I put Z-Max in the same category as MMO, except Z-Max is much more expensive. It won't hurt anything, but your engine and fuel don't need it.
yes or no to the almighty z max
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I saw a commercial with Carroll Shelby endorsing it..........I just lost some respect for him.....sell out.
The very sad part of ZeeMax is that the claimed that they "soak" into the metal literally turns me off.
Why? oh Why? does infomercials would treat every avg joe like a total idiot/full and assume that my scientific mindset would "soak" that infomercial in w/o scrutinising it further?
Oh well, only da ill-educated, non-scientific fool (and of course, there shall be some curious joes who just have too much time and money in their hands that would fall for that too) fall for that.
Q.
Why? oh Why? does infomercials would treat every avg joe like a total idiot/full and assume that my scientific mindset would "soak" that infomercial in w/o scrutinising it further?
Oh well, only da ill-educated, non-scientific fool (and of course, there shall be some curious joes who just have too much time and money in their hands that would fall for that too) fall for that.
Q.
I should have added in my earlier post that one of the guys that used it said his OBC showed the mileage increase from 15.7 to 16.9 about 1 month into using it if I recall correctly. Alot of variables go into MPG, he claims his consistently showed 15.5 - 15.7 prior to ZMax. Again, I am not saying it is good stuff and I am definitely not saying it is worth $40 bucks, just passing on info.
Originally Posted By: oilboy123
I saw a commercial with Carroll Shelby endorsing it..........I just lost some respect for him.....sell out.
trust me, the majority of the mustang community lost respect for that sell out long ago.
I saw a commercial with Carroll Shelby endorsing it..........I just lost some respect for him.....sell out.
trust me, the majority of the mustang community lost respect for that sell out long ago.
I just saw a commercial wherein Shelby claims he's been an UNPAID Z-Max spokesman for 35 years. I wonder what his relationship with Z-Max really is?
As far as respect, Shelby lost it back in 1989-1990 when he announced "finding" new, original, never completed CSX3000 427 Cobra chassis in his Goodyear Racing Tire warehouse. He planned to complete them as 1965 models, and actually sold one or two for $500,000.
The L.A. Times published an article in which famous Cobra restorer Mike McCluskey said Shelby contracted him to build the chassis inn his Torrance, CA shop.
AC Cars sued over Shelby's claim as they never sold bare chassis to Shelby, only completed cars without engines and transmissions. AC Cars also pointed out that every single CSX3000 was accounted for and that whatever Shelby claimed to have in in warehouse wasn't ordered from or built by AC Cars. Shelby evidently signed affidavits telling the California DMV he had lost the original titles to the 1965 chassis and applied for duplicates. Kind of hard to do when the chassis were built over thirty years later.
As far as respect, Shelby lost it back in 1989-1990 when he announced "finding" new, original, never completed CSX3000 427 Cobra chassis in his Goodyear Racing Tire warehouse. He planned to complete them as 1965 models, and actually sold one or two for $500,000.
The L.A. Times published an article in which famous Cobra restorer Mike McCluskey said Shelby contracted him to build the chassis inn his Torrance, CA shop.
AC Cars sued over Shelby's claim as they never sold bare chassis to Shelby, only completed cars without engines and transmissions. AC Cars also pointed out that every single CSX3000 was accounted for and that whatever Shelby claimed to have in in warehouse wasn't ordered from or built by AC Cars. Shelby evidently signed affidavits telling the California DMV he had lost the original titles to the 1965 chassis and applied for duplicates. Kind of hard to do when the chassis were built over thirty years later.
I say it works. It did in one vehicle I had. It didn't work in the other vehicles I own and since I haven't had that car in years, I haven't bought any for a long time. Check out what I wrote here: Zmax discussion on DieselBombers
Only other thing I would like to add: From memory they guarantee you will get a 10% increase in mileage. If that is the correct number then I got a 16 to 18% increase in our '84 Grand Marquis. At that time it cost about $35 to get a 'kit' of Zmax delivered. I did the math then and if it saved you 10% then you would save around $45 during the 5,k miles or what ever they say it lasts. I also found the mileage on that car would stay up above a 10% increase for almost 10,k miles. So just based on that, it would more than pay for itself to use it. If you read what I said in the above link, it also took care of a drive ability problem the car had experienced for years. That has to be worth something too. In fact, after all these years of not using it, the lawsuit against them (From which I got something like a $2 check!! Woot!) I now have a ricer that is having a similar driving problem that I can't figure out and I'm considering buying it again to try it. I don't expect it to increase my mileage above what I used to get but it would be nice to get it back to what it was.
My take on Zmax is that it does a good job cleaning. It also might make up for using petroleum oils. I don't know, but on my other vehicles, it didn't make any difference in how it ran or in the mileage. I think in one of them it was because it already had full AmsOil synthetics in it. The others were old pickups that I don't think would ever get better than the really poor mileage that they get no matter what you do to them. It is hard to say. I'm pretty sure back then I was using Chevron Supreme oil and I don't think you should see a measurable mileage difference by switching to a synthetic oil. Maybe Zmax cleaned enough to get that old car running like it could again. I don't know. I do know after about 10,k miles the mileage would go down and soon after the driving / running problem would return until I re-treated with Zmax again.
How does one tell that the oil and fuel versions of Zmax is the same?
Only other thing I would like to add: From memory they guarantee you will get a 10% increase in mileage. If that is the correct number then I got a 16 to 18% increase in our '84 Grand Marquis. At that time it cost about $35 to get a 'kit' of Zmax delivered. I did the math then and if it saved you 10% then you would save around $45 during the 5,k miles or what ever they say it lasts. I also found the mileage on that car would stay up above a 10% increase for almost 10,k miles. So just based on that, it would more than pay for itself to use it. If you read what I said in the above link, it also took care of a drive ability problem the car had experienced for years. That has to be worth something too. In fact, after all these years of not using it, the lawsuit against them (From which I got something like a $2 check!! Woot!) I now have a ricer that is having a similar driving problem that I can't figure out and I'm considering buying it again to try it. I don't expect it to increase my mileage above what I used to get but it would be nice to get it back to what it was.
My take on Zmax is that it does a good job cleaning. It also might make up for using petroleum oils. I don't know, but on my other vehicles, it didn't make any difference in how it ran or in the mileage. I think in one of them it was because it already had full AmsOil synthetics in it. The others were old pickups that I don't think would ever get better than the really poor mileage that they get no matter what you do to them. It is hard to say. I'm pretty sure back then I was using Chevron Supreme oil and I don't think you should see a measurable mileage difference by switching to a synthetic oil. Maybe Zmax cleaned enough to get that old car running like it could again. I don't know. I do know after about 10,k miles the mileage would go down and soon after the driving / running problem would return until I re-treated with Zmax again.
How does one tell that the oil and fuel versions of Zmax is the same?
I remember years back the FCC took the Z-MAX brand to court siting the claims to be too far fetched and the court won.
Afterwards I heard only the Z-MAX can continue to sell to consumers but they have to remove some of the claims on the box.
Personally I'd try it if Z-MAX gave me a years supply to try and see for myself instead of seeing a commercial.
My Chrysler dealership has and uses it in older higher mileage cars/trucks if the customer wants it. The service manager says it does work BUT up to a certain point.
Durango
Afterwards I heard only the Z-MAX can continue to sell to consumers but they have to remove some of the claims on the box.
Personally I'd try it if Z-MAX gave me a years supply to try and see for myself instead of seeing a commercial.
My Chrysler dealership has and uses it in older higher mileage cars/trucks if the customer wants it. The service manager says it does work BUT up to a certain point.
Durango
The Zmax folks got thier asses kicked by the FTC, and ended up signing a consent decree to quit telling lies about the product (e.g that works, does anything beneficial or is anything other than mineral oil)
Quote:
13. The CRC L38 test protocol, referenced in zMax advertisements, including, but not limited to, Exhibits 1 through 4, is a laboratory engine test protocol that has been accepted as an automotive industry standard only for purposes of measuring the bearing corrosion performance of motor oils. In February/March 1997, an independent laboratory performed two modified CRC L38 tests on behalf of Defendants -- one test on motor oil alone and the other on the same motor oil treated with zMax. In these tests, motor oil treated with zMax produced more than twice as much bearing corrosion than the motor oil alone (185.7 milligrams of bearing weight loss for the treated oil versus 74.1 milligrams for the untreated oil).
14. zMax advertisements, including, but not limited to Exhibits 1 through 4, falsely portray the two CRC L38 test reports as a single report prepared by an independent testing laboratory. Defendants have created a fabricated independent testing laboratory “report” (which has a cover sheet from the testing laboratory and bears its letterhead on every written page) that edits out the bearing corrosion results and all other data that show a detriment from the use of zMax in the treated versus untreated motor oil CRC L38 tests. This fabricated report is shown in the infomercial, and the “official laboratory results” -- similarly edited to remove data showing a detriment from the use of zMax -- are reproduced on the zMax website.
Original FTC Complaint
http://www.ftc.gov/os/caselist/0023256/010201comp0023256.pdf
Stipulation agreement to quit telling lies about the product.
http://www.ftc.gov/os/caselist/0023256/030321stip0023256.pdf
Quote:
13. The CRC L38 test protocol, referenced in zMax advertisements, including, but not limited to, Exhibits 1 through 4, is a laboratory engine test protocol that has been accepted as an automotive industry standard only for purposes of measuring the bearing corrosion performance of motor oils. In February/March 1997, an independent laboratory performed two modified CRC L38 tests on behalf of Defendants -- one test on motor oil alone and the other on the same motor oil treated with zMax. In these tests, motor oil treated with zMax produced more than twice as much bearing corrosion than the motor oil alone (185.7 milligrams of bearing weight loss for the treated oil versus 74.1 milligrams for the untreated oil).
14. zMax advertisements, including, but not limited to Exhibits 1 through 4, falsely portray the two CRC L38 test reports as a single report prepared by an independent testing laboratory. Defendants have created a fabricated independent testing laboratory “report” (which has a cover sheet from the testing laboratory and bears its letterhead on every written page) that edits out the bearing corrosion results and all other data that show a detriment from the use of zMax in the treated versus untreated motor oil CRC L38 tests. This fabricated report is shown in the infomercial, and the “official laboratory results” -- similarly edited to remove data showing a detriment from the use of zMax -- are reproduced on the zMax website.
Original FTC Complaint
http://www.ftc.gov/os/caselist/0023256/010201comp0023256.pdf
Stipulation agreement to quit telling lies about the product.
http://www.ftc.gov/os/caselist/0023256/030321stip0023256.pdf
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