To you, this is a Mazda MX-5.
But to A and I, she is Fanny – the one who brings us out to our appointments and dinner dates.
To many Singaporeans, our car is more than just a mode of transport.
It is considerably very expensive to own and support a car in Singapore, and therefore,
most of the people I know takes pretty good care of their rides;
spending good money on new lavish sprays of color, weekly car washes and polishes,
frequent visits to the workshops to “fanci-fy” the car
(or what we call zng car in Singapore).
Heh! :p

To A and I, we are not the kind who would make frequent trips to the workshop to change rims,
change exhaust pipe, add spoiler, etc.
But we are the sort who would look after Fanny’s well-being inside out,
making sure she doesn’t just look good, but is also in “good health”!

We are the second owners of Fanny.
Fanny is currently 7 years old and thus need more tender loving care from us.

When I was challenged to take up the fuel trial by Shell, I was thrilled!
Because just like choosing good quality pet food for my pets, I believe a car needs good fuel for engine longevity.
This is the first time I am doing a fuel trial, and I am truly curious to find out whether all the claims
they made in the radio ads are true. PLUS!
I get a couple rounds of free fuel. So, why not? :p

SHELL V-POWER NITRO+

I’m sure you’ve been hearing all about this new Shell V-Power Nitro+ fuel on the local radio.
I took an extra step in finding out all about this fuel and attended a little seminar
hosted by Shell and got the chance to learn more about the fuel from Mae Ascan,
a Shell Fuels Scientist!

It may seem like it will be a boring seminar with very technical terms thrown around,
but it turned out to be an eye-opener and I really left the seminar
feeling very excited about the testing of the fuel!

This is Mae, and she is using some apparatus to demonstrate how with the new fuel,
there will be less friction, and in turn providing more power to the wheels.
This new Shell fuel contains 25% more friction reducer compared to the previous
Shell V-Power formulation and this breakthrough is a result of
its Friction Modifier Technology developed and tested with Ferrari
who has been a technical partner of Shell for more than 60 years!

Mae is one of the 120 fuel scientists and specialists across the globe who works on fuel innovation, development and implementation.
(What a cool job!)
She too, was very excited about the new Shell V-Power Nitro+ and
what it can do to not just improve performance of the fuel, but also clean up the car engine!

Here are two pistons that can be found in any regular car engine.

This first one is relatively clean, and it probably belongs to a car that is somewhat new.

For most of us, however, because we don’t have the money to change our cars every other year, we will only find pistons that look like this in our vehicles:

This mess is actually caused by carbon deposits.
And since we need fuels in most vehicles, this is inevitable.
What we can do though, is to reduce the deposits by using better fuels.

Shell V-Power Nitro+ has a unique double action formula designed to actively clean
and protect vital engine parts to restore the car’s performance!
And according to Mae, with prolong usage of the new Shell V-Power Nitro+ fuel,
these deposits will also be gradually cleaned away!
But of course, this would depend on how old your car is and how bad the deposits are. Interesting right?

THE TEST

I was given some fuel vouchers to use at Shell for their new Nitro+ fuel.
And before I restart my odometer, here’s what the previous full tank gave me.
(Do also note that we only use premium fuels for Fanny)

No amount of advertisements is going to convince me as much as a real test!
So stick around and read more about how the fuel test went!

HERE WE GO!