I have recently noticed about a 10-20% drop in fuel consumption on my 206 1.6 petrol. I fear it was because I got caught out on low fuel and in an area I didn't know and drove the car for about 20 miles on 'vapour', subsequently possibly dragging lots of sh1t from the fuel tank (although isn't that what the fuel filter is supposed to stop?).

I've put some Redex in the tank and filled it right up. Don't know if it's placebo but the car feels a little more lively, and I'm hoping that a couple of tank-full treatments might help the economy.

Am I just imagining it or has anyone had positive experience with this stuff?

Thanks.

yes my old cars always seemed smoother and I did get better fuel consumption

Thanks sd, my car is now 10yrs old. Was doing apx 40mpg which was great, but has dropped loads. Fingers crossed it may do the job. I've also found somewhere that is selling a 250ml bottle (2x treatments) for 90p – Halfrauds are charging £4.99 for the same size.

Multiple tests I've seen by motoring magazines/shows all seemed to conclusively prove it was all a waste of money.

…well at 45p per treatment I'm not too concerned about the money 😉

I'm going to run a couple of treatments and note the mileage, see if it makes any difference. I'm sure I read somewhere that it's just parafin so I would be loathed to pay the £4.99 it's meant to be per bottle!

The Redex of old contained all sorts of nasty stuff which was great for burning all the carbon out yer motor.

I used to stick it in the car/motorcycle drive around until it was warm and then rag it – clouds of black smoke and then clear. Job done.

Unfortunately the stuff you buy now isn't the same. However, on a high powered engine I have noticed a difference.

Also, remember that with the colder weather you will get less mpg due to the choke being on longer, the engine taking longer to warm up. It will be quite a difference on the short joureys especially.

If you think the car may have sucked up all the possible crud from the bottom of the fuel tank perhaps you could change the filter. If you think the filter may be blocked change it.

If fuel consumption has dropped loads recently I would suggest there is a problem somewhere else. You may have picked up an air leak on the induction system after the air flow/air mass sensor thus leaning the air/fuel mixture off substantially. This will be noticed by the lambda sensor in the exhaust system and will compensate by richening the mixture therfore meaning poorer fuel economy.

That's just one potential cause, there could be many others.

When was the last service? Could be you need to change fuel filter, air filter and spark plugs? These make big difference to mpg.