This isn't a question but me testing stp ceramic oil additive. I start using this product 3 months ago and this is my opinion and results. Since all the driving is exactly the same it makes it easier to do a actual comparison. I changed my oil at 4,500 miles and keep track and recorded all the numbers from start to finish on both changes. I didnt look back at any notes when testing was going on. I didn't want to cause a bias or change in my drive.
I started using stp ceramic oil additive for extra protection, better gas mileage and a happier, quiter engine overall. I decided all this when I started driving over 100 miles a day. The car I'm using is a 2003 Mercedes e320 sport airmatic. At the start of testing the car has 131,000 miles and now milage is at 140,000.. Before oil treatment the car would average 13 city and 22.5 highway.( I used scan guages pro and cars onboard mpg numbers) I also would fill tank and wait for gas light to come on and use the amount of fuel used and miles driven to get my mpg. I've used 3 different sources for the most accurate numbers . The running temp highway was 192 degrees and city temp is 202. ( They don't say anything about a decrease in temp. That was something I just decided to test).Using a decibel reader the car at idle had a db of 89 (average from 5 different locations)
Since adding the stp and running 4,500 miles I surprised that I actually had real results.
1. Increased the mpg to 16 city and 26.5 highway... from 13 to 22.5( used scan guages pro and cars onboard mpg numbers) I also would fill tank and wait for gas light to come on and use the amount of fuel used and miles driven to get my mpg. I've used 3 different sources for the most accurate numbers.
2. High way running running temp decreased to 188 from 192 degrees. City temp decreased to 198 from 202. Both times I used cars guages, a scan tool, and scan gauge to get the temps. Want to be a accurate as possible.
3. Decreased engine noise from 89 db to 85db ( this is a average taken from 5 different locations in/around engine day)
4. While this part is subjective the cars acceleration feel better. Both from a stop and while at highway speeds.
Conclusion after running this product for 4500 miles and having a increase in mpg , a quiter engine and overall better running with a slight decrease in running temp. I can say to his product does work. Now does it offer better protection that I can't say as I could come up with a test for that. I used a lot of different tools to get the numbers as I want to be as accurate as possible.
Nice. I appreciate the report. Real world information, even anecdotal, is hard to find for a lot of products. A few comments/questions:
- your baseline city mileage seems low. What is the original EPA rating on your car?
- testing with only one vehicle has obvious pitfalls. Any other vehicles you could try it on?
- if you worked with a buddy, you could change his oil once with and once without the product, and not tell him which is which.
- if you have only one test subject, your findings would be stronger if you do it again- run again without the additive and then again with. If you see the same changes, that makes the original finding more robust (though obviously takes time
Thanks!
My Mercedes only get up to 17 city. Most people average 13 to 15 standard city/ suburban areas. In a area like NYC you'll only get 7 to 9 give or take a couple mpg. When it's below 40 degrees it drops even more especially before car is at temp.. The car is heavy so it burns alot of gas to get going. Once your moving it actually gets half way decent mpg especially for a car thats 20 years old. I'm going to do this experiment on my sister car and my buddies car. I'm going to change there oil soon and won't tell them as you said I need a blind test subject . I knew the product was in there and I might of been easier on the gas and not even realized it. When I change my oil again I won't use it so I can see what happens. Will there be a decrease or will it stay the same. According to stp it should last 10 to 15k.
When it comes to additives I never trust they will work and if they do it's so minor it's not worth writing home about. Most products don't work or is just a placebo. I'm definitely going to use multiple cars and see if I get same results. One test car isn't enough data to show if it's good... What happened in my car might be a one off, is this product actually good and most will see results. The rest of the testing will take months but I'll post back once it's complete. I'll check the decibels, record running temp and mpg Same as my car.
Although that is interesting anecdotal evidence, what's really needed to establish whether this type of product has any positive effect would be double-blind testing under laboratory conditions.
If I had a dyno and a close environment, oil lab reports and few other things I would do it. . I would really like to see actual results from testing like that. I know my testing isn't accurate as any change in temp , humidity, dew points and elevation effects results. Most important the human element is the most flawed part.