A Shell gas pump.
Used to seeing three grades of gasoline at your local service station? Shell has begun introducing another, a premium-plus grade that the Dutch-based energy company claims can improve efficiency while also reducing engine wear.
Whether other oil companies will follow Shell’s lead remains to be seen, but the addition of the V-Power NiTRO+ could further confuse consumers who already may be wondering whether to fill up with regular, mid-grade or premium fuel.
While many buyers think they should “baby” their cars by going for a higher octane rating, experts suggest sticking with the fuel actually recommended by the manufacturer – and even downgrading on occasion.
New fuels like NiTRO+ are being pitched for more than just higher octane, however. “Nitro+ adds protection against wear and corrosion to the detergents our gasoline already contains,” claims Shell researcher Ed Nelson.
The oil company claims that the new grade will not only reduce friction between moving metal parts – something more typically done by an engine’s oil – but that it will keep out water that can wind up mixed into gasoline, reducing corrosion. Whether those claims hold up remains uncertain, but some experts see a potential advantage.
“Reformulated fuel could make a difference,” Harold Schock, a mechanical engineering professor at Michigan State University, told USA Today, if it helps reduce the “half the friction in an engine (that) comes from the cylinders and piston rings.
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Whether the higher cost of the new fuel – which is expected to vary from state to state as it is rolled out – will be worth it remains to be seen. Many of the chemicals in Nitro+ are also being used in lower grades, the company acknowledges.
Shell hopes to demonstrate the benefits by using blogger Wayne Gerdes – who has set numerous hyper-miling records – to drive a circuitous, 5,000-mile route across the country this week. He will be running a Dodge Charger, the engine modified to use the new fuel on one side, competitive fuel on the other.
The choice is a curious one, as the Charger’s 3.6-liter V-6 is rated for regular fuel. In fact, “We test on regular fuel unless there is another fuel recommended or required by that particular vehicle, whether it be diesel or premium,” explained Nick Cappa, a spokesman for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
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Experts noted that many Americans routinely full up a vehicle with higher-rated gas than a manufacturer calls for. They suggest that drivers check their owner’s manual to see what is required – or recommended.
“If your owner’s manual says that premium fuel is requiired, then you should do it, but your car won’t blow up if you occasionally opt for regular,” notes website AutoTrader.com. “If your owner’s manual says that premium fuel is recommended, then you can use regular gas all the time with no worries.”
Premium fuel may be needed to prevent potentially damaging engine knock, and that’s common on high-compression, and typically super-high-performance engines. Even a few more conventional models have required premium, including the first-generation Chevrolet Volt. That seemed to many buyers an oxymoron considering they were choosing Volt to reduce fuel consumption. Chevy says the 2016, second-gen Volt will no longer need Premium.
Modern vehicles include a variety of sensors that can reduce knock even on regular gas, retarding timing, if necessary. That does, however, cut power a slight bit. But for those who don’t worry about 0 to 60 times and have a vehicle for which premium is recommended, rather than required, there’s little reason to constantly tank up with the more expensive alternatives.
That said, there can be big differences in fuel quality even within a standard grade, something that companies like Shell hope will convince buyers to switch brands.
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This is a really difficult subject to obtain accurate information on because of the many different engine requirements and operating environments. In addition fuel suppliers vary the additive packages and the quantity of the additives as they please. As such fuel quality varies dramatically. Fuel octane also varies when it is not properly monitored by state authorities.
That being said it is very important to use the fuel octane recommend by the auto maker. The auto maker does NOT require a specific octane because of varying regional laws preventing them from “mandating” a specific octane. When they say they “recommend” a specific octane it’s because the engine requires that octane and the ignition mapping for the engine has been calibrated using that octane fuel. The engine will still run on say 87 octane fuel but it might cause detonation and reduced power.
Using a higher than recommended (needed) octane fuel will not produce more power. It might – depending on the actual fuel provide more additives that might reduce deposit build-ups or provide some other benefit. “Might” is the critical word here as none of us knows without independent lab testing what the true octane and chemical composition of gasoline is and what advantages the additive package provides nor what specific quantity of additives provides those benefits and if more makes any difference at all.
There are actually instances of engines requiring 87 octane fuel producing minutely lower power on higher octane fuels. The reason for this is higher octane fuels by design have a chemical composition to slow the burn rate, which effectively increases the octane in knock test and typically in real world engine use.
Octane is a measure of a fuel’s ability to combust without experiencing pre-ignition or detonation. There are several different tests for octane that generate different results due to the extremity of the tests. In the U.S. the fuel pumps typically show R+M/2 octane ratings which is a combination of the Research and Motor octane measurement results divided by two to average them.
Using an octane that is too low for the engine’s needs can result in detonation known as knock or in severe cases pre-ignition. Both engine knock and pre-ignition can prove fatal to an engine, especially a boosted engine or an engine used under heavy loads such as hauling, etc.
I have personally witnessed boosted engines failing in less than 5 seconds under extreme detonation or pre-ignition. When I say fail I mean the valves, rings, pistons and cylinders were destroyed and beyond repair. It’s worth noting that high mileage engines that build up carbon deposits may actually require a higher octane than the auto manufacturer originally stated, to prevent engine destroying knock. If you don’t need the higher octane however there is no point in buying it unless there is some proven benefit for your application – which is rare.
There are also newer engines (BMW and some others) that advance the ignition timing to increase performance beyond the base ignition mapping IF the engine is run with higher octane fuel than recommended as the minimum. In these cases you can in fact see small performance gains with increased octane fuel – up to a point. The engine continually monitors and records any detonation to determine what ignition mapping is best.
It’s also worth noting that even though modern engines have knock sensors, these devices are re-active controls after the engine has experienced knocking. That means if you continuously run your engine with borderline or worse knocking, the engine is going to experience severe damage much sooner than later. Knock sensors are meant as a means to try and save the engine from destruction. They are not meant to compensate for insufficient octane.
Probably Shell has conducted extensive testing of this new Nitro fuel and found some minute benefits that they can technically prove under controlled conditions. If a consumer would ever see these benefits is very difficult to determine without the same exacting lab/road testing that Shell and other fuel suppliers conduct. More than likely this new Nitro fuel is primarily a cash flow device that removes cash from your pocket and deposits it in Shell’s bank account. In my professional opinion there is not a snowball’s chance in Hell that any gasoline is able to lower the piston/ring friction by half. Shell does not make this claim. The MI engineering professor Harold Schock stated that the new Nitro fuel would have an advantage if it actually could reduce the friction by 50% – which it can not.
Harold Schock did NOT state that this new fuel would reduce the friction by 50%. What he said was “Reformulated fuel could make a difference,. . . if it helps reduce the “half the friction in an engine (that) comes from the cylinders and piston rings.”
His statement is that half the friction in a piston engine comes from the piston rings in the cylinders. The rest of the friction resides largely in the bearings, seals, camshaft lobes and followers or lifters.
His statement says that the fuel COULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE if it helps reduce that friction.
Personally, I doubt if this fuel will make a significant difference, since the fuel never contacts the engine bearings, camshaft components or seals, and only the very minutest amounts will ever come in contact with the piston rings or cylinder walls, and even THAT tiny amount will be largely as products of combustion.
Yes I stated that Harold Schock believed that IF the fuel could reduce the piston/ring friction by 50% (which it can’t), then it would be of value. Neither I nor Schock claimed the new Shell fuel could reduce friction by 50%. He was quantifying the value IF the fuel could make a huge 50% reduction in friction. He probably should have made a more clear response stating how unlikely the fuel would be to make a tangible reduction in friction.
FWIW – piston rings and valve train are typically the two biggest friction areas of an ICE and no gasoline is going to reduce this friction significantly. As Paul noted oil has a much better chance of achieving lower friction than gasoline. Low tension oil rings have been used in modern engines for at least the past 20 years so friction has come down noticeably. Shell’s fuel is going to have a tough time significantly reducing current friction.
What would be extremely useful to people who have direct injection gasoline engines is a fuel that does NOT produce the carbon build-up on valves and in ports that all engine makers have experienced with DI engines compared to port injected or carbureted engines.
Big question…will it contain ethonal?…
By law it has to contain some ethanol, yes.
A number of gas stations in my area sell premium Ethanol Free fuel. Example… http://pure-gas.org Does this gas also contain ethanol? Just curious. Thank you.
Hi, Pony, first, where do you live? I may be wrong but I thought the feds required an ethanol blend in all U.S. gas. Let me know and I will follow up. Best, e-mail through the site’s link, please.
Paul E.
Very good posting Jorge.
I don’t think Pony checked pure-gas thoroughly:
Most of those stations are in locations that are not in large cities / metro areas
Stations on there are listed, at least in my tri-state area, as having a single grade BUT more importantly, they where last updated 1 – 2 YEARS ago
Paul, you’re right, Feds mandated fuel to have minimum 10% ethanol some time ago
Having said that, if this fuel can help with water-in-fuel build-up that can be somewhat of a help b/c that is the main thing with ethanol, water, especially for fuel sitting for a season (i.e. in storage over winter).
But I thought I saw something simialr NiTRO years ago, was it with BP when they were talking about Invigorate with nitrogen or something of that nature? Something with more oxybenated fuel.
Higher grades, especially without ethanol are great for at least motorcycles and boats. I get about 15% more MPG on my bike with 92 with no ethanol vs. 92 with ethanol. I also own a VW Jetta and that gets much better mileage with a higher grade fuel although it says 87 is the minimum. Even better when without ethanol. Will this new gas be better? I’m betting it will be in motorcycles, boats, quad runners and such. Ethanol, what a scam.
Ethanol is a scam! Tell that to Brazil!