Hello guys I have a question Octavia 1.5 petrol the car has three-and-a-half thousand miles my question is should I use Redex        now every 6 months to keep the valves and the engine inlets and obviously spark plugs and fuel system clean but I have been told no do not use       Redex     it can harm the engine my old Vauxhall every 6-months putting in there      . have been putting in every thousand miles. in the Octavia        V-Power obviously other cleaning agents in the top fuel Tesco's also supply a good top cleaning agent fuel would also be sufficient ,,,,but my question is about        Redex     do you guys advised it or not now I'm not talking about going bloody stupid I was thinking just the correct measurements every 3rd tank full which is roughly 1000 miles for what I do😎

Modern engines running modern oil really do not benefit from any additives these days. And indeed, there is evidence that they can even do more harm than good.

 

Also, as you have stated, if you bother to use decent fuels like Shell V-Power, or the new Esso Synergy, they have decent additive packs anyway which do the job of keeping the fuel system, inlet valve stems and combustion chamber nice and clean for you.

 

Combine that with a sympathetic driving regime like this: After starting, warm the engine gently by driving in a low gear, keeping the load on the engine low whilst it is warming up - and I mean the oil fully warmed, not just the coolant. When the engine is fully warmed right through, don't be scared to give the car a decent caning on wide-open throttle once in a while. Then when you are nearing your destination, drive gently for the last few minutes, then once stationary, allow the engine to idle for a minute before shutting down. Yes, I know that turbo-charged Skoda have an auxiliary water pump which runs coolant round the turbo after shut-down, but to me, this is still best practice as it allows the oil to flow through the turbo as it cools as well.

 

And you'll have no problems! This regime has served me well for cars and motorbikes, including race engines, over my 35 year driving and racing career! It's all about having just a little mechanical sympathy and using decent fluids.

 

Hope this helps!

3 minutes ago, Ray Luxury-Yacht said:

Modern engines running modern oil really do not benefit from any additives these days. And indeed, there is evidence that they can even do more harm than good.

 

Also, as you have stated, if you bother to use decent fuels like Shell V-Power, or the new Esso Synergy, they have decent additive packs anyway which do the job of keeping the fuel system, inlet valve stems and combustion chamber nice and clean for you.

 

Combine that with a sympathetic driving regime like this: After starting, warm the engine gently by driving in a low gear, keeping the load on the engine low whilst it is warming up - and I mean the oil fully warmed, not just the coolant. When the engine is fully warmed right through, don't be scared to give the car a decent caning on wide-open throttle once in a while. Then when you are nearing your destination, drive gently for the last few minutes, then once stationary, allow the engine to idle for a minute before shutting down. Yes, I know that turbo-charged Skoda have an auxiliary water pump which runs coolant round the turbo after shut-down, but to me, this

Thank you for the advice I have always tried to follow so a good engineering aspect in my years of driving and understanding how engines work but just wanted somebody to clarify what I was thinking of doing totally agree always warming engine up and always let it cool down especially now with modern turbocharged engines much appreciated

16 minutes ago, Diljit said:

Thank you for the advice I have always tried to follow so a good engineering aspect in my years of driving and understanding how engines work but just wanted somebody to clarify what I was thinking of doing totally agree always warming engine up and always let it cool down especially now with modern turbocharged engines much appreciated

 

You're welcome my friend! As I said, it's just my thoughts, and people are welcome to make their own minds up. But it sounds like you already know what you are doing! Different additives have definitely had their place and have been useful additions in years gone by, but modern vehicle engineering, fuels and oils are so good these days that in my opinion, there is no need for them in well-maintained modern cars.

 

Good luck with your car in the future anyway. I also see that you're quite new here, so don't be afraid to join in and discuss anything with us. That's how this keeps being such a great forum for us all!

 

 

9 hours ago, Diljit said:

should I use Redex

Only if you like wasting money. It does no good, even if it doesn't cause engine damage.

Ray Luxury-Yacht, I find your post interesting and have the same thoughts as you. So I was surprised to have a "Diesel fuel cleanse"  included in my first service by my local Skoda main agent. The car had only done 10K. I politely declined the offer and saved £25. I assumed it was upselling or am I missing something? 

I’ve seen o2 sensors and cat on other petrol cars damaged by additives, (I don’t believe it was the one mentioned) which left a brown red deposit on them.

 

I’d avoid any additives, at least whilst you are under warranty.

Edited 28 August, 20214 yr by cheezemonkhai

Might as well put some Hydroxychloroquine in the tank while you are at it. 🤣

 

Sorry, but I am not a believer.

Our 17 yo Toyota with 194,000 km on the clock, an untouched engine and runs on some of the worst fuel in the world, can still meet the official fuel consumption standards without any additives.

 

I use Millers EcoMax and it does make a difference of about 30 miles or so on a tank of standard UL or bit more on Super UL.

For a diesel, I'd say yes, use a good additive, but petrol, not so much.

As Cheezemonkhai said, there are sensors which can be damaged, but there's also the GPF, which I'm sure your 2020 car has, and the effects on fuel additives on GPFs are not yet known.

Buying good quality fuel seems to be a better option than using fuel additives.

Still showing up as 185 miles left for that last fuelling that's good because it will mean that I won't have to fuel up again for about another 7-10 days, that will mean it will have lasted the best part of 3 weeks. 

@TheWandererHow much is that Ecomax to give 30 miles compared to if you bought 3 litres of petrol?

 

EDIT.

I see,

10 tanks worth from the 500 ml bottle, so about the price of 1 litre of Unleaded per tank. or 2 litres equivalent for 'additional performance.'

 

Edited 30 August, 20214 yr by e-Roottoot

Got a big bottle of it so 10x50ml shots, not interested in single shot bottles. 

 

Like I said quite happy with it, if I get decent extra out of a tank full and with shift working it's not always easy to get fuel at 2-3am, so fuelling has to be done as and when and it means that I don't always have a choice of where I can get it and at a cheapest price. 

So that would explain the 375 miles of range. Because of the last fuelling was with standard UL and EcoMax I filled up with Momentum 99, so I probably had 100 octane in the tank.

 

Be interesting to see how far I can push it before bottling out. 

Edited 30 August, 20214 yr by TheWanderer

Maybe even 102 Octane, as Tesco Momentum 99 is 99 ron  minimum.  

Amazing performance for your car which likely uses about 100 ps if that of the possible 245 ps + at 70 mph. 

 

 

185 miles range and no need to fill up for 7-10 days.

Not exactly a high mileage driver. 

 

There can be a thing as too much detergents. 

Edited 30 August, 20214 yr by e-Roottoot

Not Normally. 11 miles a day maybe a tad more.

 

Always use SUL on long distance journeys. I'll use SUL on a trip to Nottingham and Warwick in two weeks time. It'll be JS SUL which I can pick-up just before I join the A3 for M25. See if it makes any difference to Tesco 99.

Edited 30 August, 20214 yr by TheWanderer

On 29/08/2021 at 16:16, TheWanderer said:

I use Millers EcoMax and it does make a difference of about 30 miles or so on a tank of standard UL or bit more on Super UL.

mumble mumble, that brand sounds familiar.
 

I could be wrong, but seem to remember an older vw group car I had to change the o2 sensors on used something with that base additive in it.

Of course it could have been the older car or any number of other factors.

 

No idea about the most modern diesel ones, but the older diesel millers ones used to be great for a pre MOT cleanup.

 

There are folk out there that trust the fuel companies and will run just Supermarket fuels without any consideration and just love with it (why should I pay anymore for fuel) and then there are car folk who pander their cars (that's me) and make sure they have the best of the best.

 

The biggest issue is that fuel prices are very high, so a good way to get premium performance from a supermarket fuel is to put an additive into it.

 

I know that all fuels have to meet a British Standard, but in essence you just have Petrol and Diesel. From the refinaries the petrol tanker driver delivers the fuel to the garage and THEN puts in the company additive at the point of delivery. The only company that doesn't do that is Shell who have their own Ecosystem of delivery from a central UK storage location.

 

Technically, standard fuels from Supermarkets are fine. The Supermarkets save money by not putting in any additives.

For Diesel, this means that they leave out any Cetane to improve the burn cycle and reduce NOx emissions. For Petrol, for standard 95RON, by leaving out additives to improve the burning cycle, it keeps the price low. Fuel Improvers add that stuff back in (and usually quite a bit cheaper than Fuel companies). You will get a higher RON rating with using a fuel additive for Petrol.

 

I am personally all about how an engine performs, sounds and how much I get back in terms of MPG/Litres per 100kms. I DO trust certain 'snake oil' fuel improvers but I do mega miles each year for my job, so I get to check them all out. For me, fuel Improvers keep everything running sweetly and save me fuel and stops my Octavia TDI engine sounding like a 1990's London Taxis.

 

My TDI engined VRS (just sold) had been run on Supermarket Diesel all its life by its former owner. No issues really other that performance was sluggish. A good run didn't fix things, so I went down the route of a Cetane improver and it began the process of cleaning out the EGR and DPF filters. That car had done 59k miles when I got it with basic servicing. The fuel Improver started the process of cleaning out the crud in the EGR valve and began the process of cleaning the DPF. This took a while.... performance was pants and the car sounded like a tractor for weeks. A sooty cough (that's the car ejecting the built up dirt) seemed to do the trick and it ran a lot better from that point and a lot quieter. MPG also improved.

 

 

Edited 31 August, 20214 yr by varaderoguy

NOx isn't about poor combustion, it's created by good, hot combustion in the presence of excess oxygen. 

23 minutes ago, Wino said:

NOx isn't about poor combustion, it's created by good, hot combustion in the presence of excess oxygen. 

Bingo…

 

Along with high pressures (compression ratio). They seem to have kept it relatively quiet, but I imagine turbocharged DI petrol cars have pretty high NOx too.

Tesco and Asda and Sainsbury management / fleet managers want the most economic home deliveries from their diesel vehicles.  Where do their vehicles fill up with their Derv?   Supermarket Fuel is in no way substandard when you are talking regular Diesel or 95 Ron unleaded compared to that in the non Supermarket Filling stations selling Regular Diesel or Unleaded petrol.  The majority of cars in the UK are fueled at Supermarket filling stations now. 

@Wino @cheezemonkhai Okay - so in that case, what is the EGR used for (to help reduce the temperature of the exhaust gas) & also that is also the point of the Ad-Blue system in my Scout - to convert NOx into Nitrogen and Water.

18 minutes ago, e-Roottoot said:

The majority of cars in the UK are fueled at Supermarket filling stations now.

Really??  I admit I see them queuing up at Morrisons and Asda near me, but that's quite a sweeping statement.  None of us like throwing money away....its all about trying to keep your vehicle running as smoothly as possible for a long as possible.  Additives do help keep things working smoothly.  My experience of supermarket fuels is that it makes the vehicles run lumpy, flat performance and with poor mpg....

13 minutes ago, varaderoguy said:

Okay - so in that case, what is the EGR used for

 

It's used (as a volumetric substitute for fresh air) so that there is an absolute minimum of excess oxygen in the combustion chamber that could form NOx.

http://statista.com/statistics/312071/motor-fuel-market-by-brand-in-the-united-kingdom-uk

https://www.statista.com/statistics/312170/petrol-station-volume-by-owner-type-in-the-united-kingdom-uk

 

 

The statistics will be here and it might show Branded Stations as being more than 50% of Road Fuel Sales and it will not just be cars.

But what shows as Super Market Filling stations are not always so like Tesco Extra places that has not got Tesco Fuel at the Pumps but Esso.

That is then a Branded Filling station.

Delivered by Greenergy which is part owned by Tesco & partnered with Royal Dutch Shell for importation & storage. 

 

The Issa brothers that own EG and how bought Asda have big plans for Filling stations in the UK and EV charging etc.

Even though they are being forced to give up some of the stations they own or operate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohsin_Issa

 

There is obviously Goods vehicles etc filling up at places with bunkered fuel, their own depots and then with Agency Cards and at Branded non supermarket Stations. Same with passenger cars, taxis /private hire and others.

 

..............................................................

Tesco PLC not only had Testing carried out with their 95 & 99 and competitors but published it, or at least it was accessible.

No longer so but luckily i held on to the results from 2012.

There was only 1 other retailer of 99 octane Super Unleaded at the time and that was Royal Dutch Shell.

388380a097b04fe693a8c27db8bb4974 (1) (1).pdf 6ca06d648b9541e78fa838fece4a1a23 (1) (1).pdf

Edited 31 August, 20214 yr by e-Roottoot

7 minutes ago, e-Roottoot said:

http://statista.com/statistics/312071/motor-fuel-market-by-brand-in-the-united-kingdom-uk

 

The statistics will be here and it might show Branded Stations as being more than 50% of Road Fuel Sales and it will not just be cars.

But what shows as Super Market Filling stations are not always so like Tesco Extra places that has not got Tesco Fuel at the Pumps but Esso.

Delivered by Greenergy which is part owned by Tesco & partnered with Royal Dutch Shell for importation & storage. 

Excellent thanks for the knowledge always good to hear from you