Fuel additives for performance and gas mileage

[Charlie]

I was wondering what fuel additives that can be gotten easily actually work, either for increasing performance or gas mileage. What have people tired, and what do they work for?

Thinking of some things:
Marvel Mystery Oil
Acetone
Octane booster
Emission Reducer Formula

and then I was wondering about other fuels, how they act, such as:
Ethanol
Diesel Fuel
Nitro methane
RC Car Fuel
Kerosene

Has anybody tried any of these things (or any others) and figured out how they will act? Are there any good additives for increasing power? Gas mileage?

What have you figured out?

 

[schmidlkofer]

uhh higher octane fuel?

 

[Charlie]

Well, yeah, but I was more curious of what other people have tried/had work beyond the norm

 

[dogfriend]

One way to look at this is that gasoline has a certain amount of energy per unit volume. If you start mixing in other additives, they must have equal or better energy per unit volume, otherwise you are substituting a lower energy chemical for some of the gasoline and the mixture would then have a lower energy content.

For example, you can mix ethanol and gasoline to get E10 (10% ethanol) or E85 (85% ethanol) but its generally accepted that you will get lower mileage with E10 and even lower mileage with E85. The reason is that ethanol has a lower energy per unit vol than gasoline.

So, you need to find something with higher energy per unit volume and you probably want it to cost less per unit vol and you don't want it to do any damage to your engine, fuel tank, catalyst or any other part of your truck.

If you find something that meets all of the above, let me know. :

 

[tortoisethunder]

I have heard that acetone works in both gasoline and diesel engines. I personally have not tried in any vehicles. Not sure how it might increase milage?

Marvel Mystery Oil added to gasoline works as a upper engine lubricant/cleaner. Be careful of sensors and cat.

The over the counter octane boosters are a waste of money. You can make your own, I saw a web site that had a formula, using tolulene, mineral spirits, and ATF fluid...better yet just put in a higher octane gasoline if that is what you are looking for. 87 is fine for most stock situations. Higher octane does not mean a higher quality/cleaner gasoline.

Many additives might "help" out in one way or another but might "hurt" something else.

I saw an article about saving gas, and it said the best way to save gas is "don't start your car". At first I thought this was a joke...but it makes sense...carpool, consolidate short errands, ride a bike for small trips.

 

[lycan91]

i have never had a additive help performance. maybe mileage a smidgen but nothing significant. i use it some times to clean my stuff on the inside but thats about it.

 

[pknopick]

I've done some serious research on the Acetone. From looking a the elemental structure of Acetone and Gasoline, you can see where you'd be able to mix the two. Acetone is suppose to cause the gasoline to vaporize quicker. We all know that liquid gasoline doesn't burn it's the vapor that ignites. The research I've seen test the affect of acetone on the rubber and plastic parts of a car. After extended periods of time the parts showed a slight swelling... but that test was done in pure acetone. Most people recommend 2 ounces to 10 gallons of gas. Two ounces isn't going to cause damage to your vechile's parts. Since the gasoline is better vaporized with the acetone it's hypothesized that the emissions are lower. I have not put acetone into my explorer because most of the stuff you buy from stores is cut with other chemicals. It could be risky, but I'd say that if you can find PURE acetone it would be worth testing.

 

[carlover]

Acetone has been tested with results posted by many people on this site already. Do a quick search and youll see the results.

 

[shortstack]

Restore 2 in 1 additive injector cleaner and octane booster...... on my 85 buick fuel injected it got me an exstra 30 miles on a 17 gallon tank

 

[mawrazen]

My best MPG has been when adding ACETONE to my TANK fill ups.

A tin costs $5-7 so I dont know if there is a real cost benefit. Plus u will need a funnel and get STRANGE looks from the folks at the gas station.

 

[dogfriend]

My best MPG has been when adding ACETONE to my TANK fill ups.

A tin costs $5-7 so I dont know if there is a real cost benefit. Plus u will need a funnel and get STRANGE looks from the folks at the gas station.

I used to buy Acetone for my work from Home Depot for about $8 per gallon. We now buy it from McMaster-Carr in 5 gal containers. I think our cost w/ shipping is about $10 / gal.

I haven't tried it, I bought a car to get much better mileage instead. I get the best mileage from my Explorer when its parked in the driveway.

 

[mawrazen]

I'm getting ripped off at wally world. Just bought a gallon yesterday there for almost $13. OMG

 

[shortstack]

so is their a certain formula with it or just put some in their?