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Do you or have you used any, which one(s), how often, what were the results?
The reason I ask is because I recently went on vacation and did a lot of driving, knowing that the state I was heading to doesn't carry 93, I decided to try fuel additivies to improve/maintain 93 mpg. I tried gumout and marvel mystery oil and didn't notice any improvements over the 1400+ miles I drove (mostly highway). I wonder if the bikes/hitch, luggages, passanger and AC cause the 23mpg average.
i cant answer your question but from what i know.. weight matters a lot when it comes to MPG.
car needs to burn more fuel for the extra weight. Ac takes a little gas but weight matters a lot.
but also going up hills with all those weight matters too.
for instance, i can drive around my city fine at around 23 mpg. i do a daily routine 30% city and 70% highway..
i went to vegas and cruised all the way.. im talking about 5% city and 95% fwy on cruise control and no traffic and my MPG was actually worse than my local driving that i do on a daily basis. It is because of all the weight and hills that i had to go through which in turns require higher RPM.
Our engines run clean!
I have 51k miles on my '06 and dont know what kind of fuel the previous owner used.
I did however take off the intake manifold and its runners to swap to a ported and polished manifold.
when everything was torn apart, my initial inspection and reaction was "WOW!!
this thing is CLEAN!!!!!!!"
so, no...no fuel cleaners or additives are needed.
They run fairly clean, but the EGR will gum up over time (meaning things upstream are as well). I run a tank with Lucas in it at every oil change. It's $5 or something to do, and may not do anything, but I've also never had any problems.
Justn/doc you also wouldn't recommend them to keep fuel injectors/engine free of deposits?
Some engines are prone to deposits/carbon buildup. Audi is one that comes to mind. But for the most part modern engines run "clean" and are fine with good quality fuel, with no need for additives which are shown to have little or no significant effect on engine performance/gas mileage improvements.
Related note: A few months ago, a local Lexus stealership tried to charge my wife $500 to clean her RX330's "engine deposits" claiming it was hindering engine performance and longevity. She wanted to do it, I said no. Later that day I took apart the intake; aside from a little "black gunk" where the intake connected to the engine port, which I was able to wipe off with a towel, there was nothing to clean!
Gauging from the posts I doubt you guys do but, do you put any additives in your engine oil?
I think i've read somewhere (whether it's true or not is up for debate) that certain oil additives can cause increased wear if your car has an aluminum block (or any aluminum part that comes in contact with the oil additive). I think if you get the idea that your oil is losing it's lubricity, you should just change your oil or move to a thinner weight depending on your local weather.
Allon glad to see you posting, I heard you got rid of the A6 shortly after getting it because you no longer needed it? I'm still enjoying your suspension (thanks again bro!), whatve you been up to?
Good to know, I've never tried oil additive(s) but wanted to know others opinions.
never used octane boosters because it cant be good for the engine having some particles of gas going off before others, and figured id rather avoid it than cause other issues.
i have seafoamed my car before. i had a 3G TL (80K miles when SF), which was getting around 23mpg and after seafoaming i was getting 25~26mpg. planning on doing the 4G TL(39.5K miles as of now) soon.
I have just over 70,000 miles and when I got around 65,000 I noticed my car didn't seem as fast from a dead stop as it used to be. Took it into the dealer and they said I needed an injector cleaning service, to which they quoted me 150$. But they also told me what they do for that 150. I went home, cleaned the throttle body, which was clean already lol, and added jectron by liqui moly
And within 2 days my car was back to top performance. I could actually feel the difference plus my gas has been lasting longer too. I believe the key is to pick the correct product...
Last edited by Christopher Michael; Jun 26, 2018 at 06:51 PM.
Glad this product worked for you. FWIW: To my knowledge, Honda does not RECOMMEND, any additives be used in any fluids, on Honda produced systems. I think, a sound approach, to keeping the air/fuel induction system, clean and trouble free, may be to operate the vehicle, continuously, and consistently, using a TOP TIER rated FUEL. TOP TIER FUEL, generally, costs NO MORE, than NON TOP TIER FUEL, irrespective of whether you require, regular, or premium!
I'm calling a placebo effect on the fuel injector cleaning. I've read study after study which shows quite conclusively it is virtually impossible to end up with dirty fuel injectors using modern fuel. Long story short, fuel additives are basically snake oil.
I'm not a big believer in fuel or oil additives. There's some videos on carbon cleaning from Project Farm and Chris Fix on YouTube, some of which I've tried with minor success. Those are different animals though. In terms of additives in the fuel hoping to accomplish the same thing, I'm with frankjnjr - just use top tier fuel. That will keep it clean in the long run.
I'm not a big believer in fuel or oil additives. There's some videos on carbon cleaning from Project Farm and Chris Fix on YouTube, some of which I've tried with minor success. Those are different animals though. In terms of additives in the fuel hoping to accomplish the same thing, I'm with frankjnjr - just use top tier fuel. That will keep it clean in the long run.
I read a study a few years ago where an engine was run on a dyno for the equivalent of a quarter of a million miles on fuel which just barely met the minimum spec for fuels sold here in the U.S.; after the run the injectors were flow tested and then surgically disassembled and microscopically inspected; there were no deposits of any kind and the flow rates were all within spec of new injectors. Long story short, Top Tier fuel is more of an advertising gimmick than any indication of better fuel.
I am believer in fuel additives, because the the Top Tier gas introduction in the 90s actually lowered the amount of cleaning agents in premium gas. In some cases the former premium gas had 3 to 6x times the amount cleaner in gas. If you own a DI only, you are screwed because PCV will slowly gum up the intake valves. One of the advantages of Port FI, it is a cleaning action on the intake, why you are seeing PFI being combined with DI systems.
Been thinking of adding some Lucas fuel treatment to my 2013 FWD with 60k since the dealer recommended I get a fuel treatment service from them for $150. I used Lucas Tune Up in A Bottle and noticed a difference in my girlfriend’s 2008 Nissan Maxima. Not sure how the Acura would react to the product.
I read a study a few years ago where an engine was run on a dyno for the equivalent of a quarter of a million miles on fuel which just barely met the minimum spec for fuels sold here in the U.S.; after the run the injectors were flow tested and then surgically disassembled and microscopically inspected; there were no deposits of any kind and the flow rates were all within spec of new injectors. Long story short, Top Tier fuel is more of an advertising gimmick than any indication of better fuel.
Do you, by chance, recall any specifics, about that study, "ie" where you may have read it, and how long ago. MY DECISION TO USE ONLY TOP TIER FUEL, relates to a STUDY, performed by AAA regarding the subject. AAA concluded : " Using an independent engine testing lab that specializes in fuel analysis, AAA sought to answer the question: Is “Top Tier” gasoline worth the price? The short answer is yes." HONDA MOTOR COMPANY, rarely endorses ANYTHING, yet, HONDA recommends the use of TOP TIER FUEL, in their engines! Other motor vehicle manufacturers, including, BMW, MERCEDES BENZ, VOLKSWAGEN, AUDI, GENERAL MOTORS, " have united in support of Top Tier gas, specifically recommending it to their owners with the goal of preserving their engines’ original performance and emissions over time." SO, rather than going with the study, you quote, I'll stick with the TOP TIER FUEL recommendation, for now.
Do you, by chance, recall any specifics, about that study, "ie" where you may have read it, and how long ago. MY DECISION TO USE ONLY TOP TIER FUEL, relates to a STUDY, performed by AAA regarding the subject. AAA concluded : " Using an independent engine testing lab that specializes in fuel analysis, AAA sought to answer the question: Is “Top Tier” gasoline worth the price? The short answer is yes." HONDA MOTOR COMPANY, rarely endorses ANYTHING, yet, HONDA recommends the use of TOP TIER FUEL, in their engines! Other motor vehicle manufacturers, including, BMW, MERCEDES BENZ, VOLKSWAGEN, AUDI, GENERAL MOTORS, " have united in support of Top Tier gas, specifically recommending it to their owners with the goal of preserving their engines’ original performance and emissions over time." SO, rather than going with the study, you quote, I'll stick with the TOP TIER FUEL recommendation, for now.
I'm like 95% sure I ran across it in the SAE archives (https://www.sae.org); that's where I do the bulk of my research when I'm starting a new line of inquiry.
Do you, by chance, recall any specifics, about that study, "ie" where you may have read it, and how long ago. MY DECISION TO USE ONLY TOP TIER FUEL, relates to a STUDY, performed by AAA regarding the subject. AAA concluded : " Using an independent engine testing lab that specializes in fuel analysis, AAA sought to answer the question: Is “Top Tier” gasoline worth the price? The short answer is yes." HONDA MOTOR COMPANY, rarely endorses ANYTHING, yet, HONDA recommends the use of TOP TIER FUEL, in their engines! Other motor vehicle manufacturers, including, BMW, MERCEDES BENZ, VOLKSWAGEN, AUDI, GENERAL MOTORS, " have united in support of Top Tier gas, specifically recommending it to their owners with the goal of preserving their engines’ original performance and emissions over time." SO, rather than going with the study, you quote, I'll stick with the TOP TIER FUEL recommendation, for now.
The kicker is, the price at Shell, Exxon and Chevron is the same as the other gas stations here in Utah that don't claim to be top tier. There's the argument about regular vs. premium but that at least sparks a debate because there's a price difference. If there's no price difference, why not just use Top Tier? I'll admit that it could be some sort of scam but I'm not sure what benefit or disadvantage would be had if all gas were the same. Might as well go with the stuff that at least claims to be better if it's the same price.
As far as the fuel injector study goes - I don't doubt it one bit. Gas is a great solvent so as long as it's not contaminated with solid particulate it shouldn't jam the fuel injectors up. I believe the AAA study had more to do with carbon deposits than fuel injector cleanliness. I haven't found carbon deposits to be a big issue in the J series but I've always used top tier so maybe that's why
