Fuel Diamond. Really?

[Paul Kelley]

I came across this Fuel Diamond product being offered on the Robsport website, whilst searching other fuel related items. I cannot believe the claims made and would certainly not put any such thing in my tank without a solid body of evidence to back up the claims. But has anyone tried such things and found they work?

[Philip Wardle]

Hi Paul

The Advertisng Standards Authority (ASA) has investigated the claims made by Sussex Promotions t/a Fuel Diamond (Sussex Promotions) and published their ruling on 17 August 2022 (attached).

The report says "We told Sussex Promotions t/a Fuel Diamond not to make claims that the Fuel Diamond could prevent fuel/petrol from going stale or neutralise ethanol and therefore prevent damage to vehicles, or any similar claims, unless they held adequate substantiation to support them". This was on the basis that the following claims in their advertising were misleading and could not be substantiated: "PREVENT DAMAGE", "Neutralise the ethanol in petrol", "the product could stop or prevent fuel/petrol from going stale".

The manufacturer appears to have sidestepped the ASA ruling by signing-up one or more retailers, but personally I don't plan on buying the product anytime soon

[SaphireSpud]

Robsport have a good reputation. Can't believe they would jeopardise that! Regards, John.

[DJT]

Very surprised to see a reputable supplier selling snake oil

[trunt]

As someone that has stored my vehicles for many years with E10 and had no problems I would say of course it works.. I’ll bet if I dropped one of those things in my tank I would still have no problems!

[marshman]

Fantastic product, been around for years, developed for the RAF way back in WW2. So far sighted, foresaw the introduction of unleaded petrol on the 90's (great for that!) and now luckily it works for ethanol as well. It has been peddled at car shows and autojumbles for as long as I can remember. It's better than snake oil as it is a solid lump so far less messy

I too am very surprised (and disappointed) that Robsport is selling it.

[mike@thenook]

Has anyone contacted Robsport to make them aware of the ASA judgement that they may not be aware of?

If not do them a favour and tell them, they’re a good bunch of guys who I doubt would be selling this if they knew this…

[Philip Wardle]

Yes, I've sent a brief note to Simon

[Tim Ward]

I use it in my cars, classic bikes and lawn mower. It was recommended to me from another bike owner. There were two stalls selling it at a recent classic bike show. I also put the fuel additive stabil in my cars over winter. Not had any problems yet but not sure if its down to one particular product. Tim

[Philip Wardle]

Thanks for your comment Tim

I don't know whether it works or not - as the manufacturer's information didn't convince me. So I searched around to find info on independent testing, so far no success. However Dean Waters posted on YouTube on 20 Dec 2022 which says he's starting a test and he plans to report back later, https://youtu.be/nNBbd-d9L_A. Dean's intro text to the video is interesting.

It strikes me that the marketing of Fuel Diamond is quite clever in its price-point. The product is cheap enough that, although they haven't seen any evidence that it works, some take a punt on the basis its worth a try. At a later stage they may conclude they've not found any benefit, but they may well decide they haven't lost much and won't bother pursuing a complaint.

[Paul Kelley]

Thanks all for responding. I've just checked the Robsport online shop, fuel products, and it's not there! It looks like Philip's heads up to Simon at Robsport has had an effect, so good for them for being cautious at the very least. It will be interesting to see if Dean Waters test (see the link in #10 above) provides any evidence, for or against. My suspicion is that there are too many other possible variables to ever pinpoint positives or negatives to the product. But unless the manufacturers can explain what the product is made from and exactly how its properties work with petrol (and ethanol), then I would take the view that it is most likely a fraud.

[MikeParker]

Also, who would want a stone bouncing around in their tank? Not sure that would do much good to the thin plating on the inside of the tank.

[dasadrew]

I think my Stag's previous owners must have had those stones in the tank judging by the rusty state. Never realised there was a plating inside which could be damaged and thus cause the tank to rust. I thought rust inside the tank was just part & parcel of an old British car. Wonder if anyone else has a rusty tank; maybe due to one of those stones?

[Philip Wardle]

All, just to let you know we've received thanks from Wayne this morning, and Simon this afternoon, on behalf of Robsport. Result

[KOY 23]

Also, who would want a stone bouncing around in their tank? Not sure that would do much good to the thin plating on the inside of the tank.

Interesting, I too never knew that the inside of the tank was plated, please will you let us know the plating material.