With the insanely high gas prices, everyone is looking for better gas mileage these days. I'm sure there are many effective methods, and I've recently stumbled onto one of them myself. This is not an advertisement or endorsement, just a product review like so many of the book reviews I've done here in the past. But when I find a product that works, I like to share it.
I've been tracking my gas mileage on my Palm Zire 72 since July. My average gas mileage during that time has been 30.72 miles per gallon. That's not bad, really, but I drive a 4-cylinder Ford Focus and believe I should be getting even better gas mileage. I recently stumbled across a product by Lucas Oil Products, Inc., called Hi-Performance Lucas Upper Cylinder Lubricant and Injector Cleaners (or, more simply, Lucas Fuel Treatment). It's labeled as "Tune-Up In A Bottle -- The Complete Fuel Treatment." It's suitable for use in both gasoline and diesel engines and claims to INCREASE power and fuel economy and DECREASE pinging, dieseling, emission and hesitations by cleaning the carbon from the
combustion chamber and lubricating carburetors, injectors, and valve seats. I don't know about all that, but I do know how it affected my gas mileage.
As I said, my average gas mileage since July 5th has been 30.72 miles per gallon. While on vacation, I added half a 5.25 oz bottle to a full tank of gas (a full bottle treats up to 25 gallons, and my car only has a 13 gallon tank). I drove 186 miles, mostly interstate, and recorded 38.48 miles per gallon. That's an improvement of almost eight miles per gallon over the average.
Three days later, I dumped the remainder of the bottle into a full tank of gas. I drove 228 miles mostly in town and recorded 34.19 miles per gallon, an improvement of 3-1/2 miles per gallon over the average.
That might not seem like much of an increase, but let me break it down for you.
I drive 85 miles one way to work five days per week. That's 170 miles per day just to get to work and back, or 850 miles per week. At my average of 30.72 miles per gallon, I burn almost 28 gallons of gasoline per week. At $2.969 per gallon, I spend $82.15 per week in gasoline ($355.98 per month, $4271.80 per year).
If I can get my average up to the 34.19 miles per gallon I'm getting with Lucas, I'll be burning just under 25 gallons of gasoline per week. At the same $2.969 per gallon, I would then spend $73.81 per week (a savings of $8.34), $319.85 per month (a savings of $36.13), or $3838.25 per year (an annual savings of $433.55). The Lucas Fuel Treatment currently costs me $2 per bottle, or $1 per full tank of gas. That equals approximately $26 per year for the fuel treatment. When you account for the added expense of purchasing the fuel treatment, I'm still saving $407.55 per year on gasoline. That's money taken OUT of the coffers of the big oil companies and put right back into my own bank account.
I don't know about you, but I can use the savings AND the better gas mileage. I'll be using Lucas Fuel Treatment regularly. You can find outmore by visiting Lucas Oil Products, Inc., online.
Lucas Fuel Treatment is probably available at your local automotive store, and gasonline is available on nearly every street corner (though an occasional stop at your local automotive store to pick up a few bottles of Lucas Fuel Treatment will cut down the number of stops you're making at those street corners).
Take my word for it and try some today.
Joe
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33 comments:
where do you buy that for only $2 per bottle? it's more like $4 here in Ohio!
When I wrote this post a year and a half ago, I stocked up on Lucas at a sale price of $1.99 a bottle. It is unfortunately now $3.99 a bottle in Indiana, as well.
Joe
a 32 oz bottle of lucas U.C.L. is available for $9.99 just use 3 oz per 10 gallons of gasoline.not a bad deal.
I buy Lucas UCL at the NHRA drag races for 19 bucks a gallon no tax. It does increase you milage, especially if your car ./truck is running that great. I got great milage benefits out of two older cars, and modest increases out of my 07 truck. I am up 2 MPG on my new truck, well worth it if you ask me. Guys at bobstheoilguy (BITOG) love this stuff.
I'd use Lucas Fuel Treatment Upper Cylinder lube before I'd use anything like LubeControl's FP60 or FP3000, or any of the other solvent mixes out there like Techron, Redline, etc. It is inexpensive but works great. Lubricate your fuel line and pump, plus increase your milage w/o using a cheap solvent.
I agree about Lucas it's good stuff and the best thing about it is you can buy it locally. There have been so many problems with Lube Controls distribution, from billing credit cards with no product and being cronically out of stock, that I would stick to buying my fuel treatment locally. Most of them are just solvents with a little lubrication oil anyhow. The good thing about Lucas is that it is solvent free but still cleans and lubricates. I believe it is the only fuel system cleaner that is solvent free.
LubeControl is a joke people, they don't even have fleet sales which they claim! They use "Fleet" as an excuse for their out of stocks but the truth is they are just a burp away from going out of business. Why even think about buying that stuff when Lucas UCL can by bought locally and is the best UCL on the market. Sometimes a solvent cleaner like Techron might be necessary every once in a while, but Lucas UCL should be used in every tank. No need to buy designer additives, they are all frauds in my opinion.
First, let me say that I am not a fan of Lucas oil products. The only other Lucas product that I would use is the pure SYNTHETIC oil stabilizer. Having said that, LUCAS UPPER CYLINDER LUBE and fuel treatment is the greatest additive made for the fuel system! I put it in every tank and in every car I've ever had. I would die without the stuff:) I treat my fuel system with Lucas UCL and run a maintenance dose of Autorx and Mobil One and people always metion how smooth my car runs. It makes a huge difference, thanks Lucas for maing UCL.
Lucas UCL is the best product that Lucas makes, and in fact the best fuel system product made period. I cannot say it any plainer than that, I use it in every tank and the way my engine runs on it makes it necessary for me personally.
Lucas UCL is heavily reviewed and very few people if any complain about it. The reason I'll add my review is because I believe it is the best Upper Cylinder Lubricant and Injector Cleaner out of any other fuel additives I've tried. It is truly a "tune up in a bottle". You car will run smoother, and your injectors will be clean. I'm not sure about gas milage but it does seam to be a little better with UCL.
I just bought a bottle of Lucas Tune-up at AutoZone. My Focux ZX-3 has been idling rough for a couple months. Before I take it in to the dealer and explore the EGR, PCV, timing or Professional Injector Cleaning, I thought I'd try a bottle of this. I'll report back if my car's idle smooths out. I only use QT Gas and have 44,000 miles on my car.
You might as well just add mineral oil to your gas tank. Lucas has no detergents. It is just base oil and viscosity index improver. Oh, by the way, there is a reason that gasoline doesn't have high boiling point hydrocarbons. In a gas engine they cause deposits and higher emmisions.
I heard that by adding fuel treatments to your vehicle on a regular basis causes buid up on the fuel injectors. Is There any truth to this?
Of course, that would depend upon the formulation of the treatment. Lucas is an Upper Cylinder Lubricant made of oils and additives. Most importantly,it contains NO SOLVENTS, which are the additives that would cause such build up in your fuel system.
Hands down a great fuel treatment
O'Reilly Auto Parts carries the complete line of Lucas Oil Products. If you buy the fuel treatment in the gallon jug it is much cheaper per ounce. If you look on the side of the gallon jug (as well as the quart bottle) you'll see tick marks which aid in measuring out the "dosage". Let it also be noted that you cannot "overdose" your fuel system with this stuff. It's safe.
Has anyone tried the Lucas transmission treatment? Does this stuff work as well as Lucas UCL, or should I not bother?
Yes. Last June I replaced the transmission in my 99 Taurus with a junkyard transmission that shifted roughly and slipped frequently. I added a quart of Lucas Transmission Fix and 50 miles later, all was smoothed out. I have since put nearly 50,000 miles on the transmission and it's still running strong.
I have been using Lucas upper cylinder lubricant for more than 10 years in all 5 of my cars and light trucks. I buy it by the gallon for about $25 a bottle, am manic about watching my mileage on all vehicles and estimate that Lucas improves my mileage an average of slightly better than 2 miles per gallon overall and saves me hundreds of dollars a year in fuel costs. Also, every vehicle runs better, smoother. I have beeen a big fan of this product for a long time but thought I was a voice in the wilderness until I saw the comments listed here. This really is a good product and I can attest that the sentence on the back of its bottle that it will more than pay for itself is true several times over. I estimate that a $25 gallon bottle saved me about $180 in gas costs when gasoline was at $4 a gallon. Deduct the $25 and that is an actual savings of $165, well worth, in my view, the trouble and time invested in using the product.
I've been using HP Lucas Upper Cylinder Lubricant about 3 months on every fill up (6 oz per 18 gallons) on my 2001 Nissan Maxima (137,000 miles). Here we only have access to 10% ethanol gas in winter. I am trying it to see if it will cause my Cat converters and O2 sensors to last longer due to cleaner combustion. They have been replaced twice at $1300 each (once under warranty). My engine runs much smoother, has more power, and gets 1-2 more miles per gallon. So far its working. Time will tell.
If you have a 2 stroke engine this stuff is great, otherwise it will dirty up your combustion chambers because it is just oil. Other fuel treatments actually contain detergents that clean the deposits. I am a chemist and have looked at a lot of products. Lucas is bogus. Most people try to avoid burning oil in their gasoline engines because it burns dirty. Try something that has real chemistry from Chevron, STP, or Gumout.
I run Lucas in my 95 Bronco and my 96 F 250. Don't know if I actually save any fuel by using it but I figure it doesn't hurt anything and probably lubes the pumps and injectors, too. Buy yourself a 32 oz graduated bottle for $10 (i think) and refill it with the gallon jugs. Pilot truck stops have them for $29 a gallon, instead of buying the smaller bottles at $40 a gallon. 3 oz in 10 gallons of fuel is all you need.
I got a full tank of gas last night for my 1994 Nissan Sentra and today noticed how ruff my car was idling especially at stop lites like it was going to quit. I went to Walmart looking for Marvel Mystery Oil which I stopped putting in my gas when I lost my job. Then I spotted Lucas cylinder clearer. Remembered how it plugged my power steering leak. Put it in a full tank then I went to my mechanic who said the #2 cylinder was dead. I was upset but on the way home I noticed my car was sounding a lot better no more ruff idling. I googled hoping to hear good news and boy I now have confidence after reading the reviews I may be okay.
On Sale at your local AutoZone now for 3.99 a bottle I believe, just got the add in. Great stuff, I like the power steering additive as well!
If you think Lucas Fuel Treatment is good, try Gumout Regane. You only have to use it every 3000 miles instead of every tank. Sure it's around 6 bucks a bottle, but Lucas would cost you $40 or so over 3000 miles. Worth a try - I think the stuff is great, and I've tried both Gumout and Lucas.
its on sale in gardner, ks for a dollar a bottle :)ill have to try it in my mustang..
My H6 2004 subaru mileage dropped about 20% after using lucas from 26 to 22. Hard to isolate if that was the cause, but wondering if it fouled the O2 sensors.
Thought I would chime in.. I use lucas UCL in a 99 ford f150 that has almost 200k.. been using since 125k and the truck is running better than it did new. As a matter of fact I use it in all my lawnmowers, weed eaters, blowers, etc with equally good results! I dont make many recommendations, but this is one thing I wouldnt want to be without, buy it by the gallon and save some $$
Well I am a female and my check engine light came on in my Mitsubishi Endeavor 04. So I went to Autozone and the guy ran the test and said it was probably an old gas cap not sealing properly. So as I was in getting the gas cap he recommended the Lucas UCL and I was so hesitant and asked tons of questions. I reluntantly bought it very skeptical. I went from approx. 280 miles tank to 350 miles a tank. Now if my calculations are correct that's a 20% increase in gas mileage efficiency. I was told to only use Lucas every time I change the oil (3000 miles). I have still gotten way over 300 miles every tank. I was about 16 mpg before and now I'm about 20 mpg. My Endeavor has 114000 approx miles. Gas is about $3 gallon, so I figure $4.62 bottle of Lucas from Walmart saves me approx. $112 every 3000 miles or $107 after I take out the cost of the bottle. :)
I just bought a small bottle of Lucas UCL for 4.99 at AutoZone in NC. I poured half the bottle in my tank when I got some gas and could tell a difference in how my car ran IMMEDIATELY. Great stuff!
Simply the best! I have a 1991 MB 300SE w/258k miles. It purrs like a kitten! Lucas is a sweet treat for my sweet ride! I love it and highly recommend it. By the way, I can use mid-grade instead of premium in my kitten because of Lucas!! Saves money and gas!
Ifatyowa
I've never used it before but have been using Xtreme Fuel Treatment for almost a year. It takes about 1/4 ounce per 20 gallon tank and not only has my mpg increased about 14% but I've noticed a big difference in my performance and horsepower. Fewer oil changes and I even put it in my rototiller this summer and low and behold, no black smoke! It contains a combusion catalyst, detergents,lubricants fuel stabilizer, polumerization retardant and dispersant, rust inhibitor and demulsifier. It would take me $$$$$ to get all this individually. 1/4 costs about $4/$5. Love it!
I started using Lucas UCL about a year ago due to knocking on cold days. I noticed a difference right away. The knocking stopped immediatly. I laso saw a MPG increase as well as a lower reading on my temp gauge. I have a friend that works at a parts store that can get a gallon jug for $15. He drives the same car as I do and he found the same to be true. I use it every other tank. SAAB 92X
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