Fact or friction? Fuel and oil additives and devices called fuel catalysts promise to make your car a better person. But are their claims justified?(Report: fuel and oil additives)

Publication: Choice (Chippendale, Australia)

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COPYRIGHT 2004 Australian Consumers' Association

IN A NUTSHELL

Our research suggests that:

* Oil additives are unnecessary if you use the motor oil that's recommended by your car's manufacturer, and change it at the required intervals.

* Some fuel additives may have some benefits.

* Manufacturers of fuel catalysts should seek dialogue with car manufacturers and governments to establish whether their products work.

Would you like to lower your car's fuel consumption and exhaust emissions? Or are you worried about engine parts wearing away against each other? Then you may have considered using an aftermarket fuel or oil additive, or installing a fuel catalyst.

There's quite a range available. We've concentrated on fuel treatments such as octane boosters and fuel system cleaners, and anti-wear oil or engine treatments.

Additives and catalysts are claimed to have benefits such as better fuel efficiency, protection from engine wear and/or better engine performance (details of their claims are given for each category below). Some of them sound too good to be true--and if they were true you'd have to wonder why these products aren't used much more widely.

For example, with the introduction of the fuel consumption label in 2001 (which has to be displayed on all new cars in the dealer showroom) and increasing fuel prices, fuel consumption has become an important factor for car buyers.

So if, for example, fuel catalysts reduced fuel consumption by 10% or more, wouldn't there be at least one car manufacturer who'd see a marketing advantage in factory-equipping all its new cars with a catalyst? And even if car manufacturers ignored them for some reason, wouldn't governments and motoring organisations be pushing their use?

And if there was an oil additive that improved the performance of any engine oil in any car, wouldn't the big oil companies benefit from using it in their own products? Wouldn't car manufacturers and motoring organisations ask them to?

NOT ENOUGH PROOF

To find out why this isn't the case, we talked to a range of representatives from major oil companies, car manufacturers, motoring organisations and government departments, some of our overseas consumer organisation counterparts, as well as manufacturers of additives and fuel catalysts.

The result: the latter were the only ones endorsing the products. A common criticism mentioned by the sceptics is that there are no, or not enough, independent test results...

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