New member from Gold Coast, Australia, testing additives

[AusKiwi]

I just found this forum, and as I was independently doing some economy driving of my own, I thought I'd join up and share what I'm doing. I bought a 2003 Citroen C5 2.0HDi turbodiesel last year. This is already an amazingly economical car, due to the diesel engine and the reknowned Citroen aerodynamic shape. I get about 6.9 litres/100km running to and from work every day. What I am currently testing, to see if the claims made about these products are true, is the range of oil and fuel additives from Pro-Ma Performance. I added their MBL8 oil additive to the engine on my last fill, so will find out next week if the claimed 5% fuel savings eventuates. After that I will add some DT5 Plus Diesel Treatment to the fuel tank, and run a tankful through the car to see if the 12% savings other diesel users are experiencing, is something I can get too. Will update this post when I have results.

Update 28/8/14 The fuel consumption has dropped from 6.89 to 6.21 l/100km now that both the MBL8 oil additive, and the DT5 Plus Diesel Treatment are being used. This is a combined improvement of about 9.9%. I am very happy with this result, and am hoping that as the Pro-Ma products continue to work their magic on the internal parts of the engine and fuel system, fuel economy may even improve further.

Update 12/8/14 The fuel consumption dropped from 6.89 to 6.81 l/100km after the MBL8 oil additive was used. This is only a 1.16% improvement, however I didn't plan this test very well, as my wife and I holidayed in Surfers Paradise for a week during the test. This involved a lot of stop-start city driving whereas normally my daily commute is mostly on the freeway. So the data is probably a little skewed.

Anyway, I hope to complete the next phase of the test (the DT5 Plus fuel additive) in a few weeks. I'll be happy to see a combined improvement of 10%. So far my trip computer says the car is averaging 5.7 l/100km however the trip computer has always been more optimistic than my own calculation based on litres filled at first click of the pump divided by km since the last fill. Still, given that the trip computer showed 6.5l/100km on the last tank, 5.7 is a 12.4% improvement which is consistent with what others have reported with DT5 Plus. I'll just have to see if those figures stay the same over a tankful of fuel.

[California98Civic]

Welcome AusKiwi. I doubt the additives will do much of anything. People often feel like they do, but any improvements in fuel economy are usually just very subtle changes in drivign style brought on by an unconscious desire to confirm the claim. I'm not saying you will do that, though... I like you car:



Have you thought about any mods? Are you using any of the driving techniques people here at EM use?

james

[deejaaa]

if anything happens, don't expect a 5% and a 12% at the same time. really, don't expect anything.

[mcrews]

almost all additives can show lab results w/ improvement. THey never seem to translate to the road.

[AusKiwi]

Originally Posted by California98Civic

Welcome AusKiwi. I doubt the additives will do much of anything. People often feel like they do, but any improvements in fuel economy are usually just very subtle changes in drivign style brought on by an unconscious desire to confirm the claim. I'm not saying you will do that, though... I like you car:

Have you thought about any mods? Are you using any of the driving techniques people here at EM use?

james

I haven't gone into the techniques others are using yet. My most effective technique which I was using before I started testing the additives, is using the manual feature on the Citroen's auto transmission to maximum effect. This allows me to upshift earlier and hold the high gears longer than the auto would. I also pump the tyres up to 35 pounds. I was pumping them to 40 but it made the ride too harsh. When I changed tyres the tyre guy noticed this and said it wasn't necessary for such a light car.
As far as the whole subconscious thing goes, I was probably already doing that before with my car anyway, pushing it to squeeze as many kms as I can out of the car.

[AusKiwi]

Originally Posted by mcrews

almost all additives can show lab results w/ improvement. THey never seem to translate to the road.

That's only natural. A workmate of mine who tried the DT5 Plus additive in his Nissan Patrol said there was a noticeable power increase but he enjoyed making use of the additional power so much that he ended up using more fuel! So yeah, driving style is the biggest factor in economy driving.

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by AusKiwi

... As far as the whole subconscious thing goes, I was probably already doing that before with my car anyway, pushing it to squeeze as many kms as I can out of the car.

Do you have a gauge to plug into the computer diagnostic port under the dash? The ScanGauge or the UltraGauge would greatly enhance your technique and pay for itself in a relatively short while. It is surprising how much of a difference is made by throttling changes not really perceptible with our feet, ears, eyes, and odometers. A gauge will show 20-30 different possible datapoints, many of which were essential to revolutionizing how I drive, taking me from years of 33 mpg tank averages to 60+ mpg averages.

[AusKiwi]

Originally Posted by California98Civic

Do you have a gauge to plug into the computer diagnostic port under the dash? The ScanGauge or the UltraGauge would greatly enhance your technique and pay for itself in a relatively short while. It is surprising how much of a difference is made by throttling changes not really perceptible with our feet, ears, eyes, and odometers. A gauge will show 20-30 different possible datapoints, many of which were essential to revolutionizing how I drive, taking me from years of 33 mpg tank averages to 60+ mpg averages.

I don't think I would ever go that far, it would take too long to pay off. I get a similar result using the trip computer's running average readout anyway. This shows the average l/100km over the previous 10 seconds. I have learned that if I aim to minimize that number it makes me a lot more light footed on the gas. Kind of like the economy driving tip I heard years ago, of driving with an eggshell between the right foot and gas pedal. That's pretty much the principle of economy driving, not mashing the pedal so as not to crush that eggshell!

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by AusKiwi

... I get a similar result using the trip computer's running average readout anyway. This shows the average l/100km over the previous 10 seconds. I have learned that if I aim to minimize that number it makes me a lot more light footed on the gas. Kind of like the economy driving tip I heard years ago, of driving with an eggshell between the right foot and gas pedal...

Well, light footed is not always what you want. You want precise footed. You want generally 75-80% engine load for best BSFC performance. The difference is enormous. Of the 30 mpg I have gained since hypermiling/ecomodding, probably half is due to techniques the gauge and how it enables quite precise engine load monitoring. If that is true, then I am gaining something like 150-200 miles per tank because of gauge dependent techniques. At $4/gal and and 33 mpg that would be at least what $20.00 per tank. The gauge cost $70 three years ago. I fill about twice a month, sometimes once. So figure just 20 fills per year... that's $1200 in three years, from a $70 gauge.

Best. Buy. Ever.

[AusKiwi]

Originally Posted by California98Civic

Well, light footed is not always what you want. You want precise footed. You want generally 75-80% engine load for best BSFC performance. The difference is enormous. Of the 30 mpg I have gained since hypermiling/ecomodding, probably half is due to techniques the gauge and how it enables quite precise engine load monitoring. If that is true, then I am gaining something like 150-200 miles per tank because of gauge dependent techniques. At $4/gal and and 33 mpg that would be at least what $20.00 per tank. The gauge cost $70 three years ago. I fill about twice a month, sometimes once. So figure just 20 fills per year... that's $1200 in three years, from a $70 gauge.

Best. Buy. Ever.

Thanks for the comments. Which gauge do you have? Also, what mods have you added to your car to improve fuel economy? Or removed from your car? I am probably not going to get a lot of support from my "other half" if I spend money on gauges and suchlike. So I need to know that your savings aren't also due to other mods. I am keen to explore all options though.