CA-40 Fuel Additive - Blogger tested and approved!

You may have heard an advertisement for the fuel additive CA-40. If you listen to the Ed Schultz Show on the Mother Jones Radio Network or via XM Satellite Radio, then I KNOW you've heard of the product - Ed is a big supporter, having tested CA-40 in his own vehicles with great success.

A blog buddy of mine, Tom over at Outta the Cornfield, took it upon himself to personally test CA-40 and report the results back to those of us who were interested. Here's his final report:

7/15/08

9.5% Increase In Fuel Mileage

The original post on this subject is here. The average mpg before the using this additive is 28.5 mpg. The second post is here.

Started 4/20 Ended 7/13
The Car 2000 Subaru Forester manual transmission
13 fill ups
Price Range $3.50 to $4.30 a gallon
Average price per gallon $3.95
MPG range 28.3 to 35.4
Total miles driven 5156
Total gallons 165.4
Average mpg 31.2
Increase of 2.7 mpg which = 9.5% increase in overall fuel mileage
Total spent $656.53
5156/28.5=180.9 gal x 3.95 = $714.60
5156/31.2=165.3 gal x 3.95 = $652.76
Savings of $61.84
Cost of product $17.50
Total savings $44.34
$44.34/13 fill ups =$3.41 less on each fill
Average gallons per fill up 12.7
$3.41/12.7 = a savings of 27 cents per gallon overall

Click the following screenshot of their website to go there:

Tom also recommends purchasing the syringe/application kit for an extra $6:

I bought a quart and used half of it and my brother is testing the rest to see if it does the same. Have a good idea of what mileage I'm getting and can tell without this stuff in this tank it is not doing so well. Real savings are seen of course with vehicles that get poor mileage because it adds up so quickly. Is it worth it? It takes a bit of effort to get the bottle out and measure the amount needed into the syringe to put in the tank. The syringe is extra but worth it or else it would be a pain in the ass to measure accurately. If bought in volume the price goes down from $35 a quart to $28 I believe. Also there is a ratio that uses less of the product that I have a feeling will achieve the same results. As the price of fuel goes up the savings become greater. So if I can stick $3.50 in my pocket on each fill for about a minute or so of effort I guess it's worth it. If my mileage does not drop back to where it was before I will say so and when it does I will be telling my brother to send that shit back and get your own.

I intend to try this product in my 7.3l International which now averages 9.5 miles per gallon. I average 2000 miles per month in that truck and, with diesel at nearly $5 per gallon, a 10% increase in fuel efficiency is well worth the time and effort of dumping in some CA-40 once or twice a week.