General fuel addatives??

[darkchequer]

Is it worth putting this stuff in your car or just a rip off??
If so what is the best product?

 

[koalar]

even the cheapest modern fuel has to meet standards

I have done around a million miles without an injector problem on supermarket fuel

those addatives that change the octane will not help a Panda with such a low comparison ratio

it again one of those question. Light the touch paper and stand back and watch the fireworks

 

[jackwhoo]

Is it worth putting this stuff in your car or just a rip off??
If so what is the best product?

Petrol or diesel?

 

[jackwhoo]

What are you hoping additive will do?

 

[jimboy]

Is it worth putting this stuff in your car or just a rip off??
If so what is the best product?

Fuel additives are not needed in a modern car.

 

[darkchequer]

Petrol car....The additives I mean are those that are supposed to increase mpg and clean the fuel system?

 

[portland_bill]

Petrol car....The additives I mean are those that are supposed to increase mpg and clean the fuel system?

Snake oil.
You'll save more money by keeping it in your pocket instead of buying this stuff.

Petrol is a great solvent, so why do you think the fuel system might be dirty? If left to evaporate it can leave sticky residues, doubtful your car will have suffered this.

Improve fuel consumption by driving more smoothly, see your driving instructor, or local advanced driving group.

 

[jimboy]

Most additives contain kerosene (paraffin) there may other ingredients on some. This has been discussed on here many times. You can buy paraffin for a fiver 5ltrs The wee bottle of additives cost about a fiver or there abouts, you do the maths.

 

[koalar]

oils and fuel and materials have moved on a long way from when I first started to drive.

Bottom bearings didn't last 100,000 miles let alone 200K

HGV use to light rags on top of there fuel tanks so the could start them in winter.

 

[dac69er]

I have never really noticed it do anything on any of my cars, however I did try some redex on my girlfriends 100hp and it did make a tiny, but noticeable difference.

May have just been coincidence, but I felt it was slightly smoother and had better economy. Only worked once though. I tried another bottle the next year and didn't feel any different.

 

[DaveMcT]

Bottled additives are all more expensive than the most costly posh petrol. Tesco 99 gives you the higher octane for extracting a few more bhp. Shell Optimax has added snake oil for cleaning the petrol tank (though no indication of how you remove the now loose crap that's floating about).

Additives are only worth using when you cant get decent octane fuel. 87 Octane gives awful fuel consumption so octane booster might be worth the cost. In UK its just snake oil.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Is it worth putting this stuff in your car or just a rip off??
If so what is the best product?

I think the advice being given above is probably generally correct. I rather like PB's descriptor: Snake Oil.

If you have a high performance engine that, in combination with it's electronics, can take advantage of it then buying one of the higher octane fuels will probably be worth it and the consensus of opinion would seem to be that they have enhanced additive packages which may be advantageous - but no one really knows because the fuel companies won't tell you what their "magic brews" contain. You pays your money and takes your choice I suppose although there seems to be more support for the Shell product than any other. We run all our vehicles on supermarket fuel, and have done for as long as I can remember, and don't have any problems. I suspect that my new Ibiza with it's sophisticated wee turbo Direct injection engine would be able to take advantage of a higher octane fuel but I'm very happy with the performance it gives on the "cheap stuff".

As a general rule of thumb I would not just tip an additive willy nilly into every car I own, but I think there may be a case to be made for targeting specific outcomes. Do you remember when they dramatically reduced the sulphur in Diesel? That troubled me because this component of the fuel acted as a lubricant for the high pressure pumps and injectors and there did seem to be an increase in problems with these engine parts at that time. I started using Wynns Eco Diesel in my 1.9 tdi SEAT Cordoba - which is added to every tankful - specifically because it claimed to provide additional lubrication for these components. That engine went well over 100,000 miles and always passed MOT with a "Fast Pass". The injectors were pulled a little before 100,000 miles because one had a "sticky" needle which was causing a slight miss fire and the diesel specialist who overhauled them for me said he couldn't believe they were approaching 100,000 miles as he could see almost no wear at all.

Of the present "family fleet" of 6 vehicles I'm only putting an additive into one and that's my Ibiza. Again though, I'm attempting to target a very specific issue. This engine is a direct injection petrol engine so the fuel is being injected directly into the combustion chambers not, as with most earlier designs, into the inlet ports. The - well reported (see: https://www.oilem.com/blog/turbo-fu...irect-port-injection-carbon-build-up-problem/) - problem with this is that carbon deposits build up in the inlet ports and, especially, on the back of the inlet valves because no fuel (and so none of the cleansing additives in modern fuel) is present in the inlet ports so can't do any cleaning. The build up of carbon, especially on the valve heads, eventually causes running problems. I'm trying Archoil AR6900-P MAX which is supposed to specifically address this problem. I actually don't have any great hope that it will because, being a fuel additive, it is entering the engine through the injectors which are not injecting into the ports. However I intend, if I can summon up enough enthusiasm, to remove the inlet manifold when I change the antifreeze next year (the inlet manifold incorporates a heat exchanger for the inlet air from the turbo which uses the engine coolant so seems like a good time to do it) so I'll be able to get a good look down the ports and see what's going on. If it's not doing any particular good in this direction I don't really mind as the additive (which I've been using since the car was new) also contains a lubricant which may be efficacious for the high pressure fuel pump (which is pumping near diesel type pressures) and the injectors which have to live a much harder life than the traditional "in port" type injectors.

I've tried bottles of injector cleaner in the past with varying results but I think nothing can clean as well as a proper ultrasonic clean. This is pretty simple to do on a petrol (maybe not so much on a DI though) but removing injectors from a modern diesel can really be good "fun" so maybe trying an injector cleaner in that situation could be a good place to start.

So. Where does that leave me? Personally I don't use fuel additives except very occasionally as in the sort of situation mentioned above and even then I'm not going to be surprised if I don't get much of a result.

We've been talking about fuel additives above and I think that probably the worst that can happen is that you'll just waste your money if you don't experience the hoped for result. However when we come to considering oil additives I really have to say, JUST DON'T! - Spend your money on a quality engine oil that complies with the manufacturer's specification - which you should find in your owner's manual. This advice applies even more to transmissions. People often use a transmission additive because the box is "noisy" so they think a "super slippy" additive will help but gearboxes need friction, especially where synchros are concerned, to work properly. If the 'box is noisy it needs fixed properly. Sticking some magic brew in it is unlikely to provide even a short term satisfactory fix. Transmission lubricants are now a days becoming very sophisticated and vehicle specific. They are blended with great care by people who really know what they are doing. If you then tip an unknown "brew" of "who knows what" into it don't be surprised if the outcome is poor - or at best no better. I would only use a manufacturer specification product and change it around 50,000 miles even when the manufacturer specifies - and many now do - a "for life" fill.

 

[DaveMcT]

Any engine with a knock sensor will benefit from higher octane fuels as it allows a more efficient setting for the spark timing. All Panda engines have this however I suspect its a two position arrangement that works with 97 or less than 95.


Small engines need all the help they can get so running 97 Octane or higher is well worth the additional few pence per litre.


I get no added benefit from Tesco 99 over BP 97, but the Tesco is still cheaper so I use it.

The bike was rubbish on 85, definitely better on 97 and better still on 99. On the Panda I can detect the advance/retard settings but not anything more sophisticated.