Of fuels and Ferraris

Hamburg, Germany—Last June, Shell introduced its newest line of premium performance fuels—V-Power Nitro+—to the Philippine market, which is fortunate to be among the first five countries in the world to be the recipient of this high-tech new fuel. At the launch Mae Ascan, Fuel Scientist from Shell Global Solutions, stated that “we have around 120 passionate fuels scientists and specialists across the globe working on fuels innovation, development and implementation to meet the evolving needs of customers and their cars.” She went further to add that “at Shell, the development of fuel technology is an ongoing process; Shell V-Power Nitro+ is the latest example of this—the next step in the Shell V-Power performance fuel technology story.”

The author beside last year’s Ferrari F1 car on display at the Shell lab in Hamburg

The new Shell V-Power Nitro+ fuels are formulated to help improve engine performance and deliver more power and responsiveness compared to Shell standard fuels. The fuels are designed to start acting instantly in the engine. The products contain increased detergents that clean up and prevent the formation of deposits that affect engine performance. It also has increased friction modifier content to instantly reduce friction in critical engine areas, thereby helping the engine deliver more power.

Shell didn’t want us to just take their word for it so, two weeks after the launch, they flew The Star and four other journalists to their state-of-the-art R&D facility in Hamburg, Germany.

A Shell Fuels Scientist explains the technology behind the new V-Power Nitro+

It was in their surgically clean labs in Hamburg that we witnessed just what goes on behind every new gasoline and diesel fuel that we pump into our cars day in and day out. Not only that, we saw how they develop and test fuels for just about every application: from production to Formula 1 cars, from motorcycles to trucks and even to huge cruise and cargo ships.

But I won’t go gas-geeky now and bore you with arcane bits of fuel trivia. The visit to Shell’s Hamburg labs—and especially to technical partner Ferrari’s Maranello HQ—was such an eye-opener, I would rather let photos do the talking.