Someone here was wondering about Ethos a few
weeks ago, so I volunteered to do a test in
my commuter car. Ethos is an additive that
promises a unique approach to improving fuel
consumption.
The test car is a 1987 Volvo 740 with 2.3L NA
gas engine, 160K miles. It has run the same
35 highway mile round trip commute for 10 years,
making it a good test candidate. This is cruise
control driving with 2 blocks of city driving.
Even the fuel-up is constant; same pump every
time. Fuel consumption has been constant at
just under 26MPG except during the occasional
Western Washington snowfall.
Because this was a test of Ethos, nothing else
was changed on the car before or during the
test except engine oil.
Ethos recommends adding their product to both
oil and fuel. To start the test the recommended
amount of Ethos was added to the crankcase along
with fresh oil. They also recommend doubling
the amount of Ethos in the fuel for the first
couple tanks, which was done.
The test continued for 5 tanks of fuel, which
finished a $28 bottle of Ethos. Fuel consumption
ranged from a low of 24.9MPG to a high of 25.5MPG.
I could not achieve any improvement in fuel
consumption, so Ethos actually resulted in a net
increase to driving costs.
So much for that.
Bob Griesel, WA
'84 FC31 WLII
'87 Volvo 740
'95 Ford E250 Class 'B'
'98 Ford F150 SWB
'04 Honda CRV EX AWD
According to independent test labs,"There is NO fuel additive that
produces statistically valid improvement in fuel economy on a clean,
well maintained engine".
The study (I think it was Popular Mechanics a few months back) did
conclude that you got some improvements with additives that cleaned
the carborator or injectors and plugs if the engine was dirty but the
benefit leveled off after a few tankfuls.
The only fuel economy improvements they consistently saw was:
Clean air filter - either cleaned or new - best $ benefit
Lower friction fluids - oil, transmission - inexpensive synthetics
produced the highest cost/benefit ration, as high as 7-10%
Some of the exotic spark plugs produced 1-3% improvements on SOME
(but not all) vehicles.
Regards,
GPSGary
84FC35
--- In
WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "freewill2008"
wrote:
>
> Someone here was wondering about Ethos a few
> weeks ago, so I volunteered to do a test in
> my commuter car. Ethos is an additive that
> promises a unique approach to improving fuel
> consumption.
>
> The test car is a 1987 Volvo 740 with 2.3L NA
> gas engine, 160K miles. It has run the same
> 35 highway mile round trip commute for 10 years,
> making it a good test candidate. This is cruise
> control driving with 2 blocks of city driving.
> Even the fuel-up is constant; same pump every
> time. Fuel consumption has been constant at
> just under 26MPG except during the occasional
> Western Washington snowfall.
>
> Because this was a test of Ethos, nothing else
> was changed on the car before or during the
> test except engine oil.
>
> Ethos recommends adding their product to both
> oil and fuel. To start the test the recommended
> amount of Ethos was added to the crankcase along
> with fresh oil. They also recommend doubling
> the amount of Ethos in the fuel for the first
> couple tanks, which was done.
>
> The test continued for 5 tanks of fuel, which
> finished a $28 bottle of Ethos. Fuel consumption
> ranged from a low of 24.9MPG to a high of 25.5MPG.
> I could not achieve any improvement in fuel
> consumption, so Ethos actually resulted in a net
> increase to driving costs.
>
> So much for that.
>
> Bob Griesel, WA
> '84 FC31 WLII
> '87 Volvo 740
> '95 Ford E250 Class 'B'
> '98 Ford F150 SWB
> '04 Honda CRV EX AWD
>
To tell you the truth, I don't even remember the magazine for sure.
It could have been a car magazine. I read it in my doctor's office
about 6 months ago +/- 2. His magazines are usually pretty current so
Feb. to July 08, maybe.
I looked on the Popular Mechanics website and couldn't find a
familiar article.
Regards,
GPSGary
84FC35
--- In
WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Joyce and Richard Hayden"
wrote:
>
> Gary,
> Would you remember which issue that article was in?
>
> Thanx
> Dick Hayden - '87 PT 38 - Lake Stevens, WA
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: hippieforever3
> To:
WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
om>
> Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2008 12:19 PM
> Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] Re: Ethos Fuel Additive
>
>
> According to independent test labs,"There is NO fuel additive
that
> produces statistically valid improvement in fuel economy on a
clean,
> well maintained engine".
>
> The study (I think it was Popular Mechanics a few months back)
did
> conclude that you got some improvements with additives that
cleaned
> the carborator or injectors and plugs if the engine was dirty but
the
> benefit leveled off after a few tankfuls.
>
> The only fuel economy improvements they consistently saw was:
> Clean air filter - either cleaned or new - best $ benefit
> Lower friction fluids - oil, transmission - inexpensive
synthetics
> produced the highest cost/benefit ration, as high as 7-10%
> Some of the exotic spark plugs produced 1-3% improvements on SOME
> (but not all) vehicles.
>
> Regards,
> GPSGary
> 84FC35
>
> --- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
40yahoogroups.com>, "freewill2008"
> wrote:
> >
> > Someone here was wondering about Ethos a few
> > weeks ago, so I volunteered to do a test in
> > my commuter car. Ethos is an additive that
> > promises a unique approach to improving fuel
> > consumption.
> >
> > The test car is a 1987 Volvo 740 with 2.3L NA
> > gas engine, 160K miles. It has run the same
> > 35 highway mile round trip commute for 10 years,
> > making it a good test candidate. This is cruise
> > control driving with 2 blocks of city driving.
> > Even the fuel-up is constant; same pump every
> > time. Fuel consumption has been constant at
> > just under 26MPG except during the occasional
> > Western Washington snowfall.
> >
> > Because this was a test of Ethos, nothing else
> > was changed on the car before or during the
> > test except engine oil.
> >
> > Ethos recommends adding their product to both
> > oil and fuel. To start the test the recommended
> > amount of Ethos was added to the crankcase along
> > with fresh oil. They also recommend doubling
> > the amount of Ethos in the fuel for the first
> > couple tanks, which was done.
> >
> > The test continued for 5 tanks of fuel, which
> > finished a $28 bottle of Ethos. Fuel consumption
> > ranged from a low of 24.9MPG to a high of 25.5MPG.
> > I could not achieve any improvement in fuel
> > consumption, so Ethos actually resulted in a net
> > increase to driving costs.
> >
> > So much for that.
> >
> > Bob Griesel, WA
> > '84 FC31 WLII
> > '87 Volvo 740
> > '95 Ford E250 Class 'B'
> > '98 Ford F150 SWB
> > '04 Honda CRV EX AWD
> >
>
I'll second the motion that Ethos is not worth it. I believe I already posted my Ethos results here a few months back, but I saw a minor increase in mileage in my 08 Accordbut nowhere near the cost of the additive.Homemade bio diesel makes more sense imho.
BradBarton00LXiDFW bbartonwx@...
To:
WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
From: debra@...
Date: Sat, 11 Oct 2008 02:51:14 +0000
Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] Re: Ethos Fuel Additive
To tell you the truth, I don't even remember the magazine for sure.
It could have been a car magazine. I read it in my doctor's office
about 6 months ago +/- 2. His magazines are usually pretty current so
Feb. to July 08, maybe.
I looked on the Popular Mechanics website and couldn't find a
familiar article.
Regards,
GPSGary
84FC35
--- In "WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com", "Joyce and Richard Hayden"
.> wrote:
>
> Gary,
> Would you remember which issue that article was in?
>
> Thanx
> Dick Hayden - '87 PT 38 - Lake Stevens, WA
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: hippieforever3<mailto:debra@...>
> To:
"WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com"
om>
> Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2008 12:19 PM
> Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] Re: Ethos Fuel Additive
>
>
> According to independent test labs,"There is NO fuel additive
that
> produces statistically valid improvement in fuel economy on a
clean,
> well maintained engine".
>
> The study (I think it was Popular Mechanics a few months back)
did
> conclude that you got some improvements with additives that
cleaned
> the carborator or injectors and plugs if the engine was dirty but
the
> benefit leveled off after a few tankfuls.
>
> The only fuel economy improvements they consistently saw was:
> Clean air filter - either cleaned or new - best $ benefit
> Lower friction fluids - oil, transmission - inexpensive
synthetics
> produced the highest cost/benefit ration, as high as 7-10%
> Some of the exotic spark plugs produced 1-3% improvements on SOME
> (but not all) vehicles.
>
> Regards,
> GPSGary
> 84FC35
>
> --- In "WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com"Forum%
40yahoogroups.com>, "freewill2008"
> > wrote:
> >
> > Someone here was wondering about Ethos a few
> > weeks ago, so I volunteered to do a test in
> > my commuter car. Ethos is an additive that
> > promises a unique approach to improving fuel
> > consumption.
> >
> > The test car is a 1987 Volvo 740 with 2.3L NA
> > gas engine, 160K miles. It has run the same
> > 35 highway mile round trip commute for 10 years,
> > making it a good test candidate. This is cruise
> > control driving with 2 blocks of city driving.
> > Even the fuel-up is constant; same pump every
> > time. Fuel consumption has been constant at
> > just under 26MPG except during the occasional
> > Western Washington snowfall.
> >
> > Because this was a test of Ethos, nothing else
> > was changed on the car before or during the
> > test except engine oil.
> >
> > Ethos recommends adding their product to both
> > oil and fuel. To start the test the recommended
> > amount of Ethos was added to the crankcase along
> > with fresh oil. They also recommend doubling
> > the amount of Ethos in the fuel for the first
> > couple tanks, which was done.
> >
> > The test continued for 5 tanks of fuel, which
> > finished a $28 bottle of Ethos. Fuel consumption
> > ranged from a low of 24.9MPG to a high of 25.5MPG.
> > I could not achieve any improvement in fuel
> > consumption, so Ethos actually resulted in a net
> > increase to driving costs.
> >
> > So much for that.
> >
> > Bob Griesel, WA
> > '84 FC31 WLII
> > '87 Volvo 740
> > '95 Ford E250 Class 'B'
> > '98 Ford F150 SWB
> > '04 Honda CRV EX AWD
> >
>
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