Why are there two types of 95 gasoline in Thailand? Which 95 gasoline to choose?

Expensive 95 petrol at Shell gas stations

Some gas stations in Thailand sell two types of gasoline. In Thai they are called:

• เชลล์ ฟิวเซฟ แก๊สโซฮอล์ 95
• เชลล์ วี-เพาเวอร์ แก๊สโซฮอล์ 95

In translation, this is approximately:

• Shell Fuel Save Gasohol 95
• Shell V-Power Gasohol 95

For simplicity, let's call the first “Regular Gasoline” and the second “V-Power”.

Moreover, these two types of 95 gasoline are quite different in price, at the time of writing:

• regular gasoline costs 36.85 baht per liter
• V-Power costs 43.64 baht per liter

By the way, you can see the current price of gasoline at Shell gas stations on this page: https://www.shell.co.th/th_th/motorists/shell-fuels/fuel-price/app-fuel-prices.html

Should I choose expensive 95 gasoline?

That is, the second type of gasoline costs about 18.4% more!

Is it worth the extra cost? I decided to look into this issue.

I collected information from the following sources:

1. My personal experience – for several weeks I have been refueling my motorcycle only with V-Power gasoline

2. Official description of the benefits of V-Power gasoline on the Shell website

3. I read user reviews (Thais) about V-Power gasoline

Let's start with the official description of V-Power gasoline, here it is (in Thai):

• https://www.shell.co.th/th_th/motorists/shell-fuels/shell-v-power.html
• https://www.shell.co.th/th_th/motorists/offers-and-competitions/shell-v-power-vpg.html

To sum up, this gasoline has a little more cleaning agents, thanks to which it cleans the engine and returns it to its original power.

Moreover, in “Regular gasoline” (which is Fuel Save), there are also cleaning products. V-Power has 20% more of these cleaners, but according to the official Shell website, this provides 3 times more cleaning.

DYNAFLEX technology is also mentioned, but it also restores engine power, that is, it refers to cleaning.

Is V-Power fuel consumption less?

No. Moreover, even in theory, even according to the manufacturer's description, V-Power fuel cannot have a lower consumption, since it differs from conventional fuel only in a slightly increased content of cleaning agents in the fuel.

My experience with V-Power gasoline, as well as numerous reviews, testify to the same thing: V-Power gasoline is no more economical than conventional fuel. And taking into account the price difference and the same consumption, V-Power gasoline is more expensive.

Does V-Power increase engine power? Does the car or motorcycle get more powerful when using V-Power gasoline?

Most users of V-Power gasoline agree that they do not notice a difference in power.

Some users notice the increased power of V-Power gasoline, but even they admit that this is more like self-hypnosis.

I don't notice any power difference either.

Since these two gasolines differ only in the concentration of cleaning agents in gasoline, if the engine is not clogged, then even theoretically there should be no difference between V-Power gasoline and regular gasoline. And there is not.

Why buy V-Power gasoline?

Based on the description of the increased cleaning ability of V-Power gasoline, it can be recommended to those who believe that it is necessary to clean parts in the fuel supply system, intake valves and oil heads.

Or if you want to prevent possible engine clogging, you can also use V-Power gasoline for prevention.

In general, Shell has good fuel. I switched to this gas station after regularly filling up at PTT, my bike began to stall at idle. But the problem with idling was solved not with the help of V-Power gasoline, but with the help of a maintenance service (18,000 km) on which they changed the spark plugs and did a cleaning.