Shell Nito+ 93-octane premium in Canada

[addyguy]

Seeing ads on Facebook for Shell Canada stations starting to offer ‘Nitro+ 93 octane premium’ at certain stations in Canada.
Don’t know if this is old news, and I haven’t actually seen it bc I don’t tend to fill up at Shell, just thought it was interesting to see another choice in a 91+ octane premium for those who need/want it.

 

[Malo83]

Bring it to California, I remember when 76 offered 100/110 back in the day, was a temporary special.

 

[blufeb95]

I'm just guessing they're moving away from ethanol free 91 to E10 93.

 

[B1974]

From the shell canada website:

"Shell V-Power® NiTRO+ 93 delivers our very best performance and is now available at select sites in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario. You can also find Shell V-Power® NiTRO+ 91 across Canada!"

 

[fsdork]

I'm just guessing they're moving away from ethanol free 91 to E10 93.

I suspect the same. Their premium used to be specifically labelled as ethanol-free, but the stickers are now conspicuously absent.

 

[B1974]

Shell 91 V-power now has "up to 10% ethanol" stickers on the pump at my local shell here in Winnipeg.

Provincial regulations changed here on Jan 1st 2022 that require all gasoline sold in Manitoba to contain 10% ethanol.

 

[GSCJR]

I got some last week, it's now available in the GTA.

 

[Cujet]

My Jaguar X-Type loves the stuff. I've had some real and significant octane troubles in NY, due to unscrupulous people in the gasoline world. Shell seems immune to the problems and given the chance, that's where I go for gas now. Always get 360-380 miles per tank on Shell 93.

By way of comparison, a batch of regular in my car will reduce MPG to stupid levels, the engine pulls a LOT of timing, and the car won't go. Where as true 93 will result in 26-28 MPG.

 

[Adambomb7777]

Bring it to California, I remember when 76 offered 100/110 back in the day, was a temporary special.

You can still find 100 octane at the pump here and there, but it’s crazy expensive. I’d be happy if we had the 92 we used to have many years ago. Anything would be better than the 91 we currently have

 

[Snagglefoot]

At an Esso in Calgary last weekend.

 

[addyguy]

Very interesting - only station I have ever seen with 94-octane gas was Sunoco, now Petro-Canada. Never seen higher than 91 octane at a Mobil or Esso station.

 

[JWC86]

Very interesting - only station I have ever seen with 94-octane gas was Sunoco, now Petro-Canada. Never seen higher than 91 octane at a Mobil or Esso station.

Chevron has 94 as well.

 

[addyguy]

Don’t have Chevron on the East coast of Canada

 

[jeffy876]

I think I see what they're doing.

The highest profit margin has always been on 89, since it's 87 and 91 blended at the pump, heavy on the 87 but priced closer to the 91.
They would like to sell more 89 if they could, but very few cars call for 89 octane gas. Almost none.

These stations that went from selling 87/89/91 to 87/91/93 didn't add a new fuel tank underground, so I assume their premium tank is now filled with 93, and 91 is achieved by mixing 93 and 87 at the pump like they always have done with midgrade.

Now 91 has the best profit margin at a Shell station. And people actually buy 91. It's an interesting strategy. I wonder if it'll pay off.

 

[IndyIan]

Very interesting - only station I have ever seen with 94-octane gas was Sunoco, now Petro-Canada. Never seen higher than 91 octane at a Mobil or Esso station.

Esso has a few 93 octane stations, my silly dirt bike needs 93 plus a good splash of real octane boost.... It was just over $2 a litre last time, ouch!
I didn't realize Petro Canada has 94 octane now, and there's a station with in close by, so I'll have to try that next.

 

[Snagglefoot]

I think I see what they're doing.

The highest profit margin has always been on 89, since it's 87 and 91 blended at the pump, heavy on the 87 but priced closer to the 91.
They would like to sell more 89 if they could, but very few cars call for 89 octane gas. Almost none.

These stations that went from selling 87/89/91 to 87/91/93 didn't add a new fuel tank underground, so I assume their premium tank is now filled with 93, and 91 is achieved by mixing 93 and 87 at the pump like they always have done with midgrade.

Now 91 has the best profit margin at a Shell station. And people actually buy 91. It's an interesting strategy. I wonder if it'll pay off.

Like they say, “ aim for the middle”.

 

[jeffy876]

Esso has a few 93 octane stations, my silly dirt bike needs 93 plus a good splash of real octane boost.... It was just over $2 a litre last time, ouch!
I didn't realize Petro Canada has 94 octane now, and there's a station with in close by, so I'll have to try that next.

The difference between these shell stations and the other stations that sell 93 or 94 octane is that the shell stations don't sell 89. They still only have 3 grades available. 91 has replaced 89.

I don't know about esso, but petrocanada says that the stations that sell 4 grades have 3 tanks, one for 87, one for 91, and a third for 94. I assume esso does the same for their 93. When you buy 91 at those stations you're getting 91 from the tank of 91, not a blend of 93 and 87.

Just wanted to note that I'm not saying this Shell 91 is inferior just because its blended at the pump. For all I know it might actually be the better way to do it. Theyre certainly going through 93 faster than if it were in its own seperate tank, it might be fresher. Or maybe not if its in a proportionally bigger tank. Depends on the station. I just think it's an interesting strategy.