There is a very good market for after-market automotive fuel additives, but there are different opinions as to whether such products are necessary. When one considers that most modern gasoline has detergents and some other additives to help clean away engine deposits, spending extra money on additional fuel additives may seem less than essential. The online knowledge base Answer Bag sums up the general consensus on fuel additive validity. For every person who swears by the products that you add to the fuel tank, there are quite a few of other people who suggest that fuel additives are unnecessary.
Resource for this article: Are fuel additives worth your time and money by Car Deal Expert
What is really happening whenever you use additives
Fuel additives say they clean deposits from your car’s fuel. However, any MPG boosts tend to be minimal; they simply get your car back to where it's supposed to be within the first place in terms of miles per gallon. Using the proper octane rating with your gasoline achieves the same effect. Octane-enhancer solutions, pills, magnets, additional filters and more might sound scientifically sound, but the biggest gain to car performance may actually come from that newfound lightness inside your wallet after purchasing such products, suggests Stason.org.
Don’t believe the job can be effortlessly done by your gas?
According to various sources, a typical modern gasoline can contain any number of the following fuel additives, already within the mix:
Don't confuse your oxygen sensor
Your engine's oxygen sensor (initially called a "Lambda Sensor" when they first appeared in European fuel-injected automobiles) is intended to monitor the fuel-oxygen mixture so that emissions are properly regulated. Fuel additives can change the expected exhaust gas composition and effectively confuse the sensor. If the oxygen sensor goes dead, your automobile will burn much more gas and eventually damage the catalytic converter. That could cost you additional in repairs.
And you don't want to consider repairs if you are still paying down your auto car loans!
Discover more details:
Answer Bag
answerbag.com/q_view/750955
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline_additive
Stason.org
stason.org/TULARC/vehicles/gasoline-faq/index.html
AutohausAZ
autohausaz.com/html/emissions-oxygen_sensors.html
A crash course in what some fuel additives claim: