Episode 49: Gas Prices killing you? We can help you max out your MPG!

[oct_dragon74]

Living in West Texas, you see alot more diesel trucks than you do in other parts of the country. Also we don't complain so much about gas prices going up because our economy out here thrives on the oil/gas industry. I actually fear what will happen to our economy as the new fuels become more readily accessible.

[dosbomber]

Anyone ever try adding acetone to their gas tank to improve MPG? Supposedly adding 3oz of pure acetone to 10 gallons of gas will improve your gas mileage, fairly dramatically.

Kipkay says it works, others say not so much, those in the oil industry say "Good God, don't even think about doing that!", but what else would you expect them to say...

Pure Energy Systems Wiki has a lot of info on it.

I'm thinking about trying it. I know acetone has a solvent effect on some plastics, but I've read the plastics used in modern fuel lines aren't those kinds of plastics. Nylon, CPVC, HDPE are among the safe plastics, acrylics are definitely not.

[tequila]

I believe i saw a mythbusters clip once where they busted the acetone additive myth. Not much of a scientific source, but given the fact that there is a lot of discussion about this, i'm not very confident about it.

If it really would work, articles about it would be aplenty. There might be an oil-industry-coverup, but in this day and age of the internets, chances of this not leaking out are very small.

[eurodude]

Well I am really interested how you can maximize you mpg. In the US Gas is, sorry to say, "Dirt-Cheap". In Germany, one Gallon of Gas is at about $9.00
Additives are not really working. On the other hand, regular car check-ups are really helping. And one really important thing I noticed is the oil in the engine.
I heard that if you drive less than 8,000 miles a year, your car engine becomes "dirty" and consumption goes up... But then again, if you drive more... well you get the picture
I hope an alternative will be out soon

[spark-rain-fire]

Originally Posted by charlas

and while I'm on it, why do Americans not drive diesel? the new VW Polo BlueMotion is the most fuel efficientt car in Europe....

Short answer: Americans are stupid. (I am an American so I can say that, right?)

We seem to think Diesel cars are "dirty" and "less powerful" Heck, at the turn of the century when SUV's became all the craze auto manufactures couldn't sell economy cars. they stopped making them. They had to put more powerful engines in the small cars, and market them as sedans (Mazda protege is a perfect example of this. If you want to have fun laughing at us to to fueleconomy.gov and compare a 1995 mazda protege with a 2003. Then do that with almost any other "economy" car. You'll see that over time they have gotten bigger, and more fuel hungry) I'm pretty certain that Consumers aren't totally to blame.. I think the auto manufactures are in bed with the oil companies and market more powerful cars as "safer" and "faster" Americans were just stupid enough to fall for it.

Sound bitter? I freaking am. I have a 12 year old Nissan sentra and it gets better mileage than most gasoline cars that you can buy today.. The car has it's issues, and it's going to have to go soon.. but as long as gas prices stay like this i'm holding on to it!

UGH!

[smeerkaas]

Listen .. Like I said .. despite the insane gasprices in Europe, I drove a 'vette for 5 years. I know the sweet power that a big V8 delivers. But believe me when I say this: drive a modern European diesel car and you're sold.

Like a BMW 335d. Straight-6 Turbo-Diesel. Almost 300 hp, and 430 lbft!! Those are V8 numbers!

0-60 in 5,5 seconds, and a (electronically limited) top speed of 155 mph.
And here's the kicker: it'll near as makes no difference keep up with a brand new M3, which utilizes a much bigger gas powered V8.

And all the while, getting twice the MPG.

Diesel has come a very long way in the last 10 - 15 years.

Ofcourse there are a plethora of more modest diesels on sale here. Still more than adequate in performance, but much more frugal still.

[tehcris]

by the way the gas here (US) is mixed with so much junk its sad

[victor_c26]

Originally Posted by spark rain fire

Short answer: Americans are stupid. (I am an American so I can say that, right?)

We seem to think Diesel cars are "dirty" and "less powerful" Heck, at the turn of the century when SUV's became all the craze auto manufactures couldn't sell economy cars. they stopped making them. They had to put more powerful engines in the small cars, and market them as sedans (Mazda protege is a perfect example of this. If you want to have fun laughing at us to to fueleconomy.gov and compare a 1995 mazda protege with a 2003. Then do that with almost any other "economy" car. You'll see that over time they have gotten bigger, and more fuel hungry) I'm pretty certain that Consumers aren't totally to blame.. I think the auto manufactures are in bed with the oil companies and market more powerful cars as "safer" and "faster" Americans were just stupid enough to fall for it.

Sound bitter? I freaking am. I have a 12 year old Nissan sentra and it gets better mileage than most gasoline cars that you can buy today.. The car has it's issues, and it's going to have to go soon.. but as long as gas prices stay like this i'm holding on to it!

UGH!

So could that be the reason why my 92' Chevy Cheyenne Truck gets 30 mpg?

I seriously couldn't believe how long the gas meter lingered above 1 quarter when driving all week on a half tank of gas. Trucks aren't supposed to spend less gas than my friend's tiny Infinity G20.

This is the truck (GIS'd an identical one; don't have a picture of it on hand) that's running 30 mpg:

[agamotto]

In interest of clarifying things...

American gas would have to average $7.50/gallon to reach something near parity for those in Europe who have to pay their share of additional road taxes, consumption tax, value tax, etc.... At this price, you might also much better quality of roads like most of Europe as well.

If you think $3.75/gallon is bad... I was paying that driving in Okinawa nearly 30 years ago...

[agamotto]

I don't mind drivers like you. The semi drivers I can't stand are the ones doing over 75 in the right lane... keep to the left and let the saner among us keep our access to the off-ramps.