[TubaMuffins]

I just read this article about how adding a little bit of acetone to gasoline increases gas mileage and engine performance. anyone ever try this or hear of this before? I'm thinking about trying it but I'm worried because I have an older car so the acetone might be rough on my car's parts.

[Buckaroo]

I'm not sure about increased gas milage, but I think that is the stuff that will help you pass a smog check in California.

[dtriska]

Heard of the MythBusters? Scroll down to The Great Gas Conspiracy.

[tkmd]

Its BS - dont get me wrong I would love to get over 20 MPG in my Jeep, but it just doesn't work. Its about as big of a lie as E85. Give me a small, CRD diesel any day and I'll be the first to drop it into my Jeep. Wait, in that case I would be using less fuel, so the US government and the EPA who are on the Big oil Co. payroll wont let me do that.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by dtriska

Heard of the MythBusters?

"Adam: “I can’t believe it doesn’t work, I found it on the internet man!”



-t

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by tkmd

Its about as big of a lie as E85.

E85 is not about increasing gas mileage. It's about cleaner-burning fuel that uses less oil.

[Gossamer]

Originally Posted by Person Man

E85 is not about increasing gas mileage. It's about cleaner-burning fuel that uses less oil.

Everything I've read about E85 openly admits mileage isn't as good. But around here (Iowa) it generally costs $.30/gallon less than regular gas and you do get a ~5% increase in horsepower.
So say you have a 15 gallon take you fill up with the regular gas (no ethanol) at $2.70/gal, and get 25mpg. That's $40.50 and 375 miles. Same tank, but with E85 at $2.40/gal and 23mpg. $36 and 345 miles. The regular gas gets you 9.25 miles per dollar, E85 is 9.58 miles per dollar. My numbers are all guesses though, so it's really about even either way, except that with ethanol you get a little more horsepower and the satisfaction that you're producing fewer emissions (you hippie).

[iREZ]

i heard this helps out with gas mileage tremendously...

[torsoboy]

"In one last attempt to defeat the monopoly of fossil fuels, Adam and Jamie decide to try filtered used cooking oil and putting it straight into the tank. Surprisingly, the car works perfectly and the fuel efficiency was only 10% less than regular diesel fuel without them having to make any modifications to the car.

But since the cooking oil didn’t improve efficiency and may one day cost money to buy, the myth that car makers and fuel suppliers are in collusion to keep us dependent on expensive gas is BUSTED."

I don't think that one was BUSTED at all... sounds awsome if that is true. I don't think they need much drilling to make cooking oil. It is a renewable resource. Now if only we get get a Lays Potato Chip factory to donate all of its used oil we would be in business!

[tkmd]

Originally Posted by Gossamer

Everything I've read about E85 openly admits mileage isn't as good. But around here (Iowa) it generally costs $.30/gallon less than regular gas and you do get a ~5% increase in horsepower.
So say you have a 15 gallon take you fill up with the regular gas (no ethanol) at $2.70/gal, and get 25mpg. That's $40.50 and 375 miles. Same tank, but with E85 at $2.40/gal and 23mpg. $36 and 345 miles. The regular gas gets you 9.25 miles per dollar, E85 is 9.58 miles per dollar. My numbers are all guesses though, so it's really about even either way, except that with ethanol you get a little more horsepower and the satisfaction that you're producing fewer emissions (you hippie).

Gossamer your thinking is correct but your math is way off. First E85 has less energy per pound than gasoline (diesel>gasoline>ethanol). Your making less horsepower. Less energy means less HP with all other things being equal, as in flex fuel vehicles. That being said a quick look here makes this point very clear. For example, a chevy monte carlo gets 21/31 on gas yet only 16/23 on E85. So were not talking about 3 MPG less, but a whopping 8 MPG less. If you do the math consumers would be paying MORE on E85 because you can travel less on a tank of fuel.

Politically, its not surprising that most of the E85 stations are here in the midwest - the corn growers lobby is very strong - and it would be a bigger cash crop for them. Oil companies are happy because you will be refilling more often. Not to mention environmentalists are doing the jig because it burning E85 creates less CO2. Its a Win-Win for everybody except the consumer.

Trust me if we could brew E100 at 80-100% efficiency from lets say algae I would be interested, but it would never happen because lobbyist groups (oil and farmers) would shoot it down soooo fast.


Its all about the almighty dollar and unfortunately not about saving the earth - thats just the selling point.

[tkmd]

Originally Posted by torsoboy

"In one last attempt to defeat the monopoly of fossil fuels, Adam and Jamie decide to try filtered used cooking oil and putting it straight into the tank. Surprisingly, the car works perfectly and the fuel efficiency was only 10% less than regular diesel fuel without them having to make any modifications to the car.

But since the cooking oil didn’t improve efficiency and may one day cost money to buy, the myth that car makers and fuel suppliers are in collusion to keep us dependent on expensive gas is BUSTED."

I don't think that one was BUSTED at all... sounds awsome if that is true. I don't think they need much drilling to make cooking oil. It is a renewable resource. Now if only we get get a Lays Potato Chip factory to donate all of its used oil we would be in business!

Yeah thats called Biodiesel (or more specifically straight vegtable oil "SVO" for short)


This is nothing new its been around for years - why?- look at my last post. Matter of fact, the diesel engine that was developed in the late 1800's ran on peanut oil. Thats why all diesel engines can run on it. Stacey David on "Trucks" on SpikeTV did a great test using vegetable oil from a restaurant. I could post the episode if anyone is interested.

[Y3a]

add some lacquer thinner to the gas. keep your engine clean.

[Gossamer]

Originally Posted by tkmd

Gossamer your thinking is correct but your math is way off. First E85 has less energy per pound than gasoline (diesel>gasoline>ethanol). Your making less horsepower. Less energy means less HP with all other things being equal, as in flex fuel vehicles. That being said a quick look here makes this point very clear. For example, a chevy monte carlo gets 21/31 on gas yet only 16/23 on E85. So were not talking about 3 MPG less, but a whopping 8 MPG less. If you do the math consumers would be paying MORE on E85 because you can travel less on a tank of fuel.

Sorry, but you're wrong on the first one. Although it does contain less energy, it has a higher octane rating, meaning a 3-5% horsepower increase (source: here)
But that source does confirm that gas milage drops by about 25% or so, so E85 would have to be about $.60 less per gallon to make it worth it. Like I said, my math was all guesses, so I'll concede that point.

Originally Posted by tkmd

Yeah thats called Biodiesel (or more specifically straight vegtable oil "SVO" for short)

Not quite. Biodiesel is not the same as a carton of cooking oil, as was used in Mythbusters. Biodiesel is very similiar, but it's been chemically treated.

[Eug]

I went to Sunoco one day because the gas was cheaper. Afterwards my gas mileage went down a bit (I have a gauge that records real-time usage), and it felt like something was wrong with my car... It hesitated when accelerating from a full stop. I had never experienced this before. Afterwards, I realized it must be the fuel, since Sunoco locally uses 10% ethanol. After a fillup with regular gasoline, all of those issues went away.

Some people might think it was all in my head and made myself believe that knowing it was Sunoco. But honestly, I didn't think at all about it, until I started noticing the symptoms. I didn't actually know my local Sunoco used an ethanol blend, and only clued in afterwards.

The car is a 2004 Prius by the way. (It is built to use normal octane fuel.)

Soo... To make a long story short. In my case: 10% ethanol blend = lower gas mileage and lower power

[::maroma::]

Originally Posted by torsoboy

"In one last attempt to defeat the monopoly of fossil fuels, Adam and Jamie decide to try filtered used cooking oil and putting it straight into the tank. Surprisingly, the car works perfectly and the fuel efficiency was only 10% less than regular diesel fuel without them having to make any modifications to the car.

But since the cooking oil didn’t improve efficiency and may one day cost money to buy, the myth that car makers and fuel suppliers are in collusion to keep us dependent on expensive gas is BUSTED."

I don't think that one was BUSTED at all... sounds awsome if that is true. I don't think they need much drilling to make cooking oil. It is a renewable resource. Now if only we get get a Lays Potato Chip factory to donate all of its used oil we would be in business!

Based on how thats worded, it sounds like the myth they were trying to prove/disprove was that "car makers and fuel suppliers are in collusion to keep us dependent on expensive gas".

[Gossamer]

Originally Posted by torsoboy

I don't think they need much drilling to make cooking oil.

Perhaps if you're drilling for vegetables...