Shell V power has a higher octane rating -95 or more as compared to the other premium -93. In the UK BP have Ultimate @98 Octane minimum and V-Power is 99 0ctane …Regular 95.
in the uk, what you call v power in kenya can be called adulterated fuel here
what you call regular in kenya is v power in congo
what am saying is, shell and total give the highest octane levels in kenya
which are very low levels of octane in europe
reason why direct injection german and korean vehicles do well for the first 8 years then get imported to kenya and the german machines start having unending problems
If you lived from way back in the 80s and 90s you could recal kulikua na ingine ilikua inaitwa regular. I remember my dad used super in a toyota KE70 and regular in a landrover 110. That regular had an octane rating of around 87.
If you peruse in your vehicle detailed manual, you can get your recommended fuel rating. It could just be written as Gasoline 95 or gasoline A 93 etc.
So whats Octane rating? This is a measure of how stable a fuel can withstand compression before it self ignites (without a flame being thrown at it eg by a spark plug)
Also note that if we say octane rating of 93 we dont mean that the fuel has any octane in it. Its a RATING
So why are fuels of certain ratings recommended?
First, you recal how a gasoline engine works…
Air and gasoline mixture is taken into a cylinder, the valves shut tight, the piston starts compressing the mix, all the way to TDC (last point before it reverses its motion). Now at TDC or just shortly before that, the spark plug is synchronized to spark - throw a flame to the mixture and ignite it. But we all know petrol. What if it ignites before the plug fires. We dont call that Premature blah blah. We call it PRE IGNITION. Now you see this condition is bad because the expansion of gases will start while the piston is still compressing. No one wants that.
So if its bound to happen, the makers of the engine will ask you to step up and use fuel of higher octane rating, in order to resist that.
Reasons for that include
- Running high compression ratios like more than 10:1. If you compress the mix so much the chances of self ignition are higher
- Forced induction (turbo or blower). You notice that even if your engine has a slightly lower compression say 9:1 but you have a turbo that has already compressed the air coming in, the final compression will be higher.
- Turbos also run quite hot. They heat the air. Air also rises in temp if compressed. Thats why intercoolers sit just after them. To try cool the air before the engine swallows it. If the coolers are heat soaked and dont do the job properly, then the engine gets hot air. Chances for pre ignition soar.
Now what we conclude is that high compression engines and forced induction engines will ask for higher octane rated fuels. (V power). Others will be fine with lower.
If you engine doesn’t ask for V power, there is little harm if you use it apart from you paying so much. Also remember that higher octane rated fuels need hotter sparks to ignite while at the same time need “earlier sparks” to allow time for ignition. The engines that ask for them are already tuned for that. We also tell you to stick to recommended spark plugs.
Lastly, mmeskia ma jamaa kwa mogoka base wakisema gari za safari rally hutumia jet fuel .
Ok its not jet fuel (kerosene) its Avgas. - aviation gasoline. Hii yetu ni mogas - motor vehicle gasoline. Avgas equals and exceeds octane ratings of 100. They dont take chances and so their rigs are tuned to run that. You can find it at shell ya wilson airport. Is it still 40K per 210litres au ilipanda? Go find out.