V Power Petrol Prices

[E55BOF]

I think Tesco Slough have lost the plot. Their Momentum is 2p a litre more expensive than Esso Supreme+ 99 in High Wycombe, and 8p a litre more expensive than Tesco Reading's was three days ago. I thought Momentum was meant to be a bargain?

 

[Skd884]

Normal £1.54

V £1.69

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

Prices have pushed back up in Cardiff recently, with supermarkets like Asda going to about £1.45 for petrol and about £1.49 for diesel.

 

[Skd884]

The local sainsbury is £1.49 for both petrol and diesel.

 

[ToeKnee]

Just paid 152.9p/l for Tesco momentum today in Leicester

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Regular unleaded 172.9 yesterday at a Shell station in East Derbyshire. It was close to the M42 but even so that’s really blooming expensive.

 

[Fastcar155]

Hi Shell V power at Morrison last week was £1.71 litre last week.

Hardly use the car so the cost for me is irrelevant !

It's the best petrol bar non.

 

[adm]

Shell V-Power 99 today in Cranleigh, Surrey, £1.65 today.

 

[Deleted member 55947]

Local Sainsburys £1.46 E10 , £1.56 E5

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Prices are creeping back up again. The standard price for Shell 95 RON unleaded around these parts is now 155.9p per litre.

More scary is that Shell 99 RON VPower unleaded is now 177.9p, so diesel VPower is sure to be even more.

A 22p premium for high octane fuel must be having an effect on VPower sales. In relative terms it has almost tripled.

Wind back the clock 10 years or so, it was a 5-6% premium but now it’s 14-15% premium over and above regular unleaded.

 

[Deleted member 55947]

Prices are creeping back up again. The standard price for Shell 95 RON unleaded around these parts is now 155.9p per litre.

More scary is that Shell 99 RON VPower unleaded is now 177.9p, so diesel VPower is sure to be even more.

A 22p premium for high octane fuel must be having an effect on VPower sales. In relative terms it has almost tripled.

Wind back the clock 10 years or so, it was a 5-6% premium but now it’s 14-15% premium over and above regular unleaded.

Prior to the rises last year the V Power at my local Shell was 10p per litre higher than E10. Bearing in mind the small amount of additive the rise is scandalous

 

[ube63]

Although less available in some areas, there are lots of 99 octane supermarket and non-supermarket alternatives to V-Power. If Shell felt a downwards demand pressure then they would lower the price. However a lot of motorists are loyal to Shell.

 

[markjay]

Prior to the rises last year the V Power at my local Shell was 10p per litre higher than E10. Bearing in mind the small amount of additive the rise is scandalous

I have to disagree.

High-end products typically cost disproportionately higher for good reason.

Firstly, the R&D and fixed distribution costs are shared by a far smaller number of consumers.

Then, the cost of marketing (advertising, sponsorships, loyalty and reward schemes, etc) is higher.

And last, there's less competition at the top end of the market.

So I wouldn't call it 'scandalous'... this is just how a free market works. As long as customers have the option to choose the product that's right for them, I don't see an issue.

 

[markjay]

Although less available in some areas, there are lots of 99 octane supermarket and non-supermarket alternatives to V-Power. If Shell felt a downwards demand pressure then they would lower the price. However a lot of motorists are loyal to Shell.

Unless you drive a high performance car, then the Octane number is irrelevant anyway, what your are paying for is (supposedly) better base fuel and a unique additives pack. Those who stick with V-Power most likely believe that the two are superior to other brands, which is why they prefer it over premium fuels from other providers.

 

[Will]

My personal thoughts are that a fair chunk of the increased cost of V-power will be attributed to marketing and perceived position as a premium product in the market place, as opposed to whether or not it’s ‘worth’ 20p a litre when you look at it objectively. Have the magic ingredients changed so significantly in recent times to double the increase in cost? Seems unlikely to me, and also seems to coincide with the small tokens they offer again through the app as a marketing strategy to tempt people to use this very expensive fuel.

I’d argue that probably more people buy V-power for the octane rating and secondly for the additives package. I doubt many even know what the real benefits are - ‘reassuringly expensive’ sort of purchase?

When it’s all said and done, it’s petrol. I don’t see a huge number of threads on the forum or elsewhere relating to fuelling issues that would have been prevented from using V-power. The money saved using say Momentum 99 could probably be spent elsewhere on more likely maintenance issues.

Horses for courses but to me V-power is overpriced for what I feel the perceived benefit is. It’s a good fuel for sure, but not so good it warrants a 20p per litre premium, IMHO.

I still use it from time to time as a suitable fuel for my vehicle (98 RON or above), but I really don’t think it’s worth the premium - I’m happy to pay more for things that offer a real tangible benefit, I’m just not so sure you get what you pay for with Shell anymore.

 

[ALFAitalia]

Surely a big chunk of why Tesco high test stuff is less expensive is just because of all the sponsorship or racing and drivers and other events etc etc that Shell do. If you follow those events or are a big fan that may be justification itself. But to many of us I want the product to be better than the Tesco stuff to justify the cost....not paying some racers wages. And try as I might I can find any independent evidence that shows V Power or Esso 99 etc etc is in any measurable way superior to the Tesco 99 ron stuff.......which I guess is not totally surprising what with it being 99.9 percent exactly the same stuff.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Surely a big chunk of why Tesco high test stuff is less expensive is just because of all the sponsorship or racing and drivers and other events etc etc that Shell do. If you follow those events or are a big fan that may be justification itself. But to many of us I want the product to be better than the Tesco stuff to justify the cost....not paying some racers wages. And try as I might I can find any independent evidence that shows V Power or Esso 99 etc etc is in any measurable way superior to the Tesco 99 ron stuff.......which I guess is not totally surprising what with it being 99.9 percent exactly the same stuff.

In some tests Tesco Momentum is found to have greater consistency in its octane rating relative to other premium high octane fuels, and so some aftermarket tuners favour it for that reason.

 

[markjay]

My personal thoughts are that a fair chunk of the increased cost of V-power will be attributed to marketing and perceived position as a premium product in the market place, as opposed to whether or not it’s ‘worth’ 20p a litre when you look at it objectively. Have the magic ingredients changed so significantly in recent times to double the increase in cost? Seems unlikely to me, and also seems to coincide with the small tokens they offer again through the app as a marketing strategy to tempt people to use this very expensive fuel.

I’d argue that probably more people buy V-power for the octane rating and secondly for the additives package. I doubt many even know what the real benefits are - ‘reassuringly expensive’ sort of purchase?

When it’s all said and done, it’s petrol. I don’t see a huge number of threads on the forum or elsewhere relating to fuelling issues that would have been prevented from using V-power. The money saved using say Momentum 99 could probably be spent elsewhere on more likely maintenance issues.

Horses for courses but to me V-power is overpriced for what I feel the perceived benefit is. It’s a good fuel for sure, but not so good it warrants a 20p per litre premium, IMHO.

I still use it from time to time as a suitable fuel for my vehicle (98 RON or above), but I really don’t think it’s worth the premium - I’m happy to pay more for things that offer a real tangible benefit, I’m just not so sure you get what you pay for with Shell anymore.

Firstly, we do often see here issues that could have potentially been avoided by using premium fuels (or, alternatively, just by regular use of fuel additives), but these relate more to Diesel engines where the injectors can get gummed-up with cr@p etc.

Then, it's difficult to know what the benefits (if any) of premium fuels are just by looking at breakdowns. The theory is that gradual carbon build-up over time robs the engine of its performance and increases fuel consumption. Most motorists do not regularly test their cars on a Dyno, or keep detailed fuel consumption logs, and in the event that the car feels sluggish and consumes more fuel they'll typically just put it down to age and mileage.

In short, I don't know for fact how much better are engines that have been treated to fuels with the supposedly better additives pack, but just to say that the fact the petrol engines don't end-up exploding when being fed only standard fuel is neither here nor there as far as this debate is concerned.

 

[ALFAitalia]

Since 86.2 % of diesel is carbon, getting it build up in engines eventually is pretty inevitable no matter how good the fuel is. My leggy derv has never needed any internal cleaning except the EGR valve...

 

[geoffus]

I wonder how many taxi drivers use V power diesel in there 250,000 miles Mercs and Skoda’s etc without issues ?