Quote:
Originally Posted by beaterjeep
The 3 mpg improvement was in an 01 Infiniti I30. My methods were not scientific nor accurate by any means but basically started the trip with straight gas...24ish mpg, acetone in next tank...26.5ish, straight gas next tank...24ish, acetone in next tank...27.2ish, and used acetone from then out maintaining in the 26-27 range. I was figuring mileage by the old fashioned miles / gallons to fill up (not topping off the tank). The Jeep saw a 1 mpg improvement, although there were other factors involved in that tank. Have you tried acetone yourself?
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I've tried about every mix of gas-replacement chemicals you can think of, honestly. I've used both Acetone and Xylene to increase octane levels of my fuel for racing purposes (so I could add more boost, increase ignition timing, etc.), and I've even attempted to setup a lawnmower to run on only Acetone. The stuff doesn't vaporize well. (Not entirely true, it vaporizes fine, but doesn't like to remain fluid when exposed to air, and had a tendency to vapor lock my Keihin carb.) I probably won't bother playing with it any more, because I haven't seen any good results thus far, and I don't really race too much anymore.
I've also used a mix of Toluene and n-Heptane (IRL trick) to maintain a track legal octane rating (per unit volume) while still having an octane advantage. n-Heptane is a filler, it has a 0 RON, MON, and RN2 octane number.
The problem with fuel additives is that most of what you find in the additive is already in the gas in some capacity. Normal pump gas can be up to 30% aromatics, including chemicals such as Toluene, Xylene, and the like. Acetone is also usually present.
I'm more interested in synthetic gasses, now.
If you saw the improvement, awesome. I still can't imagine that there was an improvement of up to 10%, as you claim, though. It just doesn't really jive well, especially when so many others have tried and had no joy with it.
Acetone will act as a water emulsifier, though, in case you have some and can't get any methanol.
Did you fill up at the same pump every time you filled the tank for the testing, or were you filling up on the way to somewhere, then filling up on the way back and adding the acetone? The mileage gains could be explained by gas from a different station or area of the US, as well. It could also be explained by the bulk of your "less efficient" driving cycles being in an area you're familiar with, or at higher "low" speeds, such as in a country area rather than a city.