New Shell FuelSave Fuels Promise Improved Efficiency
Shell has just launched two new fuels to replace its standard (regular) pump fuels. Shell FuelSave Unleaded and FuelSave Diesel contain new ingredients that promise to provide fuel savings of 1 litre per 50 litre fill up (the marketing is aimed at family car drivers!).
The new fuels have been in development for five years and will replace regular unleaded, regular diesel and Diesel Extra at all Shell filling stations in the UK. Pricing will be exactly the same as the old fuels. This isn’t a premium fuel – the V-Power lineup will continue unchanged – it’s a normal fuel for normal drivers to use in all types of petrol and diesel vehicles.
Obviously the diesel fuel will be most relevant to van drivers, but for anyone who is interested, here is the technical story behind the new fuels.
FuelSave Diesel
Diesel engines are around 30% efficient – that is, 30% of the energy created by burning the fuel is used to drive the vehicle forwards. The rest is wasted in the form of heat, noise and so on.
Shell’s scientists identified irregular injector spray and slow ignition as two key factors affecting diesel engine efficiency. Shell’s existing diesel already contained detergents to help prevent dirty injectors (and hence irregular spray patterns) but what is new in FuelSave Diesel is an “Efficiency Improver” that increases the speed of fuel ignition. Shell claims that this improves combustion efficiency and helps reduce fuel consumption.
FuelSave Unleaded
As anyone who has driven both petrol and diesel-engined vehicles in winter will know, the heaters in petrol-engined vehicles always warm up faster than those in diesels. The reason for this is that petrol engines are even more inefficient than diesels – just 20%-25% of the energy created when the petrol is combusted gets turned into forward motion – petrol engines get hotter, faster, than diesels.
When it came to improving the efficiency of petrol engines, Shell’s scientists identified a different area to target – lubrication. They found that the top of the cylinder and the piston heads were often inconsistently coated with oil – resulting in greater friction. The solution they came up with was focused on improving the lubrication of the piston rings. The new unleaded formula contains a lubrication agent that coats the top of the pistons when fuel is injected into the cylinders, reducing friction and thus improving combustion efficiency.
Does It Work?
Shell has had extensive independent testing done on its new FuelSave fuels and claims that they work from the first tankfull, saving up to 1 litre of fuel per 50 litre fill. I’m going to try and test this out for myself with my Transit but it could be difficult to work out a way of doing it scientifically enough – I don’t have an accurate way of measuring fuel used (other than by brimming the tank) or the ability to drain the tank of one fuel and refill it with another. If I do manage to reach any conclusions, you can be sure I’ll post them here.
In the meantime, if you try FuelSave Diesel or Unleaded and reach any conclusions of your own, leave a comment below – I’d be really interested to hear from you. Remember that if you fill up at a Shell station from Wednesday 21st July, you’ll be filling up with FuelSave (unless you use V-Power).
Shell is also running a competition for drivers to win a year’s supply of FuelSave fuel – click here for more details.
July 21st, 2010 at 1:47 am
[...] I won’t blind you with science, but Shell says that both the new fuels have special, completely new ingredients that help petrol and diesel engines work more efficiently, therefore reducing fuel consumption. Such claims are notoriously hard to prove, as so many other factors – like the type of car, the roads and the driver – can affect fuel consumption. (If you are interested in the technical details, click here) [...]
July 25th, 2010 at 4:33 pm
I run a collection of Triumph cars as daily transport and for shows, it’s my hobby.
I have just been to fill up at my local shell station and was wondering what all the yellow stickers were. On paying I was given a smelly thing to hang in my car and a sheet of yellow paper telling me “SAVE up to 1 LITRE per tank”. It was my mistake to even think the till person knew what it was that is now in the petrol. I tried to explain about rubber pipes, copper and brass fittings in the pump, etc I remember a good few years ago shell had a “new” fuel that caused a lot of engine damage. Which shell had to pay a very large amount of money to have the engines repaired. So does it work without any problems? time will tell, but I am going to find out all I can about it before I buy any more. Mike
July 29th, 2010 at 8:19 pm
I drive a 3.0 diese VW Phaeton and had the EGR valve replaced some 3500 miles ago after an exhaust fault was identified by the engine management system. I filled up with 80 litres of fuel save 5 data ago and end drove 00 miles on my to Hwahhrow before parking up for 40 hours. 25 miles after getting back I have now have an exhaust/emmisons fault. Getting it checked fully this weekend and will report back of it appears on any way fiel related.
My next will be Total or BP standard fuel when I hey close. To empty. this might clear the fault if fuel related. Will post again on this too.
August 2nd, 2010 at 8:56 pm
i drive a 4 year old freelander td4 which runs like a dream, on average i get 470 miles to a tank of fuel. i do lots of miles a week(work in mobile phone industry).
i decided to try the new diesel, first tank i got 500 miles to the tank(happy days) so i thought. next tank my engine began to sound very rough when hitting 70 mph and i only got 450 miles to the tank. i filled up again but the engine just did not sound very good but got 470 miles to that tank. filled up at esso, and after about 70 miles into my journey my car began to sound as good as new…….i would be interested to hear from others with the same problem.
August 3rd, 2010 at 9:13 am
I drive a 17 years old 325tds which runs like a dream on normal derv, better on the performance stuff and not to bad on B100 but this car dose not seem to like this new fuel save fuel from shell. The engine sounded rough after a couple of hundred miles and power is down also more smoke is being chucked out on boost. I have not filled up a full tank so could not say if its anymore efficient. Put some normal Derv in this morning from BP and now the car is back to normal, engine running smooth, very little smoke on boost.
My car preferred there older normal Derv, had been using it for years as Shell is the cheapest in my area.
August 3rd, 2010 at 3:40 pm
I have a 54 plate diesel Freelander. I put fuel save fuel in it on 26 July by 30 July the engine was pinking alot, it ran very erratically on 31 July and by 1 August it would not start at all. The garage thought I must have filled it with petrol not diesel – the fuel smells very odd. Is this just a co-incidence?
August 4th, 2010 at 9:04 am
OK – quick update. I had my Phaeton 3.0 TDi checked by a garage on Saturday when it was still fuelled by the original fill of Shell FuelSave. It had “lower limit reached” as the reason for the exhaust fault indicator triggering and it’s worth noting that this is usually a problem with exhaust gas composition. Anyway, they reset the system and the indicator was off when I got it back. It stayed off for around 30 miles then came back on and stayed on for several more trips. Anyway, my tank was down to the last couple of gallons so I refuelled to full from Morrisons. Within a minute of restarting the engine the exhaust fault warning went off and has stayed off for the subsequent 400 miles I’ve driven since.
I must also agree with other posts on here – on reflection it wasn’t running that smoothly on FuelSave and had a horrendous engine rattle (sack of spanners)immediately on start-up but which dispapeared after 2-3 seconds. It has disappeared altogether now.
It would be foolish to think Shell had not researched this fuel but I’m wondering if the problem we appear to be experiencing is limited to older and/or high mileage cars? I’ve had my 05 plate car from 6 months old/4000 miles until it’s current 111,000 miles. Just acquired a new Mondeo, Passat and 3 Series on the company fleet so I’ll ask the drivers to monitor performance then switch to FuelSave and compare. Will report back…..
August 4th, 2010 at 1:08 pm
Some interesting reports here… keep them coming. So far, all of these comments relate to FuelSave Diesel – has anyone tried FuelSave Unleaded and noticed any changes at all (good or bad)?
Roland
August 6th, 2010 at 11:37 am
Have had to fill up with their fuelsave Diesel today, only when I arrived at work did I think ‘wonder if anything on internet about it’… so mine is a 5 yr old 535D, which I get on average 440miles from the tank. I’ll report back on any noticeable difference but mine has always sounded like a bag of spanners at startup for first 3 secs so doubt i will notice any difference there, but pickup and smooth running over distance should be noticeable, albeit subjectively. I would consider a 5yr old car to have a ‘modern’ engine….
August 6th, 2010 at 1:38 pm
Some of the replies above are complaining of the diesel engine sounding rough on the new fuel. This could well be due to the fuel which claims to speed up combustion. This will raise temperature and pressure in the combustion system in an engine tuned on a normal fuel and hence raise noise and roughness. Shell statement is –FuelSave Diesel is an “Efficiency Improver” that increases the speed of fuel ignition. Shell claims that this improves combustion efficiency and helps reduce fuel consumption.
August 8th, 2010 at 8:16 pm
I first filled up with Shell fuel save last week and after 1 day of using it in my 55plate Megane coupe it began having starting problems. After a full service I again used the fuel save and the starting issues came back.
At first I thought the starting issues was due to the car nearing it’s service.
I am now using Esso unleaded and the starting problems have gone.
Shell must have researched this and I am curious to find out if anyone else has had similar problems with the new unleaded fuel.
August 11th, 2010 at 5:47 am
got a astra 07 plate 1.3 tdci (notmy choice) had 2 fill ups on shells new fuel, noisey engine from about 4000rpm lack of power in 5th and 6th, especially under load. Been in garage twice ecu reprogrammed, still the same, new egr valve, seems like a slight improvement. Filled up at Sainbury’s will let you know if and improvements
August 11th, 2010 at 8:27 am
Sounds a bit grim, Johno. Look forward to hearing whether there is any improvement now you’ve changed fuel.
Roland
August 12th, 2010 at 9:28 pm
I have a Toyota Avensis T3 Diesel. I filled it up with Fuelsave last week and the acceleration has been very sluggish, especially in 3rd and 4th gear. I have had the car serviced, and they couldn’t find anything wrong with it. This evening after another frustrating journey where my speed dropped 15 mph when going up a hill despite the accelerator being on the floor, I decided to fill up at the BP garage… my range had drop to 14 miles so there wasn’t much fuel left in the tank. The garage was 20 miles from home and the last 5 minutes, the acceleration seemed to improve. Going on a several hundred mile round trip – and I am hoping that the problem was just with the fuel.
August 13th, 2010 at 9:46 am
I have now had two tankfulls of Fuel Save unleaded in my 4 year old 2.0l Turbo Astra. It seemed ok on the first tankfull, but I’m getting strange noises now like slight pinking on very light throttle openings, particularly in 5th and 6th. It’s done 78k miles, I’ve had it from new and it’s always run like a dream. I’m going to put someone elses fuel in at the next fill and see if the noises go away. I’m not at all sure about this fuel.
August 14th, 2010 at 8:14 am
I drive a 51 plate mk4 Astra 1.8 16v SRi, filled the tank with this stuff the other day…
Within 5 mins of leaving the garage my emmissions light was on and the engine wasn’t sounding right. I gave it the benefit of the doubt as my car needed serviced anyways, but after new plugs, filters, etc, etc, the emmissions light remains on and the engine is sounding worse and worse.
Don’t know if thyis counts, but i took the plugs out and cleaned them, when i took them out the next night to change them, there was an almost greasy black look to them (It wasn’t oil).
Mot on the 25th, desperately trying to run this rubbish out of my tank so i can fix the problems it has caused. I won’t be filling up at shell for the forseeable future.
August 14th, 2010 at 5:53 pm
I too have had problems with this new diesel in a 52 plate Citroen Relay.
I filled the van up from 1/4 of a tank on the 1st day that it came out.
After running the van for around 100 miles, I noticed a distinct lack of power, and the Speedo going haywire, even when stopped and just Idling.
I refilled the van from 1/2 and then a 1/4 of a tank with different fuel, and still the problem remained.
On Monday eve (9/8) I decided to drain the fuel filter, and collected the drained diesel in a glass jar, and noticed bits of dirt floating about in the fuel.
I refilled again from 3/4 of a tank yesterday, as the problem had started to ease off, and put in a dose of Millers Ecomax diesel treatment, and fingers crossed, the engine has quietened down and running much smoother, no more rough idling.
No more Shell Diesel for me for the foreseeable future!!!
August 14th, 2010 at 7:11 pm
can confirm 2 knackered injector valves, diagnostics also showing 2 sensor faults.
Would be a major coincidence that these things only went wrong after i started using this fuel.
August 16th, 2010 at 4:15 am
Hello, anybody tried this new Shell diesel in an older idi vehicle like my 1997 Peugeot 306 TD ? Also, I normally use V-Power petrol in my bike and had thought about changing over to this new petrol as V-Power is £1.33p a litre locally {Llanelli} but am worried about doing so after having read these postings.
August 16th, 2010 at 9:50 am
I have a 2003 Facelift freelander TD4 HSE, purchased in February this year and been fine, having the TD4 engine very economical for the size and type of vehicle. Up until a couple of weeks ago. Filled the vehicle up with the new shell diesel that says it saves you a litre a tank etc. Drove from Surrey to St Ives in cornwall, didnt feel comfortable at all, engine pinging, hesitant when slowing at round abouts and pulling away, needing to dip the clutch and rev higher. Rev counter up and down when idle and you seem to be able to hear the engine revs jumping up and down when driving. Took the vehicle to my mechanic on Saturday who plugged in and could not find any faults, although you could hear the revs going up and down whilst idle. Whilst scratching our heads, a BMW X3 Diesel which has the same engine drove in with the same problem, he had also filled up with the same fuel and no problems up until that fill up ! So it seems like the formular shell BEWARE ! I will not be filling up with Shell again.
August 16th, 2010 at 11:44 pm
I have a SAAB 1.8TDi and after filling up at a Shell with the new FuelSave my car has restricted itself by the engine management light (cant go above approx 2600rpm). I have sinced drained the diesel out and replaced with normal diesel… hey presto 20-30 miles later back to its former self.
Wont be using Shell again!
August 20th, 2010 at 10:34 am
Having some interesting issues on this fuel as well, putting it into a petrol BMW 325Ci. The car is far less resposive than it used to be, and seems to lack overall urge, and thats something the big six pot has never suffered from before. The car was less than 1000 miles since having an inspection 2 service at BMW when this fuel went in, and all problems have surfaced since then.
August 21st, 2010 at 12:42 pm
I have a Skoda Octavia 1.6 TDI new in April. For the last 6000 miles, brimming the tank every other fill, it has done 57 mpg. I put the new shell in, and the journey that I used to register 65mpg routinely suddenly dropped to 60, and over the next tankful it managed 53overall. Could of course be a coincidence. Have tried the Vmax this time, and must admit it seemed to pick up better. Will check mpg at next fill, of course, but as this is 7p more expensive than the usual stuff, I think I am back to Esso after that
August 22nd, 2010 at 10:10 pm
Getting a bit worried after reading these comments.
I’ve ran 3 or 4 tanks of this stuff in my 54 3.0 BMW z4 and its just died a death with EML and emissions lights on, I’ve ditched it at the bmw garage to be looked at, I seriously hope it’s not done any major damage and can just be flushed. Knew I shouldn’t of just ignored the name change
I haven’t been able to find any info of the octane rating of this fuel but I’m suspecting it’s very low and probably the cause of pinking and engine faults on unleaded engines, very much hope I don’t have melted pistons/rings.
August 23rd, 2010 at 7:08 am
Ryan,
I can’t comment on your car’s other problems, but I can say that FuelSave Unleaded is meant to be 95RON, the same octane rating as all standard unleaded fuel in the UK.
Let us know what your garage diagnoses…
Roland
August 24th, 2010 at 8:47 pm
Just an update to my first post, I was able to phone Shell tech dept to try and find out what’s different and its use in my old cars. The lady at Shell was very helpful when I explained my concerns. She said that any car that runs on regular unleaded will run on fuelsave. I asked, what is fuelsave , but she said it’s a trade secret. She then tried to tell me because of new added lubricants how much better it is for the injectors, I had to stop her there as I have carbs, so she asked me to hold while going for help. On returning she was sure it would be fine but could not guarantee it. She then told me that new detergents have been added. I asked will it dissolve old rubber fuel pipes. So she asked me to hold while going for help. Again, on this return she said it has been thoroughly tested and had not caused any problems. I said “on new cars” she said she didn’t know on which cars. So I told her that I will not be using any shell fuel until it’s proved not to cause problems. Now after reading all these later posts I am staying well away from it, what ever this stuff is.
Mike.
August 24th, 2010 at 10:01 pm
BMW phoned today to tell me the car has a failed throttle pedal, so it would seem my issue is unrelated.
400 quid worse off but better than an engine rebuild.
August 25th, 2010 at 6:50 pm
I have a 51 plate peugeot 406 HDI. Supposedly the fuel runs best with the new generation of diesel engines such as the 2.0 HDI in my car and that older diesel engines would not benefit. So far though I have been unimpressed, the engine sounds rough and has lost all it’s power lower down in the rev range. Before I started using fuel save the engine had power from 1000 rpm onwards now I have to rev to about 1700 rpm to get the car to move. I used to get about 80/90 mile out of £10 now it’s more like 60 miles even with price differences that is still a big reduction in mpg. Unfortunately for me though shell have the monopoly in the area.
August 26th, 2010 at 3:51 pm
Have a 05 VW golf TDI – total loss of power when I filled up with Shell fuelsave diesel – engine ran as quiet as a petrol (not good news when you have a diesel!) Will get engines emission code checked next week on VAG system – but filled up with BP fuel and light has gone out and car now runs like the usual 130 bhp diesel and has some power too – scarry really as Shell did this some years ago when they changed their fuel and many people had problems with it – will e-mail them today.
August 27th, 2010 at 7:46 am
Spoke to Shell yesterday – They are panicking – TECH team are supposed to get back to me today – forecourts around here are virtually empty – friend of a family member who owns a garage in Bucks has had so many people coming in with the same problem and the unleaded appears to make the petrol engines pink, that he was wondering what on earth was going on but had told all of them that it appeared to be the fuel – Texaco seem to be having a problem too but have links with Shell!.
Shell have said so far that they have had to change the fuel to 7% bio along with all the other fuel providers as it became law this summer. They have also changed the additives and detergents – will fill you in later when I here further. I have also told them that any damage to vehicles linked to their fuel will have to be covered under their liability cover as in the past.
August 27th, 2010 at 9:33 am
Poppy,
Thanks for your comments, very interesting!
I think there are two issues here that aren’t necessarily related. The British Standard for diesel fuel (BS EN 590) was amended in July 2009 to increase the permitted allowance of biodiesel in standard diesel from 5% to 7%. This was apparently done with the agreement of vehicle manufacturers. Since then, the percentage of biodiesel in pump fuels has been able to increase further. This isn’t just a UK thing, though, the appropriate Euro regulations have also changed and I was buying diesel with 7% biodiesel in it in Germany last autumn (without problems).
FuelSave, on the other hand, is a new bunch of additives and detergents in Shell’s standard unleaded and diesel fuels that are designed to improve efficiency. FuelSave fuels were launched on July 21st. I don’t think that the percentage of biodiesel changed with the introduction of FuelSave (although I’m not certain) – certainly this was not mentioned by Shell at the press launch for the FuelSave fuels, which I attended.
Roland
August 28th, 2010 at 7:34 am
Hi guys, down to ~5l of the Shell stuff and decided to top up with Esso at 112.9p a Litre. Will let you know if any improvement after this tankful, but it was 10p a litre cheaper than the super Shell Diesel
Can anyone remember http://www.timesonline.co.uk:80/tol/comment/columnists/article6932374.ece
Wonder if that is one of the super ingredents, like the 7% biodiesel?
August 30th, 2010 at 1:29 am
Update on my car, 2 valves later, it still runs badly rough, took the brand new plugs out after i got rid of the shell in the tank and found an oily film on my plugs. My mechanic has been over the vehicle and can find no mechanical reason for this. Has stopped since i changed fuel.
The fault has progressed into something worse now, the vibrations caused by the dodgy running of the engine have damaged my ECU which has, in turn, spiked my coil rail. (Mk4 Astra ECU’s are bolted to the side of the engine mount)
£250 to get the ECU sent to be repaired, £170 for a new rail.
Even my mechanic refuses to believe all of this could just be bad timing.
August 31st, 2010 at 11:25 pm
i do a 60 mile commute to work everyday usually in a BMW 520 1993 MODEL.I have become more and more convinced that Shell fuel save is not very good for my engine.The engine is pinking all the time and i have noticed its only doing the pinking when on Shell fuel save .It appears im not the only one with this problem.NO MORE SHELL WILL BE BOUGHT BY ME UNTIL ITS SAFE .IM 99% SURE SHELL FUEL SAVE IS A MAJOR COCK UP.