Lucas UCL gas milage test and review

[Shelby]

I was going to do a comprehensive test but I'm finding out that driving style will mess with my numbers, so until I go on vacation I am going to abandon the idea. I have a new truck and broke it in the first 1000 miles with no additives, except one tank of MMO to see if it would help with a hesitation. I'm not even doing a MD and Autorx until the first change. I got 13.76 MPG on straight gas and 12.12 MPG on the Lucas UCL tank. HOWEVER, I had roughly half freeway miles (maybe a tad more) on the straight gas trip and zero freeway miles on the UCL tank. The air temps have been pretty equal so I'd say the air conditioner wasn't a factor, always on 1. I would say the gas milage is better with Lucas UCL but how much is a ---- shoot because of the uneven miles. It's a Chevy v8 and it's rated 16 mpg city and 20 highway, so much for that! Anyhow the 4 MPG difference in a little more than half a tank would have been aprx 2.5 MPG, so if I was to guestimate the UCL got 1 MPG better than straight gas. I wont bother putting up a percentage because it's a guess.

The more interesting thing was how my engine seamed to like it. I had that hesitation in the motor from day one and no freaking idea why, it's brand new! Usually when it was cold I'd hit the gas and it would damm near stall. My lucas UCL fill completely corrected this and the engine sounded as if it had 20 more horses. The throddle was deeper and clearly the engine was operating with less friction somewhere, and the hesiatation is COMPLETELY gone. At 20 bucks a gallon I think I'm sticking with UCL in every tank, and probably going to not get the MMO anymore. The UCL was noticably better in this vehicle than MMO, which didn't tough my hesitation, and weirdly didn't run near as smooth as UCL.

This was the first time I was able to test this stuff on a new car, and the results were eye opening for me. I had used UCL and MMO a lot on older cars and I always thought MMO was a little more soothing, but on this new engine the UCL was better hands down, and we all know that MMO has no cleaning capabilties. So for what it's worth, two hands up on Lucas UCL, if I get a chance I'll do so more testing and repost it here. Eventhough MMO is cheaper, Lucas is a pretty good deal at 20 bucks a gallon. 5.25 ounce treament-You get over 24 treatments in a gallon, way less than a dollar a treatment, not bad for these results.

 

[Hammer]

Instead of band aiding your hesitation problem by using UCL...take it to the dealer's service department and have it fixed under warranty. Isn't that why people buy NEW vehicles...for the warranty? I'd rather hear your impressions about the UCL on a properly running truck.

Hammer

 

[Shelby]

Well it's properly running now

. If it happens again I will take it to the dealer, but you have a good point, maybe I should do a straight gas tank and see if the hesitation comes back. Anyhow, I'm sure that nothing I've said hasn't been said before on UCL, but it felt good to see tangible results.

 

[Shelby]

Funny thing, the hesitation came back with this tank absent UCL, or at least severly diluted. The characteristics of it are that it only happens on the warm up start off on a cold motor without UCL. I don't think I am going to waste my time taking it in for that, Chevy is famous for saying "that's normal". The engine is noticably more sluggish, am going to add UCL and that's that. I found something that's works for me and is pretty cheap. I may post my milage up if they findings are drastic either way. I think I'm going to try a double dose and see what it does for milage. I don't think 10 ounces of UCL versus 25 gallons of gas is going to be detrimental, famous last words?

 

[mfisher1967]

I have something to share here. My new 2007 Civic LX seems to have a really "tight" engine. The odometer was at 3 miles when I drove off the lot, so I know it did not see any test drives before me. It only has ~1500 miles so far in about 4 months of driving. In stop and go traffic it seems to really be sluggish. This does not seem to be an issue on the highway. I am using Shell V-Power, so I know that fuel quality is not an issue. Anyway, I added a one-shot of Lucas UCL and the engine already feels much smoother. There is less hesitation and the engine is more responsive. It is too early to tell if this will last, but I will update this thread periodically. So far I feel that Lucas UCL is a good product.

 

[Shelby]

Thanks for sharing, I'll update from time to time too. I lied I didn't double dose it (too lazy to measure out the second dose) but I may end up doing it on a milage test when I go on Vaca, but I did drop in 5 ounces and again the hesitation is gone and again the engine is humming. Those Lucas guys are on to something. I wouldn't mind seeing a self measure bottle with lucas like FP has, but I guess with the gallon size I would be out of luck anyhow.

 

[mfisher1967]

I continue to be impressed by Lucas UCL. Over the past few days my engine runs smoother and is more responsive. I think that using UCL in a new car helps compensate for the tight engine clearances during break-in. I will post any changes in mpg within a week or so. Based on what I am seeing so far I recommend this product.

 

[Dominic]

I had 0% difference in economy in my previous camaro. I ran a test for 15,000 miles on hwy and cty tanks with no noticeable difference at any dose rate. I quit running it.

 

[Shelby]

I'm up to 13.85 MPG this trip and it was mostly city, I had one ten mile trip on freeway. This tank was one 5.25 ounce shot of UCL. It's at least clear I am getting better milage with UCL, but I'm still miffed that my actual MPG is so much lower than the factory predicted MPG. I'm going to add MMO this tank, not really expecting any gains but I have nothing to lose. Adding 5.25 MMO and 5.25 UCL and we'll see. I'm seriously going to change gas stations next time to see if I can get better MPG with something different than Chevron.

 

[mfisher1967]

Some of my friends claim that Shell V-Power gives them better mpg than Chevron. I have used both and did not see an increase in mpg when using V-Power. I still use V-Power, but only because of the detergents in the additive package.

 

[Rodbuckler]

I have found that the Lucas UCL and other lubricative gas additives improve cold start and low-end performance if the rings have a looser fit. You might try an engine oil with a thicker base stock to see if you get sharper engine performance off idle. I have also found that the UCL mixed at about 1:800 with the gas is best in all respects.

 

[bmwtechguy]

With your 1:800 ratio, my figures indicate that 1.6 oz. of UCL per 10 gallons of fuel is what you are recommending. At that lower dose, I have not been able to tell any difference in how the engine runs. Lucas recommends 2-3 oz.of their UCL per 10 gallons of fuel. What UCL are you using at this ratio? I have been using 3 oz. per 10 gal. for optimal results. I see where some guys are using ashless outboard oil at about a 1:500 mix. I may try that sometime as I have a lot of TCW3 oil to get use up before it goes bad. I really like a 1:400 or 1:500 mix for UCL in my older, high mileage engines. Spark plugs have stayed clean, too, if that means anything.

 

[Rodbuckler]

I use the Lucas UCL at 1:800 because it is the leanest mixture that gives me the smooth feel, quiet injectors and fuel pump, and clean intake on my carbed engine. I get hesitation at 1:650 or richer, and sluggishness at 1:500 or richer.

For TCW-III outboard lubricant, I have found that 1:650 is about right. I have lots of outboard oil, but prefer the Lucas in the gas of my 4-strokes. I try everything at all ratios, so I might change my mind at a later date. Use what works for you. That is what is important.

 

[Durango]

mfisher1967,

I only use these fuels because of there cleaning formulas internally. Until fuel gets much lower I use Arco and every other month toss in a bottle of "Techron" for both of my car/truck. Currently Shell gasoline is equivelant to all the others so I might try a tank to see. Before Shell is just to high in price for me to afford. Millionairs gas to me. Mo power to you though.

Durango

 

[mfisher1967]

I initially decided to try V-Power because I thought my local Chevron station was selling a lower octane grade as 93 octane. I then asked some of the Chemical Engineers at the refinery where I work about the various brands of gasoline. That's when I found out that buying gasoline at Brand "X" does not necessarily mean that a refinery owned and operated by Brand "X" made the gas I was buying. I also found out that many companies buy Techron to treat their gasoline. Chevron just forbids those companies from advertising that they treat their gas with it. Shell is one company that I have been told by a very reliable source treats their gas with Techron, but I cannot confirm that this is the case with V-Power or the other new formulations being offered by Shell.

I mainly buy Shell V-Power because I only live ~10 miles from the Houston Ship Channel, which is where Shell operates their massive Deer Park Chemical and Refining Complex. I figure that there is a fairly decent chance that I am getting "true" Shell gasoline when I fill up at my local Shell gas station for this reason accordingly. The refinery that I work at also sells some of our 93 octane gasoline to Motiva, which is operated by Shell. In a sense I am supporting my refinery to some degree when I buy Shell gasoline due to this fact. Anyway, I do not claim that any one brand of gas is magic "foo-foo" juice, but I do like all of the extra additives Shell uses in their 93 octane V-Power. They advertise that V-Power contains 5X the federally required level of detergent additives. Until I hear another gasoline retailer make that claim I intend to use V-Power!

 

[Shelby]

I'm not sure what's going on but this tank was 14.90 mpg with a shot of UCL. This is the best yet milage, and my driving has been very similar to trips before. I wonder if maybe the engine breaking in or the UCL helping the engine breaking in has something to do with it. Absent this as an excuse, I'm definetly getting better milage with UCL. All gas was from the same Chevron station.

 

[Steve S]

You have a new truck? The increase in mpg is from the engine etc. breaking in ,sorry.

 

[Shelby]

I thought it was broken in before I started, but I guess maybe not? Interesting to note that my MPG's went up soon as I started using UCL. I think if it is a "break in" thing then there is no doubt that adding UCL is helping break it in! I will run a couple more tanks of UCL and note the milage, and then run it way down to empty and try a straight gas tank and see if the milage goes down or stays up. For now I will concede it's likely a break in thing.

 

[Steve S]

Takes more or less 5,000 miles when a big difference is noticed .

 

[Shelby]

Thanks Steve that is good info, and that is second time I've heard something similar. Just to be sure I will try a straight gas tank when I get a chance, if the milage goes down that tank it will make this more interesting. But we'll cross that bridge if and when it happens.