There is so very much bullshit spread by people who don't know what they're on about, or by snake-oil merchants selling you magic in a bottle that “big oil” just don't want you to know about. The test, as with all these magic devices, is that if they provided the benefit claimed with no downsides, everyone would already be doing it.

Anyway, here's what our man has to say:

Ummm. Where do I start? There are so many holes and errors in what they say it's incredible.

• Zinc, Molybdenum, Silicon as used in lubricants are not solids.
• Chlorinated hydrocarbons aren't likely to have a major surface effect and would not survive oil drains.
• The idea that the same additive is relevant to every application they list is laughable.
• You would never see 12% fuel economy improvement from any lubricant
• Lubricant additives do not penetrate hardened metal surfaces
• etc etc etc etc etc add infinitum

Beyond the fact that they clearly have no idea what they're talking about, there's a big fat fundamental flaw in what they're saying: Notionally reducing friction can improve fuel economy. Fair enough. But the majority of active ingredients in lubricants work at the surface - anti-wear, corrosion protection, EP additives, detergent, friction control. There is only so much surface area, so these things all compete. Chucking in a potent friction modifier (giving them the benefit of the doubt that it might work) would have a massive negative impact on these other important features and could quite conceivably wreck the machinery. This stuff has undergone one non-industry-standard test looking only at friction. A diesel engine oil on the other hand will have undergone extensive engine tests, looking at all facets of performance, running into costs of millions of dollars. This ensures it's balanced. Anything with friction materials (clutches, synchronisers, wet brakes etc) will have lubes tailored to meet it. Reducing the friction level is likely to be detrimental.

If you're lucky it won't do anything. If you're really lucky, it will do nothing but might reduce the viscosity slightly (but not so much you reduce the film thickness and get wear) and improve fuel economy a minute amount. Most likely however, you'll buggerr up your engine / gearbox / chainsaw / gas turbine / bearings / anything else you put it in. (It might be OK for lubricating guns and bike chains but then I don't know so much about them).