Acetone A.K.A. Nail Polish Remover Increases MPG in Gas?

[Nexagen]

I came up a very interesting website article that says that Acetone about 3 Oz per 10 Gallons of Gas can increase gas mileage anywhere from 15% to 35% and in some cases even more.

Website URL:
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:...lnk&cd=2&gl=us

However, here in the Engineering forum I'm placing it for disection and careful examination if this is in fact true or not.

I'm sure many of you will say "Snake Oil" or be extremely skeptical.

I however am willing to give it a chance. Seeing as how the chemical itself is flameable and adding only a very small amount can't possibly do anything bad. I dont see any harm in adding 2-3 Tablespoons full into a gas tank and then monitor the results.

What do you all think about this?

[Nexagen]

Here is the direct link without the google search frame

http://www.pureenergysystems.com/new...00069_Acetone/

[GreyGoose006]

i tried it

i drove to norfolk from charlottesville at 60 mph without acetone and used 7 gallons of gas

on the way back i added acetone and filled up.
i drove back the same distance at 75 mph and used 7.1 gallons of gas

i'm not going to say that it works, but the results pretty much speak for themselves

one added note is that my car is an 84 caprice classic and is carburetted.
i have a firm belief that if it does work, it works mainly on carbed cars, and not of fuel injection.
the main reason for this is that acetone is a surficant of gas, and decreases the surface tension
with decreased surface tension, the gas will atomize better
carbs generally have poor atomization
efi is better
direct injection is best atomization

another note is that even after this test, i didnt continue to use it.

[KiwiBacon]

IMO it's just a cleaner.
The more crap you have in your fuel system, the bigger effect it'll have (until the crap is cleaned out).
If your fuel system isn't full of crap, then you won't get any benefit.

[534BC]

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...385048&page=12

My results are in post 176 and 177 and I conclude it is a good way to waste time, money and risk spilling it on your paint. lol.

[GreyGoose006]

thats a big one to worry about

[bobss396]

As a one-shot deal it could be worth a try. A pint of acetone is cheap, you can always use the rest to clean paint brushes.

A few ounces to 10 gallons of gas is a conservative ratio and the results could be interesting. The only thing is that you will be aware of it and may change your driving habits that will improve your gas mileage anyway. The best thing would to try it on another car in the household where the driver is not aware of the acetone added to the gas. You would have to tell them to monitor the gas mileage though.

Bob

[GreyGoose006]

what i noticed was increased "feel" when you are in traffic and squeeze the pedal, but not floor it.
it felt like it had more willingness to go on less throttle.
i doubt that it did anything for max power at wot tho.

[Nexagen]

Well I actually tried this out.

Not sure yet as to how big an effect it has on my car which is a 1996 2.2L Chevy Cavalier 4 Cyl.

What I can tell you is that I filled up on sunday brim full with NO acetone then I put acetone this wednesday. At the time that I filled up on Sunday I also filled up my tires to their max PSI and added a bottle of Chevron Techron Concentrate and filled up on 87 Unleaded Chevron Techron Gas.

It's now Thursday and just now my gas needle has moved 1 Millimeter to the left from Full AFTER adding Acetone.

Before my Performance uprades and weight reduction I usually would fill up every week and a half since I only commute to work about 20 miles roundtrip and that is all I use the car for.

I'll report my findings as to how long it will take to refill.

If I can go 2 Weeks+ without refilling I will reach my goal.

I think it is working though.

[KiwiBacon]

Originally Posted by Nexagen

If I can go 2 Weeks+ without refilling I will reach my goal.

I think you need to be a little more scientific about it.

For a start, only make one change at a time (i.e. adding acetone). Try to keep everything else the same.
Secondly, benchmark your car first. Over several tanks calculate the mpg.
After you've been running acetone through it, calculate mpg again over several tanks and see what the difference is.

Changing your cars weight, fuel additives, fuel octane rating etc all at the same time makes it impossible to attribute a mpg change to any of the modifications.

[bobss396]

Originally Posted by KiwiBacon

I think you need to be a little more scientific about it.

For a start, only make one change at a time (i.e. adding acetone). Try to keep everything else the same.
Secondly, benchmark your car first. Over several tanks calculate the mpg.
After you've been running acetone through it, calculate mpg again over several tanks and see what the difference is.

Changing your cars weight, fuel additives, fuel octane rating etc all at the same time makes it impossible to attribute a mpg change to any of the modifications.

I agree, you need to be more scientific about it and work on one variable at a time if you want to validate the acetone alone. I'm filling up tonight and will record my gas mileage for the week with just gasoline. I'll see what my current "control" MPG works out to be, then fill up and add the acetone.

Bob

[GreyGoose006]

long drives are best for this kind of thing
try to avoid city driving as it will easily skew your results

[madan80]

Originally Posted by GreyGoose006

long drives are best for this kind of thing
try to avoid city driving as it will easily skew your results

I would second that. Bumper to bumber traffic can skew your FE. Ideally, you should take the car on a medium to long drive. Do a full-tank to full- tank method. However, keep in mind the time of day the fuel is getting filled as well. High density fuel will also give you a different mileage (sometimes the skew is as high as 10%)

[Nexagen]

Originally Posted by madan80

I would second that. Bumper to bumber traffic can skew your FE. Ideally, you should take the car on a medium to long drive. Do a full-tank to full- tank method. However, keep in mind the time of day the fuel is getting filled as well. High density fuel will also give you a different mileage (sometimes the skew is as high as 10%)

You are talking about temperature here. I can see that working if you fill up when it's snowing in one city then traveling to somewhere hot. I dont think it would make much of a difference in temperatures if the difference in temperature is off by 20 Degrees Farenheit at night and day.

Also remember that gas is usually kept below ground in a reservoir in most gas stations and that temperature is usually constant with direct correlation to the climate in the area regardless of night or day.

Gas is gas. Read the sticky on the engineering forums. The difference is just detergents that gas stations use.

[madan80]

actually, even if you fill early morningsand mid afternoons, there is a difference in fuel density. this is from my exprience.