Oil Additives to Increase MPG

• Many products make claims as to their ability to dramatically improve fuel economy and increase your vehicle's MPG. Oil additives are poured directly into the crankcase of the vehicle's engine. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) performed independent tests of two such oil additives and found the results to be inconclusive as whether or not they improved MPG significantly. Other "independent" studies claim drastic increases for other products.

Analube Synthetic Lubricant

• The EPA tested Analube Synthetic Lubricant as an oil additive to increase MPG in 1974. The results of the study showed an average increase of 3.6 percent in MPG. The tests were conducted in a 1971 Ford Galaxie 500.

Tephguard Oil Additive

• The 1980 Tephguard Oil Additive tests were conducted on a 1972 Chevrolet

  Impala 350. The test results concluded that Tephguard did not show any significant improvements to fuel economy during the limited trial.

MPG-EXTreme

• EcoChek, a eco-compliance evaluation company, performed an independent study of MPG-EXTreme on three different vehicles. The first vehicle was a 1981 Jeep CJ-7, the second a 1993 Lincoln Town Car and the third was another 1993 Lincoln Town Car. Ecochek's findings showed an immediate increase of over 13 percent in the Jeep, and 8 percent to 10 percent increases in the Town Cars. The improvement in the Town Cars' performance was noted after 1,100 miles with the additive included.