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40Race Shoe FinderEst. 2023 · London

Head to head

New Balance FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3vs
Nike Vaporfly 4

FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3

approx £118

Estimated street price · £180 RRP

33mm — road legal
Vaporfly 4

£120

Typical street price · £255 RRP

35mm — road legal

Choose the FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3 if…

  • You have a broad foot, or your toes spread as a long race goes on.

Choose the Vaporfly 4 if…

  • You want the bigger return: 3.2–4.4% economy gain against 2.6–3.6%, and that gap widens the longer you are out there.
  • You want a conventional fit rather than a narrow or wide last.
  • You are racing Half marathon or Marathon — built for it, where the FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3 is not.
  • You would rather buy on measured numbers: this shoe's specs are manufacturer-confirmed, the FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3's are estimated.

What does this
mean for you?

Every figure below is recalculated from your race and your current time. The gap between two shoes is not fixed — it grows with how long you are on your feet.

Over 5k from 22:00

Time back
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3: 14s–22sVaporfly 4: 19s–28s
Cost per second saved
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3: £0.17Vaporfly 4: £0.16

Ranges, not promises. Both figures are against a standard trainer, and the honest answer for most runners is that the difference between two shoes of this class is smaller than the difference a month of decent training makes.

Every number.

010203040503329
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3
010203040503529
Vaporfly 4

What you pay

Street price
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3~£118■
Vaporfly 4£120

A tilde marks an estimate: no shop we read is currently listing that shoe, so the figure is RRP less the discount comparable shoes are actually selling at.

RRP
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3£180
Vaporfly 4£255

List price. Almost nobody pays it for a race shoe.

Cost per race
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3£3.16■
Vaporfly 4£3.75

Street price divided by the races the foam stays fast for.

Cost per second saved
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3£0.17
Vaporfly 4£0.16■

The whole-life question: what each second of race time costs you.

What it does

Estimated saving
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v314s–22s
Vaporfly 419s–28s■

Against a standard trainer, over the distance and time set above.

Economy gain
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v32.6–3.6%
Vaporfly 43.2–4.4%■
Built for
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v35K · 10K
Vaporfly 45K · 10K · Half · Marathon
Best use case
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3A rare thing — a short-distance carbon racer with room in the toe box. Excellent for 5K and 10K.
Vaporfly 4The most versatile super shoe on sale. Light enough for a 5K, cushioned enough for a marathon, and the fourth generation fixed the upper problems that made the VF3 divisive.

How it is built

Weight
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3170 g■
Vaporfly 4184 g

Manufacturer figure at men's US 9.

Stack (heel)
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v333 mm
Vaporfly 435 mm
Stack (forefoot)
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v329 mm
Vaporfly 429 mm
Drop
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v34 mm
Vaporfly 46 mm
Foam
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3PEBA FuelCell
Vaporfly 4ZoomX
Plate
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3carbon fibre
Vaporfly 4carbon fibre

Rules and fit

Road legal
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3Yes (33 mm)
Vaporfly 4Yes (35 mm)

World Athletics caps road racing shoes at 40 mm of stack.

Fit
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3wide
Vaporfly 4standard
Stability
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3balanced
Vaporfly 4balanced

Neither is better in the abstract — it depends on your stride.

Race life
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3~280 km■
Vaporfly 4~240 km

How long the foam stays fast, not how long the shoe survives.

Data confidence
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3estimated
Vaporfly 4verified■

■ marks the better figure where one is genuinely better. Fit, foam, drop and stability carry no mark — they depend on your foot and your stride, not on which shoe is superior.

In your size.

Where to buy

No retailer we can read publishes a live price for this shoe, so we cannot check your size. The links below go to each retailer’s own search, where they show the current price and what they hold.

9 retailer checks failed on the last run, so their prices are missing rather than wrong.

Prices are captured when the site is built and stamped with the time of that check. We never rank a retailer by what it pays us; where a link earns a commission it is marked sponsored and the price you pay is unchanged.

Where to buy

Your UK size

Best price today — some sizes£110.25at Runlimited — £144.74 under RRP

9 retailer checks failed on the last run, so their prices are missing rather than wrong.

Prices are captured when the site is built and stamped with the time of that check. We never rank a retailer by what it pays us; where a link earns a commission it is marked sponsored and the price you pay is unchanged.