Redex Petrol System Cleaner Review – Audi R8

With the Audi R8 from our project being more than a decade old, it did not run as smoothly as I would have liked it to. While it was great, for the most part, it felt like it was holding back just a tad bit. Driving it sometimes felt like the car was slightly down on power and that’s when I decided to try out Redex’s petrol cleaning system and here is how it went.

Fuel System Deposits

The fuel system in your car is made up of a fuel tank, lines, filter, pumps and injectors. Redex cleans the fuel system and gets rid of all the deposits that build up over time. Deposits, in turn, can make the car feel sluggish especially when you try to pull away or when trying to accelerate hard.

On a more serious level, it can reduce the fuel efficiency of your car and increase emissions as well. The fuel system is not something that can be simply cleaned with a brush or a piece of cloth even if the fuel system is completely disassembled. Not to mention that it is one of the most complicated things to take apart and put back together. A liquid-based cleaner is the best option for the job.

Redex Advanced Petrol Cleaner 500ml

As the name suggests, this is the more advanced version of the regular petrol cleaner and is meant for a more thorough cleaning job. It could be used once every 3,000 miles or if it is the first time you are using a fuel system cleaner.

It offers a much more intense clean and will remove even the most stubborn deposits that might have taken residence inside your car’s fuel system over the years. It also contains friction modifiers which acts as a great lubricant improving the efficiency as well as the durability of your car.

The use of this cleaner has also been suggested for cars that have failed MOT inspections in the past and while I myself did not get a chance to check the veracity of this claim, I am inclined to believe that it can help in this regards as well. I would also like to make it very clear that this isn’t a performance-enhancing additive and you won’t feel a massive increase in performance. However, it will have a subtle effect on the way the car runs making it feel a lot smoother and easier to drive.

How to use Redex Advanced Petrol Cleaner?

The Advanced Petrol Cleaner can be used similar to the regular cleaner. However this time the whole bottle goes into the tank in one go giving it a good clean.

Effects of using Redex Advanced Petrol Cleaner 500ml

Once I had used the Advanced Petrol Cleaner. I had to run the car for around 300 miles to fully use up the fuel. Following that initial run-through, taking the 2007 Audi R8 for a spin to see if there was any change and while there wasn’t exactly a night and day difference, the car had definitely improved and here is a short summary of all the areas that I felt had become better.

Removed Minor Flat Spots

This change was the most noticeable for me. It was like suddenly getting to use a sharp knife after having used a dull one for a while. The R8 despite being a 2007 model was quite smooth, to begin with, but it did show some signs of its age occasionally in the form of a minor flat spot, this was around 5,000 rpm at full load. That has been cleared now. I drove the Audi through different driving conditions and I could not get it to run flat like before. Again, it is not something that is immediately apparent but as I had been spending a lot of time with the R8, I was eventually able to feel the lack of this annoying imperfection in power delivery.

Smoother Feel

This is the change, however, that got me the most excited. While I didn’t have any problems with the smoothness of this car overall, being naturally aspirated, I can’t complain if it gets even better. The R8 has always been one of the most fun cars to drive and this additive has taken the fun quotient up a notch. The throttle response is just a bit sweeter and it is just a bit easier to predict its behaviour under sudden acceleration. It is very minor, but you do get a sense of lag removal.

Good Maintenance

This is a good maintenance option and is well worth the price. It is hard to test the improvements scientifically without a lab, but from my testing, I believe it does aid the cars maintenance.

Overall, it impressed me, not in an exciting manner but in a more relaxed and assured manner, knowing that the fuel system is running at its optimal state.

Continual Maintenance With Redex Petrol Cleaner 500ml

After running the Advanced Petrol Cleaner through the car once it is a good idea to keep on top of things using the Redex Petrol System Cleaner. Here we have one large bottle that is able to be added to 4 tanks of fuel. This has all the benefits of the above mentioned Advanced Cleaner but it is optimised for regular use rather than a one-off clean.

How to use Redex Petrol Cleaner?

All you have to do is pour 1 shot of this cleaner into the fuel system. Pouring a shot is easy as the container comes clearly marked letting you know how much you have to use and that is it. The 500 ml bottle I used is the 4-shot variant. Once it was added, all you have to do is drive around and let it do its work in the background. It will remove all the deposits which will restore any power that has been lost because of deposit build-up while also improving the fuel efficiency.

The most important effect, however, is that it will make the car drive a lot smoother and any annoying discrepancies in power delivery may be eliminated. As alluded to earlier, use this every time you do routine car maintenance.

Effects On The Audi R8

The improvements to the Audi R8 have been noticeable and the work. required to do this is no more than a moment of pouring the solution into the tank. Things don’t really get much easier.

We have run the Advanced Petrol Cleaner and will continue to use the regular cleaner going forward. I don’t think we will see compounding improvements from now, but it is certainly worth testing. If you are running an older car, the system cleaner from Redex is certainly worth using.