In message o.uk, Dave
Liquorice writes

On Tue, 27 Aug 2013 16:02:26 +0100, David Rance wrote:

There's plenty of info on the web about claims for Aspen fuel so I won't
repeat it here. But what I'd like to know - is it worth it bearing in
mind that it costs more than twice what petrol does? Does anyone here
have any experience of it?

No experience but there is more than a whiff of smoke oil about the
web site. Lots of claims with no suporting evidence, clever use of
english particulary in the aspen v unleaded table.

Yes, I found some of the subjective claims a little naive. What people
feel, or think they feel, as a result of using Aspen could be down to
anything!

Many thanks for your comments, Dave, which I found useful. Actually I
did buy 5 litres of Aspen 2 just to see if *I* could detect any
difference. If I wanted to, I think I could! Certainly I found the
machinery easier to start - but then, they had just been serviced so I
would have expected that.

I have three brush cutters (I know that seems excessive but one was
shared with my neighbour over here in Normandy (he died about seven
years ago so the machine is now completely mine), a second was bought to
use as a strimmer in addition to having a metal blade for tougher work,
the third was for use in Reading for strimming the paths between
allotments when I had an allotment) and a chain saw. The first brush
cutter, a 20-year-old Kaaz, uses a 25:1 mixture (it would need Aspen 4)
so I'm continuing to use normal petrol/2-stroke oil mixture. The other
two brush cutters use a 50:1 mixture so I'm trying out the Aspen 2 in
them. Well, I've never had much luck with the Kaaz in the past - great
difficulty in starting - but the mice had been playing with it over the
winter and had eaten away the priming pump cover and the insulation
around the sparking plug (I kid you not!). So it went in for repairs
along with the Stihl strimmer/brush cutter which suddenly stopped
working (needed a new carburettor).

The Stihl is now running on Aspen. Runs as well as it ever did. Exhaust
smells different and, to this somewhat asthmatic user, it doesn't seem
to trouble me as much as normal emissions. But am I imagining it?

The Kaaz is still running on petrol/2-stroke and is running better than
it ever has done. No problems with starting. Faultless. No imagination
needed there! I've just cut back around an acre of a very overgrown
meadow with it.

What does this prove? Simply that with a control item (the Kaaz) it puts
into perspective any perceived improvements. The Kaaz I had almost given
up on because I've never before managed to get it working well. If I had
put Aspen 4 into it I would have put it down to that and said how
marvellous this new fuel was!

They also assume that your engine requires 50:1, my strimmer is 20:1.
OK you can get the unmixed fuel but I don't see any great indication
that you need to check what your engine needs.

Well, on the page that I gave it does list Aspen 4 which is for 25:1.
The url was too long so here is a tinyurl version:

http://tinyurl.com/qg67vku

David

--
David Rance writing from Le Mesnil Villement, Calvados, France