The acetone test

[Arminius]

I drive the same route day after day, and just a change in wind direction can affect my mileage that much.

[COMP]

Originally Posted by Arminius

I drive the same route day after day, and just a change in wind direction can affect my mileage that much.

4mpg ,,,,how much wind is that

[Arminius]

Originally Posted by COMP

4mpg ,,,,how much wind is that

Wind that pushes against the side and front of the car in the opposite direction is much worse than wind coming directly from the front or rear. Of course, wind on the same day coming directly from the rear improves FE. So going in one direction has the exact opposite affect from going in the other direction. A headwind that takes away 2 mpg can add 2 mpg in the opposite direction, depending upon the Cd of the vehicle. The difference, then, is 4. But possibly much more or less depending upon the strength of the wind.

If you understand the affect of wind resistance on FE at high speeds, you can understand the affect at low speeds with high wind. The wind resistance at 60 mph with no wind is the same as 40 mph going directly into a 20 mph wind that is going in the opposite direction. Easily 4 mpg lost in FE.

[kevlar]

Originally Posted by Arminius

If you understand the affect of wind resistance on FE at high speeds, you can understand the affect at low speeds with high wind. The wind resistance at 60 mph with no wind is the same as 40 mph going directly into a 20 mph wind that is going in the opposite direction. Easily 4 mpg lost in FE.

If he's going to do an A-B-A test, the wind shouldn't play much factor.

[Lazarus]

Originally Posted by kevlar

If he's going to do an A-B-A test, the wind shouldn't play much factor.

From the OP I don't think he's planning on doing A-B-A. He's just blind testing with tank to tank variation on the wife ride.

[kevlar]

I started using acetone in my '96 regal 3.8 last summer and kept tight logs on it. It is a very shaky science as I watched it go from about 30mpg to about 33 mpg avg. I got lucky twice with the right gas, from the right station, with the right mix all in one happy tank . the two highest MPG's I was able to garner was one tank @ 35mpg, then once more a few tanks later @ 36mpg. This average was about 3 oz. per 10 gallons. Very hit or miss, and a fun experiment of which I have had no adverse affects. I have to say that there were almost NO improvements with winter gas (one to three mpg), which is another topic on it's own! How can you justify the ecological benefits of winter gas when you burn much more of it in the process?

[bhazard]

36mpg in a 3.8 v6 is pretty good sounding, especially since regals arent the smallest lightest car ever.

[MasterAlex]

Has anybody tested this with a hybrid?

[chrislk1986]

I did that last summer, but traffic would be good some days and just death (15 minutes to get on the freeway less than 3/4 mile from work!)...

I put in about 4oz per 11-12 gals. I found a site that some guy made, he had charts and all that good stuff, now its just a matter of finding it again since my old computer died and I lost all my bookmarks. He seemed legit so I'll start a search for it.

[chrislk1986]

In older cars I would refrain from using a bunch since it would probably (if used consistently) eat through the gas line. That's just what I've heard.