I am looking for any information on whether adding fuel additives will improve engine performance on my Prius. Just curious, and if what product is recommended.
I'd say for your Prius, no fuel "performance" additive will be effective. Octane boost seems unnecessary. There has been a debate that a bottle of Chevron Techron can be a cleaning benefit - Add, drive to empty fuel tank, do oil change. Best advise from me, stay with name brand/ top tier fuels. FWIW There are many U-Tube videos on additives to decarbonize the piston tops, but those products will be a decision for you, Me? I don't "see" a substantial benefit to these and would just do the Techron technique above. Good luck with your research. PS Performance I am defining as horsepower, not fuel economy. If fuel economy, clean air filters and brake pad alignment (blue printing, greased pins, smooth operation) would be my focus.
Thanks for your feedback. It is more about curiosity, I just wondering why premium gasoline has more additives than regular gas.
They just want more of your money, and they'll tell you whatever you want to hear to get it. The honest ones will put in $0.003 worth of additives and turn around and tell you that it is worth an extra $0.90 per gallon. Common additive packages will include some nice detergents and stuff... it's a net positive for the car, but it won't unlock any special performance. The best it can do is help stave off the loss of normal performance due to build-up of contaminants. Most USA gasoline is already very, very clean, so there's less need for this than there was even 25 years ago.
No. You can add a bottle of Marvel Mystery Oil every few thousand miles to help keep the injectors cleaned out. And as long as you get the better fuel keep the tank 1/2 to full you shouldn't have to worry about water in the fuel.
Your reference to Back to the Future and your sarcasm is duely noted. Although their is no such thing as a truly stupid question, there is a case to be made for a stupid answer. If you don't have an intelligent reply please don't waste mine and your time on a response.
In a lot of cases, it doesn't. But they want you to spend more money on the "premium" whether you need it or not because there is a bigger profit margin. As for your original question: NOTHING needs to be added if it is running OK now.
Here we go AGAIN. MMO is OIL. It was not designed nor intended to clean injectors. And what exactly do you think is "the better fuel" ??? No, just stop with the BS please.
Wellll, as Dan Aykroyd from Saturday Night Live said: "There are no stupid questions, just stupid people asking questions".
Wasn't insinuating your question was stupid at all matter of fact nothing wrong with it I just don't think there's anything that'll really do much good these Prius regurgitate their own puke worse than a bird so maybe every so often running some high test through it and driving the piss out of it I just don't know. Things like techron and stuff like that is expensive I don't know that we get a lot of benefit from that with these cars. Seems to me getting some air to flow across the head as in step on the gas might be one of the best things but who knows.
But does it? "Since 1995, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has required a minimum level of deposit control additives in gasoline. However, eight major automakers felt the EPA didn’t go far enough to keep engines running cleanly. In 2004, they released a TOP TIER (TM) gasoline standard that provides superior deposit control by requiring more and better additives. TOP TIER certification also mandates that the enhanced additives be used in all grades of fuel marketed by a company, and that those fuels be sold at all of the company’s retail locations in the U.S. and Canada." - Don't Confuse Gasoline Octane And Quality | AAA Automotive If only using non top tier brands, adding a bottle of some type of cleaning additive once a year or so might help. It won't hurt. https://www.toptiergas.com/
It is perhaps worth pointing out that some of the cost difference between 87AKI and ≥91AKI fuel is different petroleum feedstock going into the blend. Stronger anti-knock properties, delineated by the Anti-Knock Index require slightly more precious fractions taken from the crude into the final blend. The actual stuff is rarer and therefore costs more. Then on top of that, the retail gasoline industry has figured out that after decades of calling it "premium," some people think it has other qualities that make it better than other gasolines... so they pad in more profits, just because. Now, some cars have high-compression engines with touchy timing and they legitimately, absolutely require ≥91AKI fuel to prevent detonation damage. No Prius ever left the factory with such an engine. They all give maximum power on 87, with nothing more to be wrung from a higher AKI fuel. Additives? That's a whole other story. Some brands use a little, others use more. None are spending much to add it. Nowhere near the cost delta between regular and premium.
