Test: Do performance products really work?

Can you really increase your car's power and economy with a full service and quality products?

To find out, we used an older family car for the test.
It's a 1992 Toyota Previa 2.4 Liter (146 Cu/in) Gasoline Engine + Automatic Transmission. With an older, used car we should be able to see any differences in performance easily.

Service experiment includes:
Flush Engine Oil with Sludge Remover
Replace Oil with Semi Synthetic 10W-40
Replace Oil Filter
Replace Spark Plugs with Platinum 4-Tipped plugs
Replace Air Filter
Remove Catalytic Converter (Warning: See on-screen notes)
Flush Cooling System & Replace Coolant
Add Fuel System Cleaner & Upper Cylinder Lubricant
Add Transmission Fluid Cleaner


*The tire pressure was kept at 36 PSI (250 kpa) throughout the test
* Only 96 Octane Fuel was used throughout the test
* The driving style was constant and we used 8 tanks of gas before our economy average was taken
* Driving conditions were a mix of 50% country, 50% city in moderately hilly terrain

Total service cost for quality brand-name/performance products: $130 USD
(Using standard products would have cost $45 USD)

So was it all worth it?

VERDICT:
While the car's economy improved by around 5%, the engine ran cooler and idled at a lower speed, there was no noticable increase in performance, engine smoothness or gearbox smoothness.

After 2 months, 8 tanks of gas, and a thousand miles of driving later, we can finally say:
Avoid "Performance" products at your next service, and use normal lubricants instead. It could save you around $90 USD at each service.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Servicing
• Test
• Remove
• Catalytic
• Converter
• Performance
• Economy
• Toyota

[FiredUpZ28]

Removing the cats innards in ALL states is a felony. Its all about if they look/test for it. But the act of removing a cat or any emissions component that has not failed (and it must be replaced) for that matter IS illegal.

[bored1980]

@FiredUpZ28 I thought that might be the case. Removing the cat is not illegal here.

[authmaax]

put new original spark plugs or V shaped

4 pole is not guaranteed better functioning of engine

[fakenphoney]

its an old van. I wish you could try it with a better car, great experiment though...

[drgnzadiel101]

you put bosch spark plugs in a toyota? use NGKs!

[hjewell2]

where in the hell do you live to get 96 octane out of the pump station

[Prank6767]

@bored1980 same here,they dont GAF

[shades2]

Love the colour of the old coolant coming out... eww. More performance would be more noticeable on a vehicle that actually has some performance.

Importantly a lot of the stuff you added, will prolong the life of the car, and maintain it's performance, not turn it into a supercar however. Regular servicing is important and running on good fuel.

As for the cat. If it was legal to remove, cut it out and replace it with a section of pipe and go sell it for scrap, it should be worth some $.

[TheForza1000]

@FiredUpZ28 ; Cats are not the savious there were thought to be, they strangle the engines performance and thefore cause higher fuel consumption, hardly green is it.

[rholding06]

i hope you realize that your stock engine run the best on 87 octane, your losing power and fuel economy by running 97 oct in a stoke engine.

[Benji19922]

unfortunately these results differ from car to car depending on engine sizem how old it is, wot condition it is and a few other factors...

[daveahod]

Yeah but was the saving over 10,000miles? Is it worth buying the more expensive oils/plugs and additives just because they say they are better and your car will die quicker not using them! I dont think so