DO ADDITIVES MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
‘Snake oil’ springs to mind whenever I hear about fuel or oil additives. So this month, to see whether there’s any truth to the claimed benefits, we’re putting some of Liqui-Moly’s finest enhancers to the test.
Acouple of months ago, we tested high octane fuel against lower grade supermarket stuff and found absolutely no difference in power on the dyno. So what are the chances that splashing a few millilitres of additive into your tank of petrol will unleash extra horses to rage forth from the engine? There was only one way to find out…
Special treats
Liqui-Moly aren’t a household name in the UK, but they are back home in Germany and as official sponsors and sole oil suppliers to Moto3 it seems unlikely that they’d make false claims about their products. And as Carl found out last month, they certainly seem to know what they’re talking about when it comes to oil.
UK importers for Liqui-Moly, Bike-It, supplied us with a range of additives to throw at an old VFR800 in a bid to breathe dwindled performance back into the hammered old war horse. On the cards was an oil change, followed by a shot of fuel system cleaner and power-boosting additive; treatment we were told would enhance the heavily-used, early generation injected bike’s fuelling system and motor. While we were at it, the old girl was also treated to a cooling system flush. Not that we thought it would make much of a power difference, but the ageing bike was running 10°C hotter than it should’ve been – which ain’t that good when you’re looking for ponies.
Royal flush
First off, 250ml of radiator cleaner was added to the VFR’s cooling system and the bike was run for half an hour before draining all the coolant out. Then after a couple of clean water flushes, the system was filled with Liqui-Moly coolant, checked for leaks and the bike was ready for posting a baseline power figure on the dyno. Judging by the lumps of scale and crap that came out after using the radiator flush, I would say it was a worthwhile exercise.
At 110bhp, this VFR is clearly not standard; the Motad downpipes, Remus end-can, Power Commander and K&N haven’t hurt this 19-year-old, 40,000 mile V4’s performance. The bike’s fuelling was also surprisingly good. Showing little deviation from when the bike’s PC3 was set up six years ago. Happy days, and so with a baseline established, we added 250ml of engine flush, ran the bike for 30 minutes, then drained the engine’s oil. Without any real way of comparing how dirty the drained oil would have been without the flush additive, it’s hard to say how effective the engine flush is. However, the oil looked pretty black considering it was only 2500 miles old.
Just like the radiator flush, dirty fluids are best off at the recycling centre, not inside your bike. With a new filter and
topped up with Liqui-Moly Synthetic 5W-40 Street-Race oil, the VFR was ready for another hammering on the dyno. Despite the heat in the dyno cell, the VFR managed an all-time record of 111.2bhp. Obviously a 1% change is too close to call, dyno testing just isn’t that accurate. But we didn’t really expect an oil change to make a big difference.
The bike and dyno cell were given a few minutes to cool down before an 80ml ‘Shooter’ of 4T Fuel System Cleaner was poured into the VFR’s half-full tank. This gave us the correct ratio for the cleaner to hopefully clean any deposits from the bike’s injectors over the next hundred miles or so as this fuel was used up. I can’t say that burning through 10 litres of fuel on a dyno was the most exciting two hours I’ve had, but it was all for a good cause. The VFR’s power only topped 111.8bhp but drive from 2,000-3,000rpm was noticeably smoother. With the fuel cleaner treated and all the petrol used up, the VFR was ready for another fresh tank of Asda’s finest unleaded.
The cherry on top
Before we tipped in the grandfinale Motorbike Speed Additive, the bike was run again, just to make sure both it and the fuel were all okay. Far from tiring of a full day on the dyno, the bike posted a consistent 111.8bhp. Liqui-Moly’s 150ml can of Speed Additive is good for 20 litres of fuel, pretty much the capacity of the Honda’s tank, so we flung the whole can in and fired up the dyno once more.
I’ll admit to being surprised by the results: The VFR posted a record 113.4bhp. Not bad at all considering the heat, the bike’s age and the fact VFR800s only make about 98bhp standard. The Speed Additive had lived up to its promise, and the rest of the additives had also worked their magic. We’d started the day with 110bhp and after the oil flush/ change, fuel cleaner and speed additive we ended it with 113.2bhp. More or less, a 3% increase. 3% is above the deviation I’d expect to see from the dyno between runs on the same bike on the same day. So I’ve got to say we logged a genuine, although modest, power increase from the VFR.
About 2% of that increase was thanks to the Speed Additive, however it is possible that the injection system cleaner was still doing its thing during the final runs. Although the fuel system cleaner didn’t show a significant power increase, drive from very low rpm was markedly improved. A very strong indication that the injectors had enjoyed some cleaning and were atomising better. A small increase came after the oil flush and change. The bike didn’t really need an oil change and the old oil was in fact already a good quality 5W-40 fully synthetic. Realistically, 1% is below the repeatability of a chassis dyno, but I’d rather be up by 1% than down…
On the road, the VFR did feel smoother; the bike’s poor low rpm fuelling and snatchy throttle response, typical of these early generation injected Hondas was distinctly improved. Apart from improvements in the fuel department, it was business as usual on the road. Gear selection and engine noise/note seemed identical to the ride in the morning as was engine vibration. As far as feeling any faster, a 3% change is roughly half the minimum change most riders can detect. Besides, it’s torque that you can feel from the engine and that only increased by 0.5% during the test.