The Vital Car Fluids for Economical Driving

Improving your car’s fuel economy is a real win-win situation, saving you not only pounds in your pocket but benefiting the environment by reducing emissions. Increasing the efficiency of your daily commute is easy to achieve too! There are a range of vital car fluids that can help your car run that little bit cleaner.

Engine Oil

Engine oil is obviously a vital fluid required in all vehicles. A huge variety of brands and variants are on offer when it comes to engine oil. Choosing the correct engine oil for your car’s engine is the quickest and most cost efficient way to improve engine performance and fuel economy. There may be a temptation to opt for a cheaper alternative, but a poorly suited engine oil will significantly diminish your car’s efficiency.

One of the most common products used to increase the miles per gallon your car achieves is fuel or engine additives. Motorists are spoilt for choice when it comes to fuel additives, but all of the brands make the same two promises. The first is to clean out vital engine parts. The second is to reduce the engine’s fuel consumption, perhaps because of the first promise or maybe independently.

Fuel Additives

Fuel additives are available in a range of variants. Obviously there are distinct petrol and diesel variants, however, some additives are designed to target specific areas of the engine. The performance of diesel engines, including their fuel economy, can deteriorate quickly if the vehicle’s Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) accumulates too much dirt. DPF cleaner additives are intended to thoroughly clean the DPF, reducing soot emissions and improving fuel economy. Engine carburetors and more modern fuel injectors are the weak points of the engine when it comes to dirt. General fuel additives will target these parts to improve efficiency.

Engine Gas Recirculation (EGR) cleaners are a new innovation in the fuel additive field. These products remove gum, tar, lacquer, carbon and vanish from engines, improving fuel economy and the overall performance of the engine. Catalytic converter cleaners are also available, which target not the engine but the whole fuel system. Some catalytic converter brands claim to reduce emissions by 60%, which may come in handy if your car struggles to meet the emissions criteria on the MOT test.

DPF and ERG cleaners are more specialist additives; if you’re new to fuel additives you are likely to get better results from first using general additives on your car. Whether you decide to use these as part of a periodic maintenance routine or less regularly, you are certain to get results.

Improving fuel efficiency does not end with car fluids; there are numerous other ways to increase efficiency. Tyres are often ignored when it comes to boosting fuel economy, however, some tyres are more efficient than others. European regulations require tyres to have a fuel efficiency rating. By fitting four A-rated tyres to your vehicle, you can save 80 litres of fuel over the life of the tyres compared to G rated tyres.

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