Exxon Synergy Diesel Efficient, marketing from Exxon?

tikal

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I saw this at a nearby fuel station recently. Marketing gimmick from Exxon or is there a substance to this?

"Vehicle testing showed an average fuel economy improvement of 2 percent."



 

Jetta_Pilot

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If the gain is REAL then I would assume there would be long lineups of 18 wheelers since any small gain is attractive to them !! Hence the big spoilers on the cab or built in on the sleeper cab as well as the skirts on the trailer.



Having said that, you can print anything you want.
 

251

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If the gain is REAL then I would assume there would be long lineups of 18 wheelers since any small gain is attractive to them.
Except the fact is pretty much all Exxon stations are geared towards smaller vehicles (car, SUV, light pickup) which is who they direct their marketing towards. I just used an Exxon on Long Island recently - only had one diesel pump well off to the side and is a bit of a chore to get a big rig in/out of there. Was an older pump without any of the marketing hype the OP saw at his station. I refueled there because it was $2.99 compared to $3.15 and up seen at all other stations on Long Island.

Additives are useful for keeping the fuel system clean but not so much for improving fuel economy from what I've seen. After all, that is what they are marketing - a detergent additive. Also possible they used a lesser grade of diesel for the test as that is what the fine print alludes to: "Applies to Mobil and Exxon Diesel-Efficient branded fuel compared to diesel fuel without detergent additive."

Now if one usually uses additives then stops using same one's fuel economy goes down. One summer long ago I ran out of additive and didn't use any for a few months. (This was back when I had my old A4 Jetta with the tried and true ALH motor.) Well, my fuel economy dropped slowly. A friend gave me a new additive to try and on the first tank I gained 5 mpg! So using additive cleans the fuel system out which is where that gain came from. Of course, using additive on a regular basis one will not see the numbers improve.

So Exxon may be just including an additive in their fuel specifically branded as "Diesel-Efficient" as opposed to the car owner adding additive themselves which many of us do. So yeah, using this 'special' Exxon diesel fuel may be convenient when the weather is bad, extremely hot or cold to minimize one's time standing outside refueling / not messing with additive. :p
 

2.2TDI

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I'm guessing this is Exxons version of shell v power diesel... Which if it is, it's going to be more expensive and probably not worth it (in my opinion)
 

Ronner

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Could simply be I'm old and Cynical but I don't buy it for a minute. I call HYPE. It will increase sales regardless as some will buy into it. My car runs fine without additives so for me it's the old "if it ain't broke don't fix it" logic at play. Why would any oil company spend a single dime on something like this (additives) when a simple marketing campaign alone will net them the results they are looking for?
 

Ol'Rattler

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Marketing. A 2% average difference in specific fuel consumption is impossible to measure in real world driving and they know this and are hoping the Placebo effect will reel in some people.
 
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tditom

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Marketing. A 2% average difference in specific fuel consumption is impossible to measure in real world driving and they know this and are hoping the Placebo effect will reel in some people.
Watch some of the testimonials from the trucking companies. They have determined that there's a real benefit.
 

tikal

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I think here is part of the 'catch':

Also possible they used a lesser grade of diesel for the test as that is what the fine print alludes to: "Applies to Mobil and Exxon Diesel-Efficient branded fuel compared to diesel fuel without detergent additive."
 

Lightflyer1

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2% of a million miles isn't the same as 2% of 10k miles. Much less noticeable in the smaller mileage example. Trucking companies that do high miles see a difference and a savings but a regular small commuter probably wouldn't even notice.
 

tikal

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Synergy Diesel Efficient fuel for passenger vehicles spotted in League City, TX

Over the weekend I was walking by this station in League City, TX and I saw this pump. I did not research any further whether it actually has or not the specified fuel type:





Price per gallon was around 7% higher than average D2 in the area.
 

Jetta_Pilot

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Over the weekend I was walking by this station in League City, TX and I saw this pump. I did not research any further whether it actually has or not the specified fuel type:


Price per gallon was around 7% higher than average D2 in the area.
OK that answers they question on my mind. You get a maybe ? 2% mileage gain at a 7% higher fuel cost. Where does any savings come in ??? Regardless of 2 million miles or 10,000 miles !
 

tikal

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Jetta_Pilot the 7% change is based on a very rough estimate in 'my neighborhood', nothing scientific really and perhaps I should not have posted it.
 

tdiman

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In my area it’s 30 cent a gallon cheaper 2.99


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KevinGary

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I just recently tried it. So far, the engine seems quieter and more responsive. It may all be psychological. But I like it. After a few tanks I will report back on the mpg.
 

tikal

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I just recently tried it. So far, the engine seems quieter and more responsive. It may all be psychological. But I like it. After a few tanks I will report back on the mpg.

Thanks for the contribution KevinGary.

I am trying it too but too soon to provide any meaningful feedback.
 
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Lightflyer1

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If you don't mind the extra cost and you like it, use it. Probably no quantifiable benefit vs cost though and nothing an additive couldn't provide probably cheaper. If you have to guess it is better is it really worth it? I would have to have easily demonstrated positive benefit to change over, not guessing whether it was psychological. I have tried many over the years and not been impressed enough to keep using any of them.
 

belome

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I love all these scientific fuel mileage comparisons.

I dare someone to fill up 4 times with the same exact fuel and try to make the numbers match exactly.

Too many variable out of the drivers control.

As for the butt dyno, the human mind knows what the human mind thinks it should know. We are pretty failable in that way.

Testing needs to be done in a dyno lab under controlled conditions.
 

Lightflyer1

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Even under lab conditions a significant benefit needs to be realized to make it worth while. It is already quiet enough for me so unless it makes it silent that doesn't really interest me at all. The engine already lasts for a very long time when properly maintained so I don't think they could impress me there either. That pretty much leaves fuel economy. If they could show a significant increase in fuel economy that can be mirrored in real world driving as well I would take a look at it. It would have to at least pay for itself and then some. I have tried different fuels and many additives over the years and never found one that made any noticeable/appreciable difference (excluding water and icing issues. In fifteen years I have never had a water issue in any of my many diesel vehicles. I believe there is a need for additives when in cold weather conditions.). I generally don't believe any of the myriad additives out there are needed for my car. They probably won't do any harm but probably won't help much if any either. So far all I have tried have been a waste of money as I noticed zero benefit at all. My current Beetle has been averaging 35 mpg since I bought it. Show me an additive that would boost that to 40 mpg and I would be singing the praises of that stuff everywhere.
 

tikal

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I thought the discussion was about a fuel at the pump, not an additive.

Cost wise, in my area the Exxon Synergy Diesel is about the same cost of other brands such as Valero, Murphy Express, etc. unless you go to Kroger and you have a discount card.

Availability is also good too.

I do agree with needing a fleet of vehicles for some time/miles to gauge any MPG differences, if any.
 

Lightflyer1

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Same deal really. Additive pre added by company or added manually by owner. I haven't found any to be worth paying extra for. If it costs the same then I would have no issue with using it. If it made me feel good about something then no problem with that either. I am just saying you are probably not going to get anything extra that any other pump fuel will get you to any great extent.
 

tdiman

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I will say this about the Exxon synergy the car is not doing as many regen ..as for Kroger sams it seem to do more often .


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tikal

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I will say this about the Exxon synergy the car is not doing as many regen ..as for Kroger sams it seem to do more often .


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I do not have a common rail (CR) TDI with DEF but you have made an interesting observation in light of what the poster in my link above says:

"I recently did a study using ExxonMobil Diesel Efficient fuel and comparing to my previous efficiency with several other brands. In 2017 a Top Tier specification was approved for diesel fuel similar to the spec that has existed for years for gasoline. The specification is not related to cetane but focuses on additives that provide improved injector/valve cleanliness and performance. Four main criteria differentiate Top Tier Diesel from the general quality requirements of diesel or biodiesel fuel in the U.S. Measures include a reduction in fuel injector deposits (internal and external) through the inclusion of a detergent additive package; increased lubricity to reduce component failure; reduction in water and particulate contamination; and finally, improved fuel stability - addressing fuel filter plugging, fuel system deposits and corrosion caused by oxidised fuel. The program is not designed to sort out base diesel or biodiesel fuels; instead the improvements are made by the use of fuel additives and filtration requirements.

I say all this to give some perspective on what ExxonMobil has done with their Diesel Efficient Fuel. They have incorporated what appears to be similar portions of the Top Tier spec into this fuel. I was skeptical so being an engineer I created a spreadsheet and dumped my Fuelly records for analysis. I eliminated any brand with less than 5 fuelups. I also included the percentage of city driving to be sure to make a fair comparison. The results are reported as the percentage improvement over the included brand as follows;

ExxonMobil Diesel Efficient was 4.06% better than Buc-ee's, 3.23% better than H-E-B, 4.48% better than Shell, 5.46% better than Valero and 4.48% better than ExxonMobil regular diesel fuel.

I am meticulous to fill up using the same cutoff each time and all of these MPG numbers are calculated and not the trip computer values. I also figured that ExxonMobil fuel in the Houston, TX area is normally about 10 cents/gal more than other brands so that is a 3.58% difference which brings the entire cost analysis to about break even. However, if the claim of less regenerations holds true, I should use less DEF and maybe I will avoid service issues related to particulates.

I hope some of this rambling helps everyone understand this issue a little better. BTW, there are only two Top Tier diesel fuel stations in the Houston area and both are Costco. I ran one tank of this fuel and the first 50 miles had the trip computer at 39 MPG, a number I have never achieved before."


As usual is the collective sharing of experiences such as this that can shed more light on the complex and rewarding discussion of fuels and lubricants.

Thanks tdiman for sharing your experience.
 

Lightflyer1

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If there is no cost difference I would try it and use it if it ran well for me. I am going to go check our stations here and see if they have it. Does this have any amount of biodiesel in it at all?
 

tikal

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If there is no cost difference I would try it and use it if it ran well for me. I am going to go check our stations here and see if they have it. Does this have any amount of biodiesel in it at all?

The station I took the picture from in SE Houston (post # 12) did state 'up to 5% biodiesel' if I recall correctly.
 

mopower

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I live in an area void of top-tier diesel or gasoline and there is a small town Exxon over in the next village. Happens to be the same area that I make the trek to get ethanol free gasoline and used to have a B20 pump. I'll make the trip there to check Exxon out.

Here are the current Top-tier registered diesel distributor - I looked it up after reading above.
 
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