for example makes a difference in patrol cars. On the other hand, diesel cars VPOWER just has cleaners in it from what I understand and a booster.