I get numerous compliments on how quiet and smooth my 08 es 350 runs. Does anyone use any type of fuel additive like Techron or Lucas UCL, Redline SL or Amsoil? Are they even recommended?

 

Techron is probably one of the best additives out there... It wouldnt hurt to run it in your car even now and then.

 

I use shell's Gumout Regane.....$4 at WM.....best bang for the buck. I bottle every 5k miles right before an oil change.

 

I wouldn't add anything right now if your car is already quiet/smooth. However as soon as you rack up the miles, I recommend the Lucas Fuel Injector cleaner. It lubricates your injector o-rings while its cleaning your injects. Made a good difference on my car!.

 

I dump a bottle of seafoam in the tank before every oil change, and every 3rd oil change (15,000 miles) i suck seafoam through the vacuum system.

 

I tested a bunch of them when I was living in Mexico, because of the gasoline, and found that Redline's Fuel System cleaner worked the best of the bunch. I don't think you need that yet, but running a bottle of Techron once a year should do just fine if you are running premium U.S. gas. I just used the Redline cleaner on my girlfriend's Expedition, she runs 87, and it cleaned it out pretty well...meaning the difference is quite noticeable.

Amsoil's cleaner also did a very good job south of the border, but I'd rate the Redline a bit higher.

 

Did you know there is no difference in the additives between 87 and 89 and 91 and 93 (depending on where you live, you get different options)... By law, the government says that the three must have the same additives, thus the only difference is the octane rating between them. So, just because she uses 87 does not make her car any cleaner or dirtier than had she used the same brand of gasoline in a higher octane rating...

 

From my personal experience, the 87 octane doesn't do as good a job at cleaning as the 93 octane. Maybe I was prejudiced too much by my bad experience in Mexico and their quality of gasolines. That being said, that doesn't mean that one has to use 93 or the highest octane all the time. I think a good cleaner will wind up cleaning up after any issue, even if one uses 87 octane.

 

I run nothing but Chevron premium gas in my cars and never use additional additives. That's just my practice.

 

I'm gonna try out the Lucas Fuel Injector cleaner this weekend. Hopefully it fixes my gas mileage issue. If it doesnt, what else should be replaced?

 

BG 44K is what I use, 98 gs400. runs like a r@ped ape.

 

I would use the Slick 50 fuel system cleaner once a year with no issues. Seemed to be worth the money.

 

EPA has a minimum standard for all gas sold, but different brands add their own additives on top of the government mandate.

 

Yes and the "top tier" gasolines (including Chevron and Shell) are consistently higher quality and are used by the major auto companies for emissions testing, etc.

 

Yup... I think you'll find that they use the same detergents throughout their whole lineup though... AFAIK, at a Chevron location, all three octanes will all have the same additive pack; and same goes for Shell, etc....