When things change you have to change with them and recently things have changed in a big way! If you’ve been following my social media accounts you may have noticed that I’ve moved jobs. That’s not such a big deal but you never really think about all of the things that have to change with it. Pension providers, choices around healthcare, new driving routes, parking, meal times, morning wake up alarms, new work colleagues, gym, money coming into the house, holiday allowances and for me, buying a new car. That’s right, I had to buy a car as my previous one was a company provided the car which I had to give back. booo! If you’d have asked me a few years ago, cars were fast, stylish and current. My car list includes convertibles, track day cars and 2 seaters. So what does a mid-30s, 2 daughter, lots of tip runs dad buy?
It’s massive, French and there’s so much space I could literally sleep in my seat and there’s still enough room for Beth behind. Things I’ve looked for now have included efficiency, comfort, boot space for pushchairs, room for tip runs, a roof rack (Oh dear god), low road tax and efficiency. Yeah I said it twice it’s because it means so much to me now. With two daughters and a wife that’s currently out of work I need something that’s going to cost very little to run and isn’t going to eat into our small family budget. When I talk about efficiencies, have a look at the charts! For an estate that’s ridiculous.
Yep a Peugeot 508 SW! A car I never thought I’d buy but hey welcome to Daddom.
Yep a Peugeot 508 SW! A car I never thought I’d buy but hey welcome to Daddom.
Now’s about the time I should tell you about the Redex challenge.
Redex, the UK’s number one fuel additive claim that with the use of their additive they can clean the fuel system, reduce emissions, restore performance and improve fuel economy! Bold statements. If you want to know more click here about Redex Fuel Additives.
I for one like a challenge but first I need a benchmark as it was a new car and I have no idea how time and a lack of care has taken it’s toll on our family wagon’s performance and efficiency.
This called for a road trip!
We found a set of roof bars made for the Peugeot but they were in Leicester of all places. 3 and a half hour drive from Wigan, on a very hot, summery day. Well over 250 miles in total, most of it motorway with the single lanes out in the rural areas.
What better way to test the MPG of the car than a road trip!
So we packed up and got going and boy was it hot. Travelling across the M62 to get on the M1 and then travel south, I made sure that I didn’t speed by using the cruise control. The thing that was out of my control was the Air Con which we used throughout the journey and of course, plenty of wee stops.
Dorothy is potty training so any time Dorothy mentioned wee, it was time to stop.The good thing was, we found this beautiful little restaurant in the middle of Leicestershire and enjoyed some 1800s architecture and amazing food. mmm.
My first fuel stop from the moment I bought the car was a surprise as every car maker has a different way to open the fuel tank. This was exactly the same and I finally found it!
I wanted to ensure that I got a fair test of Redex as my new routes to work Monday to Friday are around 20 miles with a mix of motorway and in City. Not fair to compare!
So I filled up the fuel tank with Diesel and drove the additional 100 miles + back home.
At the end of the road trip, this is the photo of the drive. The performance was exceptional considering there were plenty of wee stops, the air con was on for a long part of the journey but again it was all motorway no speeding and cruise controlled.
So over the past week I’ve been travelling to and from central Liverpool, isn’t it gorgeous! Can’t wait to experience it more.
Here’s an idea of one day trip to and from work. Just short of 40 miles and 2 and a half hours in the car. This is why it’s so important to get that benchmark to really evaluate if there’s any performance improvements.
So here we are today. Since the moment I bought the car (I feel like I should give it a name?), I’ve driven over 1000 miles, filled up twice, have an average mpg of 53.2 and filled up fully twice (once on day 1 and then last week) with half a tank left.
It’s nearly time to give her (I assume she’s a girl as she’s pretty!) a full system clean up with the Diesel Redex Advanced 5 in 1 Fuel System Clean Up.
Designed to:
- Clean Injectors (Good thing I think?)
- Restore Performance (Performance is low anyway compared to over cars if I can get it back to new car performance that would be great.)
- Reduces Emissions (Leaving a healthier environment for the kids.)
- Enhances Acceleration (Every bit of help is needed.)
- Improves Fuel Economy (Again hoping to get back to the new car stats I mentioned earlier. Currently 53 brand new close to 65-70.)
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