So, for my leadership class, we have a final. We got to start it 8 weeks prior to the presentation.

In research we decided on energy. Saving energy, car efficiency, energy conservation.

Nifty article we found...

Acetone In Fuel Said to Increase Mileage

Tom and Ray's opinion, MIT grads...

Car Talk

What do you guys think, and any suggestions..

From my personal knowledge, acetone is very bad with anything plastic or rubber...

I also saw the acetone in the gas theory. I tired it out myself. From my PERSONAL experience it didn't make any noticeable difference in gas mileage. Maybe one or two 10th's of a gallon. From the articles and such that I read they were stating that it would boost your gas by a couple 5-10%. I didn't find this true in my case. Try it and see.

I think they tried that on Mythbusters once and it didn't do much, I also think there are some web articles (take worth a grain of salt) floating around that say the same thing.

You might want to look into changing driving habits instead of a fuel additive, google Hyper Milers.

Also wouldn't it be better to increase miles per gallon instead of lowering it?

haha.. when I saw the title, I was like "how the hell do you save gas if you lower MPG? gotta see this..."

Hey! There is always the "HYDROXY" generators to try. And I know that was on Mythbusters too, but they actually did it wrong. The actual "hydroxy" generators are used in conjunction with gasoline NOT instead if it. There is a type of generator similar to a "hydroxy" set up that is said to replace gas. I believe that is a Joe's cell.

There are also some people out there that claim to have converted cars to run on water. One gut=y has an older Camaro that he claims to run on water and gives instructions on conversion.

Also, when they did it on Mythbusters, they didn't even fine tune the output properly to get a good reaction out of the water!

Hmm sceptical, i still think boardboyd's suggestion about changing driving habits is much more sensible.....I drove down to London twice to see my bro, the first time i had only just started driving and so drove really uneconomically (it took about two and a half tanks to get there and back), the second i drove there and back on one tank!

If u love replacing hoses, and gaskets, and lots of other stuff, go ahead.


Whats next, are people gonna think there car weighs less if the tires are filled w/ helium?

Quote: Originally Posted by musclecars&computers If u love replacing hoses, and gaskets, and lots of other stuff, go ahead. Whats next, are people gonna think there car weighs less if the tires are filled w/ helium?

they already fill tires with nitrogen to save gas....


Whoops, can someone change the title, i was in the middle of class...

I can't imagine that its good for the environment...

Quote: Originally Posted by s1ugh34d they already fill tires with nitrogen to save gas....

well yes and no.... In the way i mentioned sarcastically of making the car weigh less is because the weight difference would be the same as removing a couple cd's. (and i said helium)

For the average motorist the cost to fill ur tires w/ nitrogen outweigh the savings when the same benefit of good tire pressure constantly can come by people checking there tire pressure like they are suppose to. For anybody that wants to pay the money for nitrogen filled tires please by a air filter, a fuel filter, spark plugs, and top off the radiator and you will have more savings than filling the tire w/ nitrogen.

Cars are like pets if people don't take care of them they suffer and die eventually.

Quote: Originally Posted by musclecars&computers well yes and no.... In the way i mentioned sarcastically of making the car weigh less is because the weight difference would be the same as removing a couple cd's. (and i said helium) For the average motorist the cost to fill ur tires w/ nitrogen outweigh the savings when the same benefit of good tire pressure constantly can come by people checking there tire pressure like they are suppose to. For anybody that wants to pay the money for nitrogen filled tires please by a air filter, a fuel filter, spark plugs, and top off the radiator and you will have more savings than filling the tire w/ nitrogen. Cars are like pets if people don't take care of them they suffer and die eventually.

Actually nitrogen has other good causes too. Since the actual gas is different from air, i donÂ’t leak out of the tire. Also because of different properties it doesnÂ’t break down like air, expand, or contract half as much as air, almost making it a near permanent solution for air pressure.

The local dealer my mother bought her car at fills the tires with nitrogen for $20. If it lasted half as long as air in her tires (she has her tires filled with air all the time and no there isnÂ’t a hole) then it would be well worth saving the time.

Replacing cheap small, spark plug wires, checking spark plugs and replacing when necessary (most people don't realize you can run a V6 on 5 or 4 cylinders) keeping good air pressure in your tires, checking you radiator, checking your oil. Getting your oil changed with synthetic oil will raise you MPG. (<---got it that time)

Since i got my car, I've done 22k miles, and the 4 synthetic changes and 8 filter changes cost me less than an average oil change per 3k, since i change my oil per 6k. I think synthetic is well worth the extra cost, just because, my car is rated at 27-29 MPG, i have never seen those numbers, I get 38-45, I also idle down hills, I drive a stick, so every chance i get i drop it to neutral.



On a side note, i just wanted to know anyone opinion on acetone in gas, I did try to name the thread as a general discussion on car maintenance and helping you self get better gas milage.

You use less gas if you keep it in gear down hill

If you use a synthetic like AMSOIL, you can go to drain intervals between 25,000 and 100,000 miles. Standard full synthetic 20w/50 amsoil is 25,000 miles. The lighter oils like 30w etc. have a 35,000 mile drain interval and if you get the bypass filter system you can go as long as 100,000 miles. With the bypass set-up you have 2 filters. One of them is a one micron filter. Since standard oil filters like Fram etc. have about a 7 to 8 micron filter, you can see what that can do for the oil. just replace the filters regularly and top off the oil when necessary. They also have an oil quality guarantee as well. If you have an engine failure due to the quality of the oil, they will take care of your engine. All they ask for is a sample of the oil and the part(s) that failed. I could go on about other services they have but, you get the point.

Quote: Originally Posted by 4x0n You use less gas if you keep it in gear down hill

In gear??

How would that make sense.... I know its a way to save on brakes, but gas?

I use Penzoil Full Synthetic 10w30. I use a 2 micron bronze type filter, made for high performance synthetic oil engines.

I change my oil every 6,000 miles, i change the filter every 3,000 miles

Quote: Originally Posted by s1ugh34d In gear?? How would that make sense.... I know its a way to save on brakes, but gas?

At least according to my car's onboard computer. I guess the simplified explanation is that if you're not in gear you need gas to keep the engine idling, which on my 1.6L is about 0.8liters per hour but when you're in gear the wheels turning crank the engine requiring less fuel. This is just me guessing so if I'm wrong please someone correct me. slug, I had the same thoughts as you until I tried it a couple of weeks back.

Quote: Originally Posted by 4x0n At least according to my car's onboard computer. I guess the simplified explanation is that if you're not in gear you need gas to keep the engine idling, which on my 1.6L is about 0.8liters per hour but when you're in gear the wheels turning crank the engine requiring less fuel. This is just me guessing so if I'm wrong please someone correct me. slug, I had the same thoughts as you until I tried it a couple of weeks back.

Interesting thought. My gear box is very high strung (what i call it). If I glide downhill in gear, I'll hit 2k RPM in no time.. 5th gear hits 2k at 40MPH, and my car idles at about 300rpms...

I actually get better daily gas milage on the street. Instead of driving out and around my elbow to get to school just so i can take the highway, and go fast, and possibly get a ticket. I'vve found a array of back roads, that makes the trip shorter and whindier, but it in turn saved me gas.

Slowly after learning the turns and hills, I can putt the whole 23 miles under 2k RPM and get around 38MPG straight through.

When I used to have to hit every light on earth to get to a highway, then sit in traffic, then go 80MPH, in turn killing my gas mileage down to around 32MPG

Not sure on the top speed of my car, above 130Km/h it gets a bit twitchy But going down hill on about 5-10% incline (not sure of the specifics) doing about 90-100Km/h I'll leave it in 5th gear and it's on about 2000-3000rpms and again according to my car it's not using a measurable amount of gas (it measures it in x.y l per hour or 100km depending on which is more relevent). It would be great if someone with proper knowledge on this subject would comment on it. I'll give more specifics on max rpm's later today since I'm at school and my car is not.

Quote: Originally Posted by 4x0n Not sure on the top speed of my car, above 130Km/h it gets a bit twitchy But going down hill on about 5-10% incline (not sure of the specifics) doing about 90-100Km/h I'll leave it in 5th gear and it's on about 2000-3000rpms and again according to my car it's not using a measurable amount of gas (it measures it in x.y l per hour or 100km depending on which is more relevent). It would be great if someone with proper knowledge on this subject would comment on it. I'll give more specifics on max rpm's later today since I'm at school and my car is not.

It's do to the fact that "coasting" is actually idling and when the engine is idling u get ur worst mpg idling. The only way it would increase mpg is if it was a very long slope down and u cut the car off (don't do that thou). Any engine does it's best running at it's proper rpm. Now something i don't know maybe shifting into the next highest gear if it's available would be better?

Lets see its pretty simple

1. shift gears at between 2,500-3,000 RPMs not at Redline.
2. drive at a consistent speed, more fluctuations lower gas mileage
3. drive less walk more
4. Synthetic oil (German Castrol is the only full synthetic oil available on the market currently (make sure it says german) )
5. new spark plugs
6. regular oil changes
7. run a can of sea foam through all your hoses and everything about a week before you change your oil.

Ok, this nitrogen in the tires thing. We gotta work something out here because it is not needed in a car tire. I've been an aircraft mechanic for 11 years and been around nitrogen filled tires alot.

#1 "Airplanes use Nitrogen, it must be better" Nitrogen is used in airplane tires,yes. Dry nitrogen from a compressed gas cylinder. Reason is that compressed air has water vapor and oxygen in it, dry nitrogen does not. A large portion of aircraft rims are made of magnesium. You get a little water vapor, some O2 and heat from the brakes and those rims degrade (say corrode) very quickly.
Your cars rims are an aluminum or steel alloy, that is painted or clear-coated on the inside to prevent corrosion. They where designed with the idea that air was going to be used in your tires.

#2 "Nitrogen doesn't expand or contract as much as air" Wrong! Nitrogen expands enough with heat that aircraft wheels need temperature/pressure blowout disks. An aircraft wheel under heavy braking gets very hot. The Nitrogen in the tires expands so much that the designers needed to put safety blowout devises in the rims to prevent the pressure from ripping the tires off the rims and damaging things. I don't know of anybodys car wheels that has that feature.

Next demonstration in that expansion concept, your cars engine. Nitrogen is an inert gas, it doesn't burn. Air is roughly 78%Nitrogen, 21% Oxygen. When you burn fuel and oxygen in your cars motor, the nitrogen survives relatively intact. The heat from burning fuel and O2 causes the nitrogen to expand in your cylinders, that along with the left over gases from the fuel/O2 burn is what pushes your pistons down in your engine.

#3 "It doesn't leak from a tire" Somewhat true, but from that reasoning look at this. Nitrogen has a bigger molecule size than O2. If your tire filled with air is already 78% Nitrogen, 21% is O2 and only the O2 leaks out because of it's smaller size . Your Tire is basically now filled with nothing but Nitrogen. The next time you refill your tire with air you are going to have a substantially higher ratio of Nitrogen to O2, each time the O2 leaks out there is less and less each fill up until your tire has nothing but Nitrogen in it anyway. Somebody just paid $20 a tire for what happens naturally.
And by the way, nitrogen leaks out of aircraft tires just as well as it will leak from your car tires. Aircraft tires actually have microscopic holes embedded in the outer rubber shell by design to allow the nitrogen to leak out from between the layers of the tires construction. Even in a tire designed specifically for use with nitrogen they can't stop the microscopic leakage of the gas through the rubber. They have to design the tire to accept this leakage.