Science-driven, evidence-based fuel additive formulas from Hot Shot’s Secret can improve your fuel’s quality, boost engine performance and protect your vehicle’s components.
What Are Diesel Fuel Additives?
Fuel additives are formulas designed to improve performance when introduced to your fuel system. Different additives can clean your engine, lubricate your system and increase your gas mileage.
Hot Shot’s Secret is committed to providing drivers with innovative, scientifically proven products to help you find the best diesel additive for your fuel system.
Fuel Additives
EPA regulations require that diesel fuel contains ultra-low levels of sulfur. However, the sulfur removal process introduces hydrogen into the fuel, which reduces the fuel’s natural lubricity.
Biodiesel contains moisture, but ethanol and methanol configurations require dry fuel. With the various hydrocarbons and polar solvents in the fuel mixtures, unknown characteristics of the fuel at the pump can cause impactful and sometimes damaging results in your engine.
The right fuel additive helps restore lubricity removed during fuel refinement. Depending on its formula, it can disperse moisture, boost cetane levels, remove internal deposits and build up and stabilize various fuel blends. These factors increase the motor’s efficiency and prevent breakdowns without damaging any part of the system.
Fuel additives are generally categorized into two types:
- Fuel performance enhancers: These products keep your fuel system clean, helping you achieve maximum fuel usage and prevent buildup. Diesel fuel performance enhancers are designed to improve your engine’s capabilities while it’s running.
- Diesel Anti-Gels: These products keep your fuel from gelling during cold weather. These can also be formulated to enhance performance.
Motor Oil Additives
Note that motor oil additives are different from products designed for diesel. The essential function of motor oil is to flow easily through the motor to lubricate the friction between moving parts and dissipate heat throughout. Using the proper additive can significantly enhance the performance of the oil.
Motor oil additives help improve viscosity, reduce the friction created by moving parts and cool the engine during daily operations. These additives work by creating increased lubricity bonds between the source oil compounds, which allows the oil to flow more smoothly through the motor.
Are Diesel Additives Worth It?
Today, buyers can find many reliable, trustworthy manufacturers that offer excellent fuel additives. As technology, market testing and scientific research advance, manufacturers harness these innovations to produce high-quality fuel additives that are well worth the money.
Most vehicles need to cycle through a tank of treated fuel before additives start to show significant performance improvements, meaning fuel additives work with a bit of patience.
The Science Behind Fuel Additives
As a complex piece of machinery, your vehicle’s engine needs to be maintained to perform properly. Unknown fuel properties at the pump can cause harmful results in your engine. The correct additives help demulsify the moisture, boost cetane, remove the internal deposits and buildup, and support the various fuel blends. The motor will operate more efficiently, with less damage and more breakdown prevention. Especially with diesel fuel, the proper additive helps restore the lubricity filtered out of the fuel from the refinery.
Not all fuel additives are created equal. Trustworthy manufacturers and scientifically proven formulas are the recipes for high-quality fuel additives. Hot Shot’s Secret products are powered by science and undergo triple-threat testing to ensure top-notch performance. Your vehicle will perform better when proper research and science go into a product.
What Benefits Do Fuel Additives Provide?
Many vehicle owners rely on fuel additives. Since these products are simple to use, almost anyone can add them to their vehicle’s fuel tank on their own and reap the benefits. Some primary advantages include improving fuel efficiency, increasing an engine’s cleanliness and raising a vehicle’s performance.
Below are some of the top potential benefits of using fuel additives:
- Better efficiency: When fuel goes through combustion, fuel additives help the vehicle burn the fuel more completely and add extra power to the engine. As a result, some fuel additives help you increase your vehicle’s miles-per-gallon rating.
- Cleaner engines: Additives prevent trace and gunk deposits in your engine, helping stop them from building up and negatively impacting your engine’s performance.
- Fewer costs: When you use more of your fuel and prevent buildup, you get more money out of your gas or diesel and reduce the chances of expensive repair costs. Fuel additives are also very affordable, making them worth the initial expense.
- Faster acceleration: The best fuel additives clean contaminants out and ensure complete combustion, helping you accelerate faster and get the most out of your vehicle.
- Smoother engine starts: By removing and preventing carbon buildup, your cylinder head compression will increase, leading to an engine that turns over faster when you start it up.
- Lower emissions: Fuel additives clear out carbon buildup and can help reduce your vehicle’s emissions.
- Reduced deterioration: Using an engine-cleaning additive will reduce levels of rust and corrosion to help keep your engine in pristine condition.
What Is the Best Diesel Fuel Additive?
Below are our top additive picks and the benefits you can expect to see from each. These versatile additives can be safely used for a wide range of diesel engines.
Diesel Extreme
This concentrated cleaner removes all internal and external diesel injector deposits (IDIDs). Diesel Extreme provides maximum performance while cleaning the fuel system thanks to its effectiveness as a fuel stabilizer, cetane booster and lubricity additive.
Diesel Extreme can raise your diesel fuel’s cetane rating by up to seven points, which improves fuel economy, combustibility and horsepower. We recommend treating your fuel system with Diesel Extreme every 6,000 miles.
Everyday Diesel Treatment
Everyday Diesel Treatment (EDT) helps replenish the lubricity lost in creating ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) and biodiesel. It works as an injector cleaner, cetane improver, neutral and sulfur-free lubricity agent, water dispersant, rust and corrosion inhibitor and fuel stabilizer.
EDT contains a cetane improver that can raise your cetane number by four to seven points. It can increase fuel mileage up to 7.3% and power up to 12.3%. We recommend you use Everyday Diesel Treatment with every fill-up to see the best results.
EDT+ Winter Defense
Use EDT+ Winter Defense to get additional benefits and prevent fuel freezing in cold weather conditions. This diesel fuel additive’s anti-gel properties minimize the size of the wax crystals and allow the fuel to travel through the filter at temperatures 20°F below the wax solidification point.
Like our Everyday Diesel Treatment, this additive boosts power and increases cetane, and it can be used every time you fill the tank.
Should I Use Diesel Fuel Additives?
Customers see a huge difference in mileage when using fuel additives in their diesel vehicles. We’re fuel additive fanatics, but we acknowledge that some people can benefit from additives more than others. You’ll see the best results if:
- You live in extreme climates: If you drive a diesel-powered vehicle and live in an area that experiences harsh winters, an anti-gel additive can help prevent clogged fuel filters and improve lubricity.
- You drive an older vehicle: Additives can help to reduce engine and fuel system wear and extend the life of your car. An injection cleaner or high-quality lubricant would be a good choice for you.
- Your vehicle is idle for long periods of time: Starting an engine up after a long time has passed between drives can be a difficult experience. Occasional use of a cetane-boosting fuel stabilizer can help to improve startups and maintain your engine’s performance.
There are many diesel additive products, so research each and consult a trusted mechanic to determine which will benefit your vehicle. Check out our online Diagnose Your Diesel tool for recommendations.
When Should I Use Fuel Additives?
At Hot Shot’s Secret, we recommend a simple but powerful routine to keep your diesel engine performing at its peak: use Everyday Diesel Treatment (EDT) at every fill-up and Diesel Extreme every 6,000 miles. This combination helps maintain a clean fuel system, improve fuel economy, and extend engine life.
Short, infrequent trips: These trips can lead to incomplete combustion and rapid deposit buildup. Use Diesel Extreme every 6,000 miles for a deep clean of your fuel system, and EDT at every fill-up to maintain cleanliness and performance.
Cold weather (below 32°F): In freezing conditions, diesel fuel can gel and lose lubricity. Switch to EDT+ Winter Defense at every fill-up. It provides all the benefits of EDT with added anti-gel protection and a powerful cetane boost to improve cold starts and fuel flow.
Heavy traffic or harsh operating conditions: Frequent idling or stop-and-go driving can increase carbon buildup. Regular use of EDT ensures your injectors stay clean and your fuel burns more efficiently.
Regular long-distance driving: Even well-running engines benefit from Diesel Extreme every 6,000 miles to prevent hidden buildup, with EDT maintaining peak performance between treatments.
With Hot Shot’s Secret, you get scientifically formulated additives that are safe, effective, and trusted by diesel owners nationwide. Stick to our recommended intervals to protect your investment and keep your engine running strong in any condition.
Explore Hot Shot’s Secret Fuel Additives
If you want your vehicle to run better, reduce the total cost of ownership, avoid breakdowns, and stay on the road longer, then fuel additives are worth it. At Hot Shot’s Secret, we formulate all our additives with high-quality ingredients and subject each product to multiple rounds of rigorous testing before putting them on the market. Check out our testimonials to hear from real people who love our additives.
Browse our best diesel fuel additive selection to find your fuel’s next secret ingredient.