Additives

[Yar Is Word]

Hello! Pardon me if this has been covered elsewhere in this forum.
Just passing my experience along.
After seeing this product displayed at a Toyota dealer's parts department,
I decided to try a Lucas fuel additive.
Having used the Lucas fuel additive in an ECHO for approximately a year and a half, there has been a 2-4 mpg increase, after the third tank. A friend is using it in his Mercury Marquis and gets 2 mpg more.
Also, the ECHO's automatic was shifting harder 15,000 miles after new transmission fluid. With the Lucas transmission additive it shifted smoother right away.
These products were purchased at Baxter Auto Parts and were cheaper than at the Toyota dealer. The gas additive is about $12 for 26 oz. which is good for about 8 tanks at 3-4 oz per fillup. It has more than paid for itself.
I'll be using them in the Yaris.
Here is the Lucas product link: http://www.lucasoil.com/products/
Is anyone else using fuel saving additives?

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by Yar Is Word

Also, the ECHO's automatic was shifting harder 15,000 miles after new transmission fluid. With the Lucas transmission additive it shifted smoother right away.

Are you saying that you changed the fluid at 15,000 miles and the new Toyota WTS fluid did the job its supposed to do, shift harder? Are you saying that 15,000 miles after you changed the fluid that the car shifted harder?

I've used a substance called P-blaster fuel injector cleaner. I have a friend who uses it at four times its normal concentration. So far nothing has flown apart for him. Of course he also recommended that I use Rotella-T 15W-40 in my Yaris, which prompted a pretty nasty fight between us.

Ordinarily one should not need additives, but sometimes we get gunk in our gasoline. Doesn't hurt to use moderate amounts of fuel injector cleaner from reputable sellers. I'll probably get a bottle of Pblaster and use it per instructions. Ought to last me quite a few years.

I myself would stay far far away from Tranny additives in Toyota products. If Toyota engineers are like the ones at Sony (who I once worked for as a Depot Repair Tech) and Honda (which I owned in the past) than they are not big believers in "robust engineering". This means that they design stuff very close to the edge as far as tolerances and specs. You cannot afford to mess with stuff too much.

Best example I can recall was when I used an aftermarket distributor cap in my Honda CRX. The Echlin cap was a work of art. Made of good quality plastic and brass fittings, far superior to the Honda offering that used crummy plastic and aluminum fittings. The car ran like crap with with the Echlin cap, but once I put the original Honda part in the car ran just fine.

Another was when I worked for Sony. Their electronics is really tight assed stuff, which requires tight tolerances on some parts. Like it's hard to cross reference some driver transistors because the engineers used them to specifically match what was needed. An American engineer might not be as tight assed, but who can say?

I do use a Napa Gold air filter in my Yaris. The quality of the filter to me is much higher than Toyota OEM. I plan to change it more frequently than the Toyota spec filter for this reason.

Gene

[Yar Is Word]

Originally Posted by GeneW

Are you saying that you changed the fluid at 15,000 miles and the new Toyota WTS fluid did the job its supposed to do, shift harder? Are you saying that 15,000 miles after you changed the fluid that the car shifted harder?

Gene

Gene,
Sorry I did not make that clear. It was 15,000 miles after the 60,000 mile service, that the transmission was shifting harder. The Lucas transmission addiive made it shift smoother. I put only a couple ounces in and repeated after about 7500 more miles.



Here is the dealer site for Lucas where you can find the dealer nearest you in the USA:
http://www.lucasoil.com/retailers/

International:
http://www.lucasoil.com/pages3-7/LucasInternational

[NJBob]

I looked at gas additives yesterday @ $4-5 dollars a bottle. Not to start a flame war but wouldn't it be cheaper just to buy higher octane at the pump? Or are their other benefits to additives?

[1stToyota]

Originally Posted by NJBob

I looked at gas additives yesterday @ $4-5 dollars a bottle. Not to start a flame war but wouldn't it be cheaper just to buy higher octane at the pump? Or are their other benefits to additives?

It'd be cheaper to use 87 octane. Unless you're modded higher octane isn't needed and more likely you'll just lose mpg, instead of seeing a gain. Overtreating probably isn't good for the oil or the fuel pump. I use one bottle of Chevron Concentrate Plus (treats up to 12 gals) before each 5k OCI.

[SilverGlow]

Originally Posted by NJBob

I looked at gas additives yesterday @ $4-5 dollars a bottle. Not to start a flame war but wouldn't it be cheaper just to buy higher octane at the pump? Or are their other benefits to additives?

The amount of additives in premium gas is not very much, in comparison to adding a bottle of cleaner. Also, our Yarii do not benefit from higher octane gas, and in fact I found that my Yaris gets worse milage on premium. It's just not tuned to take advantage of the higher octane. Using premium is like throwing $ out the window.

[phenoyz]

Originally Posted by SilverGlow

The amount of additives in premium gas is not very much, in comparison to adding a bottle of cleaner. Also, our Yarii do not benefit from higher octane gas, and in fact I found that my Yaris gets worse milage on premium. It's just not tuned to take advantage of the higher octane. Using premium is like throwing $ out the window.

I notice this too...i used the highest octane but i get poor mileage
why is that... going to try this lucas additive and see

[LittleRed]

Originally Posted by SilverGlow

The amount of additives in premium gas is not very much, in comparison to adding a bottle of cleaner. Also, our Yarii do not benefit from higher octane gas, and in fact I found that my Yaris gets worse milage on premium. It's just not tuned to take advantage of the higher octane. Using premium is like throwing $ out the window.

My yaris performance greatly increased when i used 91 octane gas...93 retards the timing...thus, making it slower, 87 , it feels like its dragging...91 octane and fuel system cleaners regularly..keep it running perfect..

[roxy1]

Originally Posted by LittleRed

My yaris performance greatly increased when i used 91 octane gas...93 retards the timing...thus, making it slower, 87 , it feels like its dragging...91 octane and fuel system cleaners regularly..keep it running perfect..

aaaah..i needed a good laugh this morning.........thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[NJBob]

Hmmmmmm..I just read an article touting a real result of around +8mpg. Worth looking into. Who sell's it? Pep Boys, Autozone....?

[1stToyota]

Originally Posted by NJBob

Hmmmmmm..I just read an article touting a real result of around +8mpg. Worth looking into. Who sell's it? Pep Boys, Autozone....?

You should find the Lucas at most major part stores. The only reason I don't use it is because it's too hard to mess with. Even their small 5.25oz bottle is over twice too strong (treats 25 gallons).

[YarisSedan]

just run top tier gas and you will never have to add additives your engine will always be clean
http://www.toptiergas.com/

[Yar Is Word]

Originally Posted by YarisSedan

just run top tier gas and you will never have to add additives your engine will always be clean
http://www.toptiergas.com/

Thank you for the info. It's good to know who the good guys are.
I used 76 premium in the ECHO. It ran better, got 2mpg more, and was stronger. Plus it got 2-4 mpg more on top of that with the Lucas fuel additive.

[ChinoCharles]

I'm so anxious to see what my engine looks like. I've run nothing but Shell. Well, then again, hopefully I'll never know what the inside of my engine looks like because it will never require me to look inside!

[aca72]

Lucas UCL in a Yaris at BITOG...

Lucas UCL - Is it worth it?

Without
Tank 1: 35.4
Tank 2: 35.1
Tank 3: 34.8
Tank 4: 33.9
Tank 5: 34.7
Tank 6: 35.8
Tank 7: 34.7
Average: 34.9MPG, or 349 miles per tankful.

With Lucas UCL
Tank 1: 36.2
Tank 2: 36.2
Tank 3: 38.4
Tank 4: 36.8
Tank 5: 37.9
Tank 6: 38.7
Tank 7: 37.2
Average: 37.3, or 373 miles per tankful.

[Bob_VT]

I used to use dry gas in this cold weather area but since the introduction of E-10 it is not needed.

For a fuel system cleaner I have always used Chevron Techron and it seems to have a good result ....... I only use it about 1x for 10K miles just for safety.

I am going to look into the Lucas but I have found better gas yields better MPG .... I will compare the prices between the addative and the high test gas.

[jambo101]

Originally Posted by Bob_VT

I am going to look into the Lucas but I have found better gas yields better MPG ....

What method do you use to distinguish a better gas over a not so good gas?

[Bob_VT]

Originally Posted by jambo101

What method do you use to distinguish a better gas over a not so good gas?

Better grade 89 or higher octane vs 86-87 "regular" octane