Fuel additives

[DrG.]

Hi, has anyone used these STP fuel additives for "engine cleaning" or "treatment"? Are they good, bad or useless??

 

[dave964]

I stuck some injector cleaner in the Porsche and the 348 a month or two back. Didn't seem to make any difference to either of them.

 

[Garvin]

If you use good quality branded fuel then they will make no difference. If you use supermarket brand fuel, which have a lot less of the cleaning additives etc., then regular use of injector cleaner is a must. But who would use supermarket fuel in a Ferrari?

 

[DrG.]

In Cyprus you can obtain fuel only from petrol stations, no such thing as "supermarket fuel"....They just advertise these additives as a must but I wouldn't consider using them unless I was 1000% assured they are not harmful in any way...

 

[Garvin]

I've used STP injector cleaner in various cars for many years - no harmful effects to date.

 

[dave964]

If you use good quality branded fuel then they will make no difference. If you use supermarket brand fuel, which have a lot less of the cleaning additives etc., then regular use of injector cleaner is a must. But who would use supermarket fuel in a Ferrari?

Er......... yes, who would do that....... :hide:

 

[sweeni]

Er......... yes, who would do that....... :hide:

Absolutely, silly thing to do. :rolleyes

 

[MalcH]

If you use good quality branded fuel then they will make no difference. If you use supermarket brand fuel, which have a lot less of the cleaning additives etc., then regular use of injector cleaner is a must. But who would use supermarket fuel in a Ferrari?

They do often have [quite good] additives.
http://www.tesco.com/Momentum99/productBenefits-faq.asp

Er......... yes, who would do that....... :hide:

I tend not to, but I'm sure before now I have been caught out a bit low and even put scummy 95 octane in :shocked: :laugh:

 

[phillg]

If you use good quality branded fuel then they will make no difference. If you use supermarket brand fuel, which have a lot less of the cleaning additives etc., then regular use of injector cleaner is a must. But who would use supermarket fuel in a Ferrari?

I would.

 

[dave964]

I tend not to, but I'm sure before now I have been caught out a bit low and even put scummy 95 octane in :shocked: :laugh:

In my turbo, I only tend to use Shell Optimax (unless I can't get any) - but that's because it's mapped.

In the 348 I use Tesco 95. The car isn't mapped, and I assumed the ECU wasn't advanced enough to take advantage of higher octane fuels.

If there is a good reason why I shouldn't be using supermarket fuel - or a good reason why I should be using super unleaded, then I'll switch to optimax for that too. But what is / are the reasons?

 

[phillg]

www.tesco.com/momentum99/

or take a look at Greenergy,the supplier of fuels.

 

[Garvin]

In my turbo, I only tend to use Shell Optimax (unless I can't get any) - but that's because it's mapped.

In the 348 I use Tesco 95. The car isn't mapped, and I assumed the ECU wasn't advanced enough to take advantage of higher octane fuels.

If there is a good reason why I shouldn't be using supermarket fuel - or a good reason why I should be using super unleaded, then I'll switch to optimax for that too. But what is / are the reasons?

The basic fuel is pretty much the same - there are only a few refineries who actually produce it after all! The difference is in the additives to keep injectors and valves clean and crud free which is where the investment of the big oil company players, rather than the supermarkets, comes in. In a nice, new, clean engine I doubt there is any 'real world' difference. 20k miles down the road however I would surmise there may well be a difference between engines run on an exclusive diet of 'premium' fuel versus those fed on an exclusive diet of the supermarket's offering.

 

[neil-f]

In my turbo, I only tend to use Shell Optimax (unless I can't get any) - but that's because it's mapped.

In the 348 I use Tesco 95. The car isn't mapped, and I assumed the ECU wasn't advanced enough to take advantage of higher octane fuels.

If there is a good reason why I shouldn't be using supermarket fuel - or a good reason why I should be using super unleaded, then I'll switch to optimax for that too. But what is / are the reasons?

I would not use Shell Optimax:thumbsdow















it will be off by now as it has not been made for years:grin:

V Power:thumbsup:

 

[phillg]

Waht do we call a big player in fuel sales?
World wide or uk based?
I managed a petrol sation that grossed in excess of £500k per week and £750 on bank holiday weeks,and this was when it was only 38p to 40p per litre.

 

[Garvin]

Waht do we call a big player in fuel sales?
World wide or uk based?
I managed a petrol sation that grossed in excess of £500k per week and £750 on bank holiday weeks,and this was when it was only 38p to 40p per litre.

My reference to 'big players' was aimed at oil companies e.g. Shell, BP etc., as these guys have the resources to plough into researching and developing fuel additives - not sure the supermarkets do ............... although Tesco now claim they have 'superdooper' additives in their Momentum99 to keep your engine internals all spangly.

 

[Total Performance]

There are certain company's using blends that are carrying ever higher concentrations of ethanol. Many use the excuse that the emmisions are less harmful, which they are to a degree, but increased upper cylinder tempretures and even higher cat tempretures are not condusive to high performance v8 engines.

 

[dave964]

There are certain company's using blends that are carrying ever higher concentrations of ethanol. Many use the excuse that the emmisions are less harmful, which they are to a degree, but increased upper cylinder tempretures and even higher cat tempretures are not condusive to high performance v8 engines.

I thought that was the main argument I've seen before (on Porsche forums) against Tesco Momentum. That they get the high octane rating by adding ethanol. Don't know if it's true.

But either way, perhaps it's time to switch to Shell. Now, normal unleaded or V power............

 

[sweeni]

Are you guys using 99 octane because the engines require it or, whilst 95 will do, you expect the higher octane to look after the engine better? My 550 runs on 95 and thats what it gets, and at the cheapest price I can find. My 308 required 99 so initially used 95 with Millers octane booster till Tesco brought out 99. Never had/have any problems with either car.