IS PREMIUM DIESEL REALLY WORTH IT?? 💸 

I also wanna know if there's any "racing" additives

Super interesting test you've made here. Well I guess it heavily depends on the diesel engine and its ECU. My ol' Golf Mk3 convertible loves OMV Ultimate (non HVO, non GVO, liquid to gas diesel). It performs better and it runs extremly smooth. Ppl even told me that on parking lots and so on xD (other premium diesels are good too but not that good). The biggest changes actually came from using it over at least 10 full fuel tanks worth of driving. It is my daily (and stock!) and it occasionally gets the beans as well. :DDD It has a fairly simple ECU (TDI gen 1995 - motor code 1Z) and it takes what it gets and tries to avoid the smoking A/F ratio. That's it. Then it limits the torque (to 202Nm) and the boost to 0,9bar. Whatever happens else, highly depends on the fuel. Newer diesel will have way more controlling and managing stages, which could dampen the advantages of a way better diesel, at least that'd be my guess. And on "racing diesels" I can' t be asked xD Thanks for the test - cheers DIESEL POWER !!!

My 09' 1.9tdi pd BXE has been getting Hydra DPB100 for around 6 and a bit years, since 2017 when I first bought the car. It was sluggish and jittering under throttle so I assumed it was gunk in the injectors etc. It's been working perfectly ever since. No issues with the turbo or fuel pumps, I think there's a tandem pump3on my engine isn't there? Anyway all good, I'm not seeing any changes at all in fuel economy and I don't floor it everywhere, but still I've stuck with the Hydra additive and cheaper diesel, which is cheaper than so called premium diesel, so I'm happy overall. I hope to book my car in with you soon, after I knock a couple of much needed jobs off the to-do list. Great channel and thanks for your hardwork and passion for diesel engines of the VAG variety. 👊

I never noticed the difference with V-power petrol in my cars. But with V-power diesel on my 1.6tdi Fiesta i get around 10-15mpg more over regular diesel. Engine is smoother too.

Need to stick the car on the Dyno and then tune to the fuel and see what can be achieved. Rather than sticking the fuel in and seeing what power can be produced.

Yep! Despite the test there’s still people in the comments arguing over brands of fuel

about the only argument could be made is Costco fuel cus it's cheaper?

I'm driving premium diesel on my daily, according to your comment I'm one of "those ppl" :) I need to add that driving premium diesel with recognizable differences depends on a lot of stuff. I'm driving and old 1.9 TDI 1Z (built in 1995) and I recognized the differences after driving approx. 10 car tanks in a row with premium diesel only. The difference are so significant that even my neighbor asked me about it. He asked what I've done to this ol' engine b/c it runs so smooth. It is stock, nothing modified except proper maintenance. Also the power gap I've had on around 3500rpm vanished over time. Which was significant and way above some belief thing to recognize. On newer cars, especially with common rail systems many of those recognizable advantages might be dampen by the huge amount of management effort of the ECU. My ECU is plain simple: don't go over 0,9bar boost, don't smoke, keep the amount of fuel as similar as possible between all cylinders. Done. It doesn't care about power output so that 'd be the first property which can change with fuel quality, since it doesn't even get monitored by the ECU. Like many other properties, if the fuel is less prone to smoke, then my ECU will change the A/F ratio differently on a high quality fuel. Since the ECU is super simple in its management. While a newer cars ECU might observe and manage hundreds of parameters and keep the engine at check. Many fuel advantages (but also disadvantages of bad fuels) are dampen. Additionally you've a ton of parameters in an ECU which are based on "learning factors" during driving. It highly depends on the engine and its ECU what its doing and how it reacts to different qualities of fuel. A proper remapping might be necessary, to fully use the advantages of a higher cetan count and lower probability to smoke. Like setting up a petrol engine to a higher octane count fuel, you might change the spark timing, as an example. Otherwise you wouldn't have any recognizable advantages from the premium petrol. Frankly a "dump it in and see" doesn't work - as shown in the video (and many other tests).. this mindset might come from the old days with carburetors and petrol engines... It isn't about "a belief b/c of reasons" it is about doing a proper deep dive in technology and what it actually does. I'm an engineer myself, I might need to add.

@@BruceCarbonLakeriver that’s a lot of words 😂

I fully, whole heartedly, and complete, endorse this comment.

Totally agree with you

The fuel is refined to a BS standard anyway to meet the B7 biodiesel pump fuel grade. They can't sell it to forecourts and franchises otherwise. But you're correct, in that a driver of a tanker will usually have additive in the tank before loading or post loading at a transfer station. I did a delivery to Fawley refinery last week.

I would be keen to know about Costco diesel, they only sell premium diesel. Is it really premium or just the name instead?

@@Lorenzo_Velasquez Will just be the name. The only real difference is the additives that are added in tank on the forecourt or at collection. For diesels, these only help reduce the gel point to improve burn and reduce carbon build up, help prevent gelling in the injectors, fuel filter and the pump (especially in cold temperatures).

I always thought it was same but with different additives but i am no scientist either way its too feckin expensive Robin gits 😂😂

You need the turbo to cool down for a few minutes if you've been driving it hard or driving on motorway.. It's not about it spinning

@@MyRealName just back off for the last mile is more than adequate. Just standard mechanical sympathy, No need to go over board.

Why can’t you idle a diesel? I’ve always done it with no problems.

​@AlmostLastJedi this with short drives is what cloggs dpf

Use plenty of throttle at low revs? so i fuq up my clutch and flywheel early?

I believe 5hey would only look at cheapest up front cost.

Very true, most big operators will move the tractor units on by 4 or 5 years service so only worry about meeting latest euro standard for minimising access charges and therefore they run cheap fuel as they are not interested in the long term mechanical benefits better fuel and servicing would add to a vehicles life span

Agreed i saw officially gassed results on the petrol ones and always wanna see the diesel comparisons

Shell diesel was giving me 35mpg but my car ran like cr*p. Switched to VPower got 41mpg but thats started to creep down sat at 38mpg so made a switch to BP Ultimate which now is slowly going back up.

@@bigbossbrixey5484 I too love paying extra for that delicious placebo effect, after swapping to Shell V power extreme ultra deluxe preorder limited edition my car doesn't even need the engine running to move, gets infinite mpg, it's vibration free and it only emits unicorn farts! Truly is magical stuff.

@@kristoffer3000 😂🤝

😂😂😂😂It's all in your head 😂😂😂 Facts and Figures don't lie.😊

Perhaps you should consider a diesel boosters are also said to clean particle filters or to make sure that it does not get dirty as quickly

This made me smile. I bought a 1994 Corolla GXi off a friend years ago for £1000. He let me have it cheap because he said the original clutch was on its way out. I drove the car everyday for 7 years with that original clutch 🤣 only repair, other than standard service parts, was a wheel bearing. Traded against a 2008 Yaris (which was horrible) as we needed a 5 door. Always regretted getting rid it was a an amazingly reliable and fun car.

So going from your comments and this very informative test, a tank of premium every 6 months or so is probably a good idea for the feeling system but otherwise use the cheapest stuff you can find?

@bencheetham are you at BP in Whitchurch Hill?

@@fredfred2363 I’m omni-present 😝.. who do you know at whitchurch ( surname only req.)

@@Divefire I’d recommend more frequent tank fulls or top ups, even the non “premium” Diesel offerings from shell / bp / esso etc will have more detergents than super market diesels I believe and will be beneficial even with a mix of supermarket fuel in yr tank. 👍🏼( but it will obviously be more diluted then) The more frequently you can use a better supplier, the cleaner your engine will get ( and then stay that way)

Brilliant 👍

Stick your normal diesel in, without an additive and don’t tell your mechanic, I bet he will still tell you it’s running cleaner than it was, just to make himself fell like he knows somert you don’t.

what may matter is if there are cleaning chemicals in the fuel that work. otherwise you can compare fuel consumption yourself. The road and the Dyno are not quite the same thing

@@ShalomBrother In theory, should a higher cetane content mean better combustion? If it's clean exhaust you're looking for then you should look for Hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO If you have it in the UK

You might not feel it, but there is a difference for sure. A semi blocked injector over a couple years will not produce the same power as a clean fully working Injectors

I agree, I do so longer drives and test the brands against each other, BP and Ampol are good in Aust then shell and Caltex.

And with all that, their race car does 6k revs and gets abuse on track, on standard fuel, without any of those issues

@@possle its a race car, not an audi A4.

@@paulken1919 Exactly, it's a strung out race car that gets driven hard, not an A4 cruising down to the shops.

@@kristoffer3000 All the more reason it would show fuel differences and limitations...

Lucas upper cylinder lubricant does the best job. I've tried so many and this one comes out to be the best.

I’ve tried Ecomax too for the 2EHN component. I have seen no difference in range, but subjectively a Toyota diesel felt sharper and slightly less clattery. On a Mercedes 220, no difference at all.

Ecomax works out around 3.3ppl (pence per litre) at 1000ppm treat rate. Somewhat less than other pump options.

If the additive you use cost around a 10er you will get at least 50 miles off that in diesel so its pointless

Same. And I’ve tested different ratios, drives, types and settled on millers for every tank woth tesco standard. All logged and various runs and drive styles over 70k miles and 2 cars. The price point is about break even for cost vs extra mpg but for all the claimed benefits and me having 0 issues with dpf, injectors, starting i will continue to use for the foreseeable!

Who's Ben?

True, ppl don't recognize that you actually need a proper remap of your engine for better fuels. Like advancing the spark timings on a petrol engine while using a higher octane fuel and higher compression ratios ^^

for a stock diesel you might consider the cleaning function, but the price difference in my country is huge. Fuel save diesel 31.24 thb vs V-power 46.94 thb

There is very little lube in modern Diesel. This has proven to be hard on things like HP fuel pump valve stems etc... So I have taken to adding like 200cc of 2-stroke engine fuel mix to 16 gallons of diesel. It can't hurt the engine as it all burns and it may help with internal lube. Things like HP pumps and valve stems may benefit from a little lube.

Basic forecourt diesel in the UK and EU is better quality than than most of the world including North America but boosting the Cetane rating still has benefits. A simple test is to compare how much soot is deposited on the back bumper.

I noticed with my vw tdi cetane booster definitely helps combustion and performance.

Drink some coffee after then as thats a vascular restrictor

But did the extra cost negate the extra mpg? or was the vpower cheaper overall?

I would say vpower diesel makes a big difference in some cars. My 1.6 hdi runs like a dream with vpower diesel. Standard cheaper diesel it has no power and less mpg. But then my avensis I wouldn't say it makes any difference

I've got a V50 1.6D and has 166K miles on it so if it works on your c30 then deffo it will work on mine too. What else have you noticed with the "fancy" fuel?

@@VinDieselS70 same... 1.6D S Drive. The super-diesel did a great job cleaning the engine over around 5k so now i just use normal diesel for three fills and the 'fancy' stuff on the fourth to help cleaning. I use a DPF cleaner additive about two weeks before MOT and drive in 4th for about 10 miles to get a good regen going. 👍

@@AndrewGibson22 thank you Andrew. As this is my first Diesel with a DPF all hints and tips are welcome. The previous S70 and V70 D5 didn't have any DPF nonsense. Mind you, the old S70 was happy with veggie oil from Asda.

@@VinDieselS70 'cough, cough' gut it 'cough, cough' 😉

@@VinDieselS70 - I found Costco veggie oil really so much better than most others in my old Mitsubishi Pajero, it had a much higher chip butty and candy-floss aroma level than other regular cooking oils

Interesting points

Cold flow improver is not part of the additive mix. There is zero difference in cloud point and cfpp for premium diesel. Where the fuel comes from decides this.

@@BRMCaptChaospremium dinosaurs were used mate 😎

@@BRMCaptChaos ​​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠ Depends on weather, some actual data from a place with freezing winters about the CFFP of Diesel: -summer:

@@petermolnar8667 we don’t have a winter premium spec in the 590 annex. So we go to -15deg C. In reality, pre war, east coast UK was predominantly RUS fed with CFPP c. -22 to -26 Deg C. The problem being the CFPP was induced by cold flow improver, so one would have a -5deg c cloud point with a -25deg c cfpp, basically it was rubbish.

I've run my car on v power diesel for the last 10 years it's runs perfectly. I used to run my small work van on v power it once said 915miles to empty on a 55 litre tank. The company said were not allowed to use premium fuel so it got shell fuel saver. When it adjusted to the fuel it felt like the turbo had failed I was on the motorway going 70mph and suddenly had less power I could barely pull over 50mph. It slowly improved but after I had to work the engine much harder. I only showed 575 at best with a full tank and the power was very on/off and surged back and forth it was horrible to drive. I now have an electric car and it's lovely.

@@chrishart8548Sounds more of a van issue than the fuel, higher cetane diesel is not going to give you 35%+ of extra fuel economy, that’s utterly ridiculous.

@@TrueSkyl1n3 you can't believe the distance to empty number anyway but it was very impressive to see 915miles. I did get it as low as 372miles once. That was foot to the floor everywhere for that tank of fuel

So is it fair to say that one should basically fill up the exact same way you use cleaning additives, i.e. every other tank? Meaning one tank regular, one tank premium?

Sad wxxker

Your old man sounds a right laugh

Why would air/fuel ratio change? That doesnt make sense. Most of the cars don,t have flex fuel sensors to measure the octane on the diesel. I will burn the same amount no matter what diesel you habe.

@@MrSamueladerach I can only imagine that the additives allow a better burn? Shell claim better mpg but I am not sure why they say that. The V-Power is a powerful cleaner and on my vintage motorbikes I use it and keep the tanks topped up as you can see clearly how it keeps everything mint. With high pressure pumps and injectors maybe this makes a difference.

just out of interest, when you say 'premium', do you mean branded regular diesel (i.e. 'premium' brand) or the full fat poncy V-Power type fuels? When I had a bimmer I used to run a tank of the BP equivalent of V Power now and then, normal BP probably 1 in 3 tanks and supermarket the rest of the time. Not sure if I ever saw and particular improvement in anything, but then I wasn't paying that much attention either, and I got rid of it after about 37k. Now I don't do so many miles and run a Focus 2 litre tdci (160bhp version) and I hate it so it gets supermarket only since it doesn't deserve anything else 😁

@@stevepettifer4896 By premium I mean Shell V Power or the the BP equivalent. I know there are so many variables and so many opinions, but I personally never saw the benefit in running an occasional tank of V Power and standard fuel the rest of the time. Somebody else mentioned that premium diesels store better - that’s my belief too (no evidence of course), and given some of my vehicles are left unused for extended periods of time, it adds to my personal argument 😁.

I use the premium in the T6. While loads on forums bemoan the EGR and DPF I've never had that issue. Of course run times and servicing will vary too but fuel with more detergents will surely keep the entire system cleaner over time?

I would add for mpg I find premium worse.

The more I think about this, the more my brain hurts. Now I’m wondering about the impact of different fuels on the need for DPF regeneration, and therefore impact on oil dilution rates. And then how different diesel fuels might affect engine oil when oil dilution occurs. I am going to stop thinking about it 😁.

What do you use in your motor Neil ?

It's cheaper to use an additive

It's something we can look into doing, may take a while though!

Red diesel does not excist except from adding a little red collar into blank diesel...

It might f.. up your diesel pump. Since JET-A1 is actually not known (and needed) for lubrication. The Diamond DA62 uses JET-A1 for its diesel engines and her pumps are additionally lubricated for that qualification. A typical self-lubricated diesel pump (means lubbed by the diesel) simply would die with JET-A1..

British army was using JET-A1 in every vehicle in the 2003 Iraq invasion. We had starting issues when hot and a serious lack of power in everything. Trucks had to be started on fly spray! (White death). It ruined entire fleets of vehicles.

@hoodhangerz4315 that's interesting, was any additives added for lubrication?

That's the "rub"...... time and effort "most people" don't bother with it. Good luck to them and every continued success to you, spent your money getting your car where you want it then run it on cheep fuel??? Most people simply don't care. 535d NICE.

That proves literally nothing about the fuel though. For all you know you could never have an injection problem on nomal diesel. The 1986 diesel engine in my boat has been running for 36 years with no injection issues either, and its been ran on the cheapest shit available, red diesel that's been sat in tanks for too long etc.

Exactly that - I always filled up with premium on all my cars. 1.5dci has been running since 60k sitting at 215k with nothing needed other than regular servicing. My 4.2TDI & 2.0TDI run sweet as too.

@@ceirwan Well all fuel is the same.....

@@AmeriaUprising Had a 1.9 tdi that clocked 750k km and only ever put the cheapest stuff, nothing ever went wrong. I'm sorry but only fools put expensive diesel in cheap car, why did you buy a cheap diesel car if not for lower running costs as you're doing a lot of miles?

So fir 2 stroke you put in 2ml per 100 litres diesel? Which 2 stroke do you use?

2ml per litre mineral two-stroke 👍

Why add 2 stroke? It’s exactly the same as “road” Diesel just has a dye in it I thought?

@@danieltait123 2T oil adds lubrication due to the sulphur content thus helps the injection pump 👍

Carbon build up is terrible with 2 stroke.

​@@DarksideDevelopmentswhat do you mean?Sorry my native language is german

I used Sainsbury's own diesel for ages coz I got Nectar points but then I got the dreaded diesel bug due to the water vapour and heat so it actually benefits getting higher grade fuel. I've heard "all diesels the same" but maybe the storage and systems involved differ thus supermarkets having lower standards thus higher water ingress within the fuel?

Interesting as I've got a renault 2.5dci and I've tried a 50/50 diesel/kerosene in winter and 50/50 new veg/kerosene in summer and never experienced those issues

Knocking on a diesel?

We would say not