A brief update on how I'm getting on with the Millers additive in my Touran after about 1700 miles running exclusively on this plus Tesco or Asda diesel for those who are interested - apologies for the non-A2 content but I feel it's worth sharing my impressions given the Touran is a 2016 model year SCR / Adblue system equipped Euro 6 diesel, therefore theoretically it should not show any benefit at all, especially compared with an older tech diesel like the A2.
A reminder of the marketing claims made by Millers Oils:
• Enhanced detergency package and lubricity enhancers provide a quicker clean up, prolonged injector cleanliness, fuel system component wear protection and corrosion control.
• Increases cetane rating of diesel by 4 numbers providing a tangible improvement in vehicle performance. Engine smoothness, noise reduction and fuel savings confirmed by users.
• Improved combustion and engine cleanliness drastically reduce emissions of hydrocarbons (HC) and carbon dioxide.
• Improved throttle and engine response at lower revs designed to offer the best of both power and economy.
So which of these benefits have I noticed any changes in? Well in short, it definitely seems to be doing something positive - in no particular order, here are my notes:
- I may be imagining it, but the engine seems quieter at all speeds, in fact when cruising the engine is hardly audible at all - when I first got the car it was quiet and smooth but I'm pretty sure not quite to this extent - This could well be my mind playing tricks however, so let's move on:
- In the last few hundred miles especially, it definitely has improved throttle response per given amount of pedal travel when accelerating in the gears. I didn't notice this previously and I haven't started suddenly driving it quicker, so that rules out the ECU somehow learning to adapt to my driving style, if indeed that is a thing - It just seems to be more willing / responsive when cruising in a high gear and you add more throttle.
- I removed the roof box approximately 700 miles ago when the car went for an oil service (they also checked the air filter but said the one in it looked new still so didn't replace it), the combined effect of the fresh engine oil (Millers EE Nanodrive 5w/30 Longlife), fresh / lower viscosity gearbox oil (Redline MT-LV), plus the lack of roof rack and box immediately improved my fuel consumption from 42 to 46mpg - so far, as you would expect - I was even disappointed not to have seen a bigger improvement to be honest! However since then I've been topping the tank up at approximately half full and the MPG continues to climb steadily each time, to a whisker under 50 mpg now. My driving style (and the terrain / routes it has been driven on) have not really changed much - being approx 70% rural, hilly roads and 30% fast trunk routes - and the weather has been getting colder just recently, so I would have expected my fuel consumption to deteriorate a little as a result?
- I have not noticed the car doing a regen in all the time I've had it! I always have the DIS set to an instant MPG readout when I'm not checking the engine oil temperature and have been looking out for a regen, especially now that the weather is cold and the oil rarely reaches more than 85 degrees - it just simply hasn't done one yet that I have detected.
It's worth mentioning that when I first took delivery of the car the tank was near-empty, so as I had no idea what the previous owner had been fueling it with I brimmed it with Esso Synergy Supreme+, then it immediately got a fast (70-85mph) 3 hour run from Maidenhead to Honiton fully loaded with the box on, which got the oil up to 103 - 107 degrees nearly the whole way once onto M3 and then the A303, only slowing to 65 mph on the single lane sections. This treatment would have passively regen'd it nicely. After this run I've been driving at my usual speed of 70-75mph and started the new fuel regime once this tank had run out (roughly 550 miles): With this in mind, the fact that I think I am noticing a subtle improvement in the car's running on supermarket fuel + millers after this initial tankful of premium diesel is interesting, although it has taken several tankfuls since then for these effects to be noticed; which tallies with the reviews I've seen from those who tried running premium diesel or Millers for just one or two tankfuls and have noticed no difference at all: The effects only come (if they do at all) once you’ve been running these for a while.
Regarding fuel consumption benefits, as per my previous posts, I've never set out to use this additive with MPG improvements in mind, I did not expect any benefit here but I cannot attribute the improving fuel consumption despite the colder weather to anything else. It may drop back slightly with the next tankful as I'm still running on summer diesel, whereas the Tesco I use will now be stocking winter blend diesel - It'll be interesting whether this proves the case.
Overall, I'm sufficiently impressed to keep on using it at the recommended dosage to keep things nice and clean, with the other benefits noted being an unexpected pleasant surprise. I will update again before the weather starts to warm up early next year, we are due to do at least two return trips back to Maidenhead to visit my parents over the Xmas break.
Back to the A2: I know Merlin has a third of a tank of fuel which
@YorkshireHill can hopefully confirm of what brand - assuming it's standard branded or supermarket fuel, it'll be interesting to see what kind of difference (if any) I notice when running Tesco + Millers once that has been used up.
Thoughts / critique / questions welcome.
EDIT: To counter the problem of a few drops of the stuff dribbling down the neck of the bottle when I dispense it and getting on my hands if I run out of gloves / generally stinking me and the car out, I've bought these to decant it into, I'll carry a couple of these in the car once I've found a solid case to keep them in, which will then go inside the oil top-up bag in the boot - which should finally solve the issue:
Squeezable plastic machine oilers with graduated scale & metal cap on Amazon.
Each one holds 120ml, or about two tankfuls worth of Millers (the A2 takes about 50ml, the Touran 60ml, so I'll just fill these accordingly every couple of months from my stash of Millers bottles and carry these around instead - Hopefully job jobbed!