Shell to phase out V-Power Racing from July 08

[AussieRacer]

For those who demand the best; who go racing; or just like the idea of 100 octane pump fuel, Shell has announced that they are phasing out V-Power Racing with the next six months, starting from end of July in most states. QLD phase out is happening during July.

I got an email forwarded to me about it,

Good evening

On behalf of Shell Australia I am writing to inform you and your club members that from the end of July 2008, Shell will be phasing out Shell V-Power Racing fuel from the Australian market.


The phase out of Shell V-Power Racing from 46 Coles Express sites in QLD, VIC, NSW & ACT will take approximately six months.

A changing market has been the major contributor to Shell’s decision to phase out the fuel.

Moving forward, Shell V-Power will be Shell's premium performance fuel. Shell V-Power will continue to be available at the Coles Express sites in QLD, VIC, SA, NSW & ACT.

At 98 octane, Shell V-Power contains a unique Friction Modification Technology (FMT) and an exclusive cleaning formula designed to enhance everyday driving performance and responsiveness.

Shell Australia will continue to respond to consumer demand to maintain a quality fuels portfolio, and supply a range of quality fuels available for Australian motorists who understand that not all fuels are the same.

For further information or any technical assistance about the removal of Shell V-Power Racing, please visit www.shell.com.au or call our Customer Service Centre on 13 16 18.

Thank you for your support.

Yours sincerely
The Shell Company of Australia Limited

and then checked Shell's website to confirm:
http://www.shell.com/home/content/au...formation.html

On hearing the news, I've just returned from my local servo with 145 Litres of Shell's finest! At $1.789 per litre it was only 13 cents more than regular unleaded. :w00t:

[Zuzu]

I have never used it in my 135 but filled my 330Ci on every third fill..
Shame about that..

Better go and fill up my next tank on the 135 before V-Power racing becomes a dinosaur..

[SimonB]

Gee, what's the song title "You never know what you've got until it's gone" or words to that effect? Never heard of it Don't have that 'ere in good ol' forward lookin' WA!

[WAY]

I don't use it eventhough I would like to given it is 100 octane. But it also has 5% ethanol so I prefer not to use it. When I want 100 octane for the track, I use octane booster. Haven't tried it on the 135i yet though!

[professor]

octane booster? sure not this palaver?

[AussieRacer]

Don't knock Ethanol. I did my year 12 chemistry project on Ethanol vs ULP. If I recall Ethanol only had two downsides:
* can breakdown certain plastics/rubbers in concentrations greater than 10%
* is less dense
On the plus side it contains more energy than ULP; has a higher octane and can burn slightly more friendly to the environment.

Our BMWs are perfectly okay to use with Ethanol blends. So no reason not to be using V-Power Racing.....if you get in whilst it's still around.

[Alext]

I used straight Toluene as an octane booster. The stuff in bottles is snake oil...it only raises octane by POINTS of 1...eg 0.2, 0.5. I found this out after spending hundreds of dollars on the stuff (ah those were the days!!). The only good stuff in bottles is injector cleaner. I recommend Redline SL-1 injector cleaner.

Toluene is safe to use (if directions are followed) and available from chemical companies/paint suppliers by the 20L drum. There is a website on the net that explains what % to mix it to achieve a desired octane rating. I used to just dump in 2L or so per 20L fuel.

[WAY]

Very interesting Alex. I will look into it. Have never heard of people doing that!

[takahashi]

The Racing fuel has been a disappointment in the last few months. I used to get very well engine response, even in a rotary engine.

Tubro piston really need more octane to ensure quick burning and limit heat gain, although additives is not the most ideal solution and I regard it as a patch work

[WAY]

So what is the best solution then Taka? I am not shelling out $3+ a litre for proper racing fuel either!

[professor]

i'd bolster the case for using toluene or xylene albeit you should know what ratios to mix it in with 98 or 95 so you know what octane rating you have in the tank. incidentally, i read a magazine article once that said that when using such mixtures a few dollops of ATF should also be added to the tank.

[takahashi]

Too difficult to do to make it perfect. You basically have to have a few jelly cans and make it all up. Worthwhile on the track but still very much a hassle.

Proper racing fuel is waste of money, since your ECU is not tuned to it.

Even my ECU is Jap tuned, I found good quality fuel is much more important than high octane fuel.

[professor]

yes, i guess though it seems theoretically like an easy way to get some extra oomph on the track. xylene is something like 117 octane so if you had vpower 98 to play with then you need to make a jerry can with just about 10% xylene and the rest vpower.

[Swift135]

Originally Posted by Alext

Toluene is safe to use (if directions are followed) and available from chemical companies/paint suppliers by the 20L drum. There is a website on the net that explains what % to mix it to achieve a desired octane rating. I used to just dump in 2L or so per 20L fuel.

What if you used tri-nitro-toluene? at what rate would you mix that?

[AussieRacer]

Originally Posted by takahashi

The Racing fuel has been a disappointment in the last few months. I used to get very well engine response, even in a rotary engine.

I haven't done the chemical analysis, but I recently swapped from running AVGAS to V Power Racing and noticed no performance difference on the the dyno. Did have to richen up the mixture a bit more, but power wise she was the same. So forgetting about Octane and rather the energy in the fuel, V Power Racing is good stuff.

Regarding running racing fuel, you are right about the tuning aspect, but I suppose it depends on how smart the ECU is. For instance, most ELF racing fuels contain oxygen in the fuel. Means you can run a much richer mixture and get the best HP out of your engine.

[takahashi]

Well I love to try the V power racing again before it runs out. I will run it for the next track day maybe.

Tell you what all the current time are set using V Power Racing fuel.

[WAY]

Speaking of ELF racing fuel, I sat next to the Director of Total racing fuel and additives division on the way to Shanghai F1 GP last year from Singapore. Was the best plane ride I have ever had because I got to ask someone in the know about fuel and F1 and other motor racing stuff. He was probably bored to death. Sometimes it is worth the extra money for business class!

[professor]

what pearls of wisdom did that ticket buy you then?! any insider secrets you can share...

[WAY]

Actually it was a free trip for me. Was invited up there by a vendor. Was just a junket.

What I learn first of all is that ELF is part of Total which I didn't know haha. He also told me that there is no relationship between F1 fuel and road fuel so don't be fooled by all those Ferrari Shell ads! And his wisdom tells him that the future is diesel hybrid, not hydrogen or electric or current breed of petrol hybrid.

[takahashi]

I will jump to the first diesel hybrid there is. Imagine the torque from the diesel-hybrid at 2000ish rpm!. Still we are expecting close to $1/year increase in petrol prices.

Wayne, you really manage to bore someone to death?

[WAY]

Being a pathologist, how do you know if someone was bored to death? What kind of post motem technique do you use to determine that?

Imagine this. You are from France and you were on your way to a Pathologist conference in SHanghai. You had just travelled 16 hours to get to Singapore to transit to Shanghai. You get on the plane, and a guy in his early thirties sits next to you. He happens to be a huge fan of Bones and CSI so he asks you all sorts of stupid question about pathology. Wouldn't you be bored to death? Lol.

Back on topic a bit...the times that Taka posted above does indicate that EVO X is faster...by very little...given that the EVO X has twin clutch gearbox, you would imagine that a manual one vs a manual 135i would mean that the 135i is faster?

[professor]

diesel hybrid with what? electric? fuel cell? petrol?

and speaking of low-end torque, i'm actually surprised with this trend of bolting on multiple turbos on petrol engines across the board inventing "new" cars - the 135, the gt-r, the "new" rs4/rs5, the 2010 m5 engine, and the talk of a triple-turbo on the m1 hommage car if it goes into production.