Shell unveils 3 new performance fuels

MANILA, Philippines - When you gas up at your local Shell station on June 1, don’t be surprised to find not one but three new fuel products at the pumps—signaling, for sure, an intensification in the fuels arms race.

Collectively tagged with the Shell V-Power Nitro+ moniker, the performance fuels will supplant the current V-Power lineup, along with the Shell Super Premium product. The new fuels are: Shell V-Power Nitro+, Shell V-Power Nitro+ Racing, and Shell V-Power Nitro+ Diesel. No price changes are expected.

“Never in the history of Shell, locally or globally, have we done something like this. This is a really a first,” said Arlene Manalo, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. (PSPC) retail marketing manager, at the grand launch of the products held at the PICC.

Much more than a name modification, V-Power Nitro+ promises increased performance in your vehicle. “It’s designed to improve performance and acts instantly in your engine,” Shell V-Power brand manager Pia Que-Ang shared.

Shell claims the V-Power Nitro+ will clean up and prevent deposits that limit engine performance, and features more “friction modifiers” that should instantly reduce friction in “critical engine areas,” leading to more power.

“It’s exciting to be able to bring this new product to the Philippine market and I believe we have succeeded in making a good product even better. I would encourage drivers to try it and see for themselves what it can do,” PSPC VP for retail Anthony Lawrence Yam added.

Shell is careful to advise that the new V-Power Nitro+ fuels must not be confused with the current Shell FuelSave products. Whereas FuelSave is obviously geared towards “instantaneous fuel economy,” the V-Power Nitro+ is “highly formulated and designed to help customers’ cars perform to their potential, whatever type of vehicle they drive,” according to the company release.

F1 world champion and Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso at the Shell labs

Shell is proud to cite its 60-year technical (and tactical) partnership with Ferrari—particularly its F1 racing team—in the development of its fuels and lubricants. Fuels scientist Mae Ascan said this arrangement provides an “environment to test new fuels in extreme conditions” and “a better understanding of what will deliver improved power and performance.” In 2011, the company spent US$1 billion in research and development.

“In the Shell V-Power Nitro+ gasoline available at the pump, we use the same friction modifiers as in the race fuels we develop for Ferrari Formula One cars,” Ascan claimed.

“Here’s a fact you can remember: 99 percent of the compounds used in the Shell V-Power race fuel is very identical to those used in the V-Power road fuel,” Pia Que-Ang maintained.

To this end, Shell showed a video that demonstrated just that. Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso drove an F1 car using both fuels, and was surprised at the general closeness in performance between road and racing formulas.

The Philippines will be only the third country in the world, following Argentina and Norway, to feature these new fuels.

With enhanced abilities to clean, protect, and enhance the power of diesel or gasoline engine, Shell continues to make a case for its oft-uttered statement that not all fuels are created equal.