Can Premium Fuel REDUCE Engine WEAR?

Posted by ExtremeComplex@reddit | askcarguys | View on Reddit | 22 comments

According to this video, there's actually a fuel that can significantly reduce your engine wear compared to other fuels. Anybody have thoughts on this. Also, is there some kind of additive you can put in your fuel for a lot cheaper price?

The Motor Oil Geek

Which one is more important to the health of your engine - the quality of your motor oil or the quality of your fuel? Let's see what the research and engine testing says... In this video we highlight the findings from research studies from Southwest Research in the US and AC2T in Austria. These leading Tribology test labs have published some amazing findings that might make you rethink brand loyalties. In both research studies, special engines were used to test the affects of fuel chemistry on engine wear. That's right, engine wear! The choice of fuel impacts engine wear, and the results shown in this video prove it out using proper analytical tools such as: Radiation Tracers: Learn how cutting-edge technology uses radiation for identifying engine wear patterns. Scanning Electron Microscopes: Discover the microscopic level of detail we go into to analyze wear and tear. Used Oil Analysis: See the hard data from our detailed analysis, highlighting the importance of fuel quality. This unique combination of scientific tools and methods provides irrefutable evidence that fuel quality plays a pivotal role in engine longevity., which correlates to our real world experience with used oil analysis results.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAmEGI7xvBw

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AwarenessGreat282@reddit

Sure, if you plan on keeping your vehicle until it hits 1 million miles. Otherwise, just burn decent gas like Top-Tier, conduct regular maintenance, and change your oil on time. Everyone that you see online with the million-mile Toyotas or Chevy trucks don't do anything special, just regular maintenance.

NeyeKon@reddit

How do I know what’s top tier?

Lucky_Goal1443@reddit

Google top tier rated gas stations! Shell & ExxonMobil are 2 best from my research.

Top Tier is an actual standard that is commonly listed in owner's manuals now. As stated, look for their logo on the pump. And/or search their website.

Top-tier

ablinddingo93@reddit

There’s typically a green and white sticker on the pump that says “Top Tier”

Ford actually has the most 1mil mi trucks followed closely by Chevy. Facts.

Leucippus1@reddit

Obviously, yes. Think about it, you are exploding a fuel air mixture thousands of times a minute, the mere act of doing that with any kind of fuel is going to cause some level of wear. The question is, does it matter? Mostly, it doesn't. The most common issues that turn engines into doorstops deal with under-lubrication on systems that never touch any fuel. Bearings and timing belts/chains. Those will fail far faster than the corrosion or damage done by impurities in fuel.

This is a prescient topic in the aviation community because they run 100LL (in no way is it actually low lead, it has 4x more lead than the leaded automotive equivalent) and changing to UL requires recertification. They finally did that with the GAMI blend, the FAA issued a blanket STC to cover most engines that typically run 100LL to run GAMI UL. The question was with valve seating, though, not with excessive wear. Those engines are run at 99% of redline for hours on end so they are going to wear regardless, and you typically do have to resleeve cylinder walls (cylinders are considered practically disposable in turbo'd continentals) on those motors. Using better fuel isn't going to change that.

hillbillytech@reddit

Use what is recomeded by the manufacturer,

allnamestaken4892@reddit

High octane fuel might detonate less, I suppose. Modern cars do run on a knife edge with their knock sensors and it’s conceivable that a high octane fuel might allow best torque to be achieved without so much “testing” of the knock limit.

CaptainJay313@reddit

didn't watch the video, but no, premium fuel does not decrease engine wear.

After-Chair9149@reddit

Video is talking about ‘premium brands’ aka top tier, aka choosing a Mobil station vs a Jim’s fuel stop.

so "premium" as in a higher quality brand, not "premium" vs mid-grade or regular?

still won't make a significant difference in engine wear.

dcgregoryaphone@reddit

Didn't watch the video, but I'd imagine it depends on what kind of wear we are talking about. Three very common end of life situations for engines are: rod bearing failure, timing belt failure, header damage from overheating... and none of those 3 systems even touch fuel so idk how the fuel would ever help those.

Additives can obviously help with things like injector clogging and valve gunk and piston ring grime.

RKEPhoto@reddit

Didn't watch the video

but yet I feel the need to comment on what I ASSUME it said...

LOL

I don't care about marketing hype that claims to do something impossible such as prevent overheating with a gasoline additive. "LOL"

Talentless_Cooking@reddit

Fuel additive packages as well as oil additive packages will extend the life of your car, as long as there are no defects.

MarcusAurelius0@reddit

RoyaleWCheese_OK@reddit

Fuel additives are to keep the fuel system and inlets cleaner. With more and more direct injection systems, not so much on the inlets. Has pretty much nothing to do with cylinder/bearing wear and such. That's all down to regular oil changes with quality oil.