My Volkswagen Golf Ti doesn’t do a lot of kilometres. I basically only bought it to cart camera and video equipment to a shoot. Other than that – I’ll pretty much ride my motorcycle everywhere. It’s a sparingly used vehicle to say the least.

Subsequently when it needs an oil change and servicing it’s according to the calendar, not the distance travelled.

The manufacturer recommends that this should be done every 15,000km or 12 Months. The notification that popped up on the dashboard display every time I switched the engine off lately was rather more emphatic: “OIL SERVICE AND INSPECT NOW!” it demanded.

So, when HDM advertised a 2-hour Service Special that includes a 3-part Wynn’s Engine Management Kit, Penrite Oil, Filter and a 60-point safety check, I ran out of excuses.

I rang Simon on Tuesday afternoon and asked, “Maaate, when could you do a lube service on my Vee-dub?”

“When are you coming over next to photograph some vehicles for us?” he replied.

“Thursday?”

“OK, I’ll order the oil filter now.”

Sure enough, when I got there on Thursday Morning there was a service bay waiting and bottles of Wynn’s engine management products lined up, ready to be added.

By the time I’d unpacked my cameras Brailey was pouring a bottle of ‘Wynn’s Inject-a-clean’ into the fuel filler.

Wynn’s say this product, “Cleans dirty injectors in engines, absorbs water condensation in fuel systems, restores lost power caused by fouled injectors, Helps prevent rust and corrosion in fuel systems, neutralises acids caused by condensation and provides added lubrication to low sulphur fuels.”

From there she moved to the engine bay and added a full bottle of ‘Engine Flush’.

Again, according to Wynn’s, this product, “Contains effective cleaners that remove sludge and varnish, it suspends and removes deposits for improved lubrication, protects metal parts from harmful contaminants between oil changes, maintains oil protection and reduces new oil contamination, promotes a more complete draining of used oil, reduces oil consumption resulting from blocked oil drain return holes and it dissolves old, highly oxidised oil.

Then Simon appeared and told me, “OK – now we’ll see you in half an hour or more thanks Dave. You need to go for a decent drive and run these products through the engine before we drain the oil.”

It seemed like a valid reason to visit the City of Ipswich. I found that it’s still there.

We compared the colour of the Oil both before and after the drive. It was slightly darker from the grunge it had removed when I got back, Simon assured me that on higher milage vehicles the ‘black’ suspended in the oil is remarkable.

He also told me that for the optimum effect, the additive should run through the engine  for a few days or a few hundred kilometres prior to the service. I’ll keep this in mind for the next one for sure.

So I unpacked the rest of my kit and headed into the showroom to video some Harleys while the workshop crew started draining fluid in earnest and working through the safety checklist.

By the time I was ready for a smoko the Penrite Oil had been added along with the third part of the Wynn's treatment.

Wynn's Friction Proofing is suitable for all Petrol, LPG and Diesel engines. It is compatible with all commercial engine oils and is ideal for all normally aspirated or turbo charged engines. (Like my 1.4 litre turbo monster!)

This product reduces friction and wear, prolongs oil life, penetrates and bonds to metal surfaces, reduces engine sludge and varnish build up, protects engines at start-up and extreme conditions, improves oil performance during extended oil drain intervals (me again!), reduces oil oxidation and thickening and increases rust and corrosion protection.

I’ll have a double thanks!

While I was in the workshop, I had yarn with Gavin - as he was greasing up studs for the massive supercharged engine being built in the bay next to mine.

“Remember those ads where they dropped the sump off a car and drove it from Darwin to Alice? That was with that Friction Proofing.” He said, pointing to my hatchback. 

“Yeah, I do!”

“That car is at Beaudesert now.” He grinned.

At which point I looked over and Brailey was holding up the Cabin Filter from my Air Conditioning system.

“This could do with replacing.” Simon told me. “I suggest we run the Wynn’s Air Conditioning Treatment through the vehicle too.”

After the new filter was installed the weird looking ‘Aircomatic III’ device was plugged into the 12 volt outlet and the vehicle started with the Air Con on full.

Wynn's say, "This device has an ozone generator designed for the removal and prevention of bad odours in air-conditioning systems and vehicle interiors when used with Airco-clean additive.

This additive eliminates micro-organisms such as fungi, bacteria, mould and mildew, removes pollen and tobacco residues (That would be pollen in this instance), eliminates unpleasant odours (me … guilty), removes dirt from the air-conditioning evaporator, eliminates stale vehicle interior odours in general (as happens when it’s parked for a long time without use), and eliminates most odours in the carpeting, upholstery and headliner."

Sweet!

I headed back inside to pack up my cameras, kicked a few tyres in the showroom and drooled over the Harley Night Train that had just hit the floor - and by the time I’d done all that it was time to settle up the account because the job was all done. Quick and easy.

The service, including 3-part Wynn’s Engine Management Kit, Enviro+ C3 Full Synthetic 5W30 Penrite Oil and Wesfil Coopers Filter is on special for $250.

The Wynn’s Air Con treatment is $121 plus the cost of the Cabin Filter. For the V-Dub that was around $60.

“Let us know what you think.” Simon waved as I was carrying my road cases out the door.

I rang him from the car.

“Maaate! This is very noticeable. For one, the car smells as fresh as a daisy. It’s not a new car smell, but it’s taken whatever pong was in it and replaced it with fresh air. But more importantly, the difference and improvement in throttle response and the power it’s making is definitely there!”

I wondered if I was imagining it at first, whether it was my wallet telling me it was money well spent, but by the time I got home and had given it ‘a bit’ – nah – it was 100% worth it.

I’m guess that because this vehicle sits for long periods in a hot garage those injectors can gum up. The Wynn's cleaned them admirably. And less friction must be good.

Anyway – even with an ordinary bog-standard little hatchback like mine, I’m convinced the service and a bit of TLC has given it a real performance boost.

I can only imagine what it would do for a proper performance vehicle.

I recommend giving HDM a call and finding out.

Dave Cohen.

David Cohen is a Freelance Photographer and Writer widely published in Australian Automotive Press.