Hi

Just bought a 53 plate Octavia Ambient Estate and on the whole im very pleased with it.

Although i know my way around a car and the petrol engine Im pretty new to the diesel engine and was wondering how i can get the most mpg from the car.

Have heard lost of talk about adding chip fat to the diesel etc etc but was wondering if i can add brand new cooking oil to the tank and split it 50/50 with diesel to improve mpg without causing any problems to the car, the engine or anything else that might be monitoring the performance of the engine?

Thanks - Andy

I would say no for two reasons... Firstly, I'm guessing it's a PD engine, and as I understand it they are pretty fussy about what they eat.

Secondly it would be illegal unless you declaired it and paid tax - which would bump the cost up and make it pointless.

I think you can have something done to the car so it will run on veg oil and i think you can use a fair few litres a year and not pay tax,

Ive seen a few cars in cardiff wi posters on them sayin it been converted to run on the stuff.

Dependant on the car, if its a 1.9 SDI or earlier TDI it'll run fine, just check the handbook to be sure, cos mine says its ok!

Also on the legality side its ok if you use no more than 2,500 litres of the stuff a year, over that you'll be liable for duty.

Do a search on it or "Bio"

big question!

I had an sdi & it ran on 90% virgin oil OK but i did use a heater

all tdis are different and there is good chance if you run it at that level that you will kill your engine

I would suggest that you use no more than 15 - 20% as it is

to use more you really need to invest in a proper twin tank kit

meaning you have one tank of virgin oil & a small tank of mineral diesel

you can also buy filtered used veg oil fro 20p a litre delivered to your door, that will run fine in a twin tank with no tax to pay as they have recently changed the rules.

I would do the research and look for a sites vegetarian vegan local support groups

as there are lots of options

I have alot of friends running cars on 100% veg oil with a twin tank system & using mineral diesel to start & flush the system saving alot of money & if you do it right its now 100% legit

dont skimp on a conversion kit as a few of these friends have killed an engine by not doing it properly - you will get your money back quickly & it helps the planet too

do your homework if you want to use more than 20%

G

So 10% SVO in my '98 Octy should be OK? (Both legally & mechanically...) Might give it a go in the summer. I'd be a bit cautious of trying it in the winter due to the old viscosity issues...

A mate of mine at work is running a 1995 Frontera on 100% vegetable oil - it has the 2.5 litre BMW diesel lump with a fuel heater factory fitted. He's been running it for almost 12-months with no issues at all (that's including towing a caravan too).

If mine was a few years older I'd consider it, but as it's less than four years old I'm loathe to risk blowing it up unnecessarily.

Thanks for all the comments guys. I think i might be tempted to run it with a mix of 10 to 20% but wait until the weather warms up a bit.

Cheers - Andy