Apr 18 2008
Acetone Does Not Increase Gas Mileage
SGU Listener writes in this question:
I about lost all my friends this week at a dinner party where the topic of acetone in the gas tank came up. Five of my friends, all who drive high-end BMW’s, claimed that when they pour a mixture of 2 ounces of acetone for every 10 gallons of gas, they increase their mileage to approximately 120 miles per full tank of gas. None of them can tell me why this works, but they all “swear” they’ve diligently been logging their miles and see the increase. There was absolutely nothing I could do to change their minds. For every website that showed this was false, ten others claimed it’s truth. They told me if I new so much I wouldn’t be a single guy who drives around in a Town & Country.
Though an ad hominem attack, it was quite effective. So, after much yelling and getting all their wives mad at me, I had to leave the party. Alone and very hurt by the Town & Country comment.
First, Eric, since you live in Las Vegas the obvious solution to your problem is to go to TAM6 and get some new more skeptical friends.
There are actually two interesting questions in your e-mail: the first is whether or not acetone increases gas mileage; the second (and more interesting to me) is if it doesn’t why are your friends so sure that it does?
I too looked around the intertubes and found sites making the claim for acetone and those debunking it. I found the debunking sites to be much more credible. But first let me summarize the claim. Acetone is a common chemical, it is the active ingredient in nail polish remover because it is an excellent solvent. It is highly volatile, meaning that it easily evaporates and turns into gas. The claim made for acetone is that it decreases surface tension and therefore helps the gasoline to vaporize more completely in the combustion chamber and therefore burn more completely. I have seen claims from 10-70% increase in fuel efficiency using acetone – although most say 10-30%, and one site conservatively said 2-10%.
When confronted with such a claim there are two basic skeptical considerations – what is the plausibility, and what is the evidence. On the plausibility side, we have to break down the components of the claim. The claims sound plausible, at least superficially. No one is claiming any magic, or putting forward only vague technobabble. Getting fuel to burn more completely by making the combustion process more efficient makes sense. There is negligible energy in the acetone being added, so any added fuel efficiency must come from more complete combustion. But from there the claims get very implausible.
If adding acetone increases fuel efficiency by even 10% that means that 10% more of the fuel is being burned, which in turn means that without acetone no more than 90% of the fuel is burning, and 10% is being exhausted as unburned hydrocarbons. This is demonstrably not true. Most cars already have a combustion efficiency of > 98%. Therefore there is very little room for improvement, and any claim for more than a 1-2% increase in efficiency by this method is simply not plausible. Further, gasoline and diesel already have a very low surface tension – so there isn’t much room for improvement there.
We can also analyze the probability on the basis of the industry. If significant gains in fuel efficiency were possible by such a simple method I would think that the auto industry would be all over it. There is sufficient competition among various automakers to create an incentive for such an improvement, and increased fuel economy is a big marketing point these days.
What about the evidence? Well, all of the evidence I could find to support the claim for increased fuel efficiency was anecdotal – meaning that people reported they tried it and it worked. Many make note that they carefully recorded their miles per gallon over many tanks of gas, some even trying different amounts of acetone per gallon. The results? Mixed.
The majority of the reports were positive, but some were completely negative. Others shows a minimal effect of 1-2%. Now – let us consider what this means. There is likely to be a huge “file drawer effect” or selection bias in what gets reported, meaning that people who found an increase in fuel efficiency are more likely to report it than those who found no effect. Therefore the distribution of positive and negative results is consistent with the null hypothesis of no effect.
I also found it interesting that many people reported that they were conducting “scientific tests” of the acetone claim, but none of them did. Some reported doing a baseline – running a few tanks without adding anything – but many did not. But I could not find a single report of anyone doing a blinded test – meaning that they recorded their gas mileage without knowing whether or not acetone was added to that tank of gas. Why would this be important? Isn’t gas mileage pretty objective? No.
There are many variables to gas mileage – whether or not the air conditioner is running, highway vs city driving, the weather and road conditions, etc. Also, driving style affects mileage – rapid acceleration and breaking uses more gas than smooth acceleration. A blinded test would control for these variables, but no one, apparently, thought to do that. This reflects, in my opinion, the poor understanding of true scientific methodology among the general public.
There are reports of industry tests of this concept – in laboratory and highly controlled conditions. The result – no effect from acetone on gas mileage. For example, Tom and Ray Magliozzi, who write a car talk blog, say:
TOM: It’s bo-o-o-o-gus, Wil. With four “o’s.” Don’t put acetone in your gas tank.
RAY: It does absolutely nothing to increase your gas mileage. We spoke to a fuel-systems engineer who works for one of the major oil companies. He said that because of all these rumors floating around on the Web, his company tested acetone in its own labs and found no increase in mileage. None. And he said the equipment is precise enough to detect anything over a 1 percent difference.
TOM: But it’s worse than useless it’s also harmful. Acetone is the primary ingredient in nail-polish remover. And while it will burn and is a high-octane material, it’s also a very powerful solvent. So while it’s in your fuel system, it’ll be eagerly dissolving all of your rubber components … like gaskets and O-rings.
So, Eric, it seems that your friends are most likely self-deceived by poorly controlled observations – i.e. anecdotal experience. The acetone claims fail to pass both the plausibility and the evidence test. If you want to keep these friend (for whatever reason) or can’t make it to TAM6, I suggest you take the approach of presenting yourself as an open-minded skeptic. You simply want to know the truth. Try to keep them focussed on each point of logic and evidence, and don’t let them make ad hominem attacks or commit logical fallacies. Do what you can to diffuse any emotional content from the discussion – make it as abstract as possible. It may not work, but it’s worth a try.
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35 Responses to “Acetone Does Not Increase Gas Mileage”
If you’ve already bought some acetone, though, don’t get rid of it. It’s the best solvent around for disolving cyanoacrylate (super glue)! Of course, store it safely, avoid contact with your skin (unless that is where the unwanted super glue is located), and use it sparingly and in a well-ventilated area.
This concludes the DIY segment of the program.
Ya know its one thing to believe something like acetone makes your gas mileage more efficient, but it is another to make an ad hominen attack which also makes the assumption that because you drive a fancy car and have a wife that you must be right. That is a pretty low blow and I hope this guy is exaggerating the conversation.
Secondly, the acetone thing doesn’t pass that “What if this is true test”. Mainly, if adding acetone so obviously improved gas mileage, it would already be a common gasoline additive. The what if this is true test is not a foolproof test and I think it borders on an argument from ignorance, but it can be useful.
How many magnets have been sold that “align the molecules in gasoline for better combustion”. I bet you can find people that claim they worked for them.
While acetone will have no effect, there are possible substances that can improve mileage and/or performance by controlling combustion velocity under non-optimal operating conditions. Low molecular weight polybutadiene has been mentioned. The potential would be to effectively use a lower grade of fuel. However nothing that I’ve heard of has come out of the laboratories that is ready for general use that does not have a pollution problem. A successful product would make world headlines
If Eric comes to TAM6 I’ll buy him a beer!
Eric’s story is kind of like the fable of the ant and the grasshopper — with Eric as the ant. I hope he finds himself driving down the highway in Las Vegas in July and sees one of his “friends” on the side of the road with his BMW suffering from a dissolved hose. Don’t stop for them Eric. Just honk and wave.
Don’t forget that season changes alter driving habits more than just A/C usage, there’s also rolling down windows at highway speeds, in frosting weather letting the car heat up, the difference in performance from a cold engine vs warmed up, and also the fuel additives that gas stations use change over the seasons. There’s also to be sure that they get the same gas and that there’s no variation in the additives.
There are many of variations to account for. I’m just thinking of more, like certain weather patterns (I know Japan has a rain season where there’s practically continual rain for many days). Some of these things they might think come out in the averages, but it’s too uncontrolled.
Acetone has a very characteristic odor, so making a blinded trial would be difficult unless someone other than the driver were pouring in something into each tank of gas. Perhaps Eric can offer to switch cars, and have his BMW driving friends fill the tank before each switch with either Acetone or Placebo, then have Eric check the mileage. All in the name of science, of course.
You’re missing a MAJOR point, here, Steven.
DOES ACETONE COSTS SIGNIFCANTLY LESS PER GALLON THAN GASOLINE ?
If it cost more per gallon (which I think it is likely), you’re better off buying plain gasoline, unless the gain in efficiency is high to the point of offseting the difference in price.
Someone can check, but the EPA has a webpage where they reports the results of their own tests on all the “gas-saving” gizmos and gas additives.
Last time I checked (several years ago), the best gas-savings additives were:
1) get your engine adjusted from time to time
2) keep your tires inflated at the proper pressure
3) accelerate and decelarate smoothly, don’t exceeed the speed limit.
That was it, then. Colloidal silver at $40 a liquid ounce didn’t help.
Here is the Wikipedia entry on fuel saving devices:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_saving_devices
Here is the EPA webpage (no summary)
http://www.epa.gov/otaq/consumer/reports.htm
Arthur – I have to disagree. If it doesn’t work at all, it doesn’t matter how much it costs. Also, the claim is that a small amount of acetone will save gallons of gas – no one is claiming that the acetone is being burned as fuel.
Ah, OK, Steven.
It remains to be seen in what quantities the acetone purports to be effective, and supposing that x oz of acetone (per gas tank ?) increase the milleage by 3% (asuming facts not in evidence), wouldn’t adding the same volume in gas — or better, a quantity of case corresponding to the same price in acetone), also make your car go 3% farther ?
To my knowledge, most commercial “magic gas additives” are sold in small bottles that cost *more* than a full gallon of gas (more than $2), and their purported economy has shown to be elusive to prove.
Just like quack medecines.
Jeez, SGU listener, get some new friends. Those guys sound like complete arses and, to be honest, you’d be better off with no friends than a group that are happy to attack you in that way. Be your own best friend and treat yourself with the respect that you deserve.
Best of luck.
Is it possible the acetone is cleaning some of the gunk out of the system and giving an increase in mileage in a degraded system? That also might account for the varying results.
A good skeptic considers all probable possibilities but I shan’t be putting any nail polish remover in my tank; the car talk comment about the gaskets is warning enough for me.
Mythbusters busted this myth a while ago
http://neubranderinc.com/blog/2007/01/03/acetone-in-gasoline-busted/
ellazimm – good pickup. Some of the articles did mention that – acetone could be cleaning a gunked up engine, and that can give 1-3% increase in efficiency, but not 10-30%. Also, there are additives that are designed to clean the engine so you are better off using those rather than messing with acetone.
I think this person’s experience illustrates an important point of mob psychology, illustrated by this quote.
In any great organization it is far, far safer to be wrong with the majority than to be right alone. — John Kenneth Galbraith
It is more important to “go along to get along” than to be factually correct. I think in the context of the quote, “great” means large. The human race certainly qualifies as “great” in that context.
Why disagreement on whether acetone does or does not improve gas mileage should be considered important enough justification to drive this man from the party says something about the importance of magical or faith based thinking in people’s lives, and the inability to tolerate those who do not share it.
The lack of the ability to adopt the magical thinking of the majority might be part of why he is single. Finding a mate is an extremely powerful motivating factor to adopting the magical thinking of the majority. That the people he was talking to would actually raise it as part of their argument is telling. That is one of the ways that magical thinking does get perpetuated and passed on to the next generation.
Your advice to meet up with and acquire more skeptical friends is a good one. We need to do all we can to get everyone to appreciate that skeptical thinking is more attractive than magical thinking.
Tom and Ray don’t have a blog, that’s their newspaper column. Their main site is http://www.cartalk.com.
Great post, but it left me wondering: what’s a car? I looked it up on the internets , and a car looks like a dinky, costly, cramped, smelly, inefficient way of travel compared to the lovely electric tram running on a grassy lawn in front of my apartment building.
Seriously, about the attempt to lower Eric’s self-esteem, I would emphasize that Eric’s ability to be skeptical, to ask questions/ demand evidence is a fine basis for self-esteem. So go in that direction, meet people who cherish that ability and focus on making that skill become better.
And though conformism is often a factor in belonging, us humans admire the iconoclasts also (usually after their deaths though).
In the context of the claim, I took the attacks by Eric’s friends as basic ad hominem irrelevance: You are single and drive a less expensive car than we do, therefore your skepticism on acetone is wrong.
I also took it as evidence of shallowness and immaturity, also irrelevant to the claim.
The Galbraith quote is accurate. As a clinician I must attend recertification trainings and in my field (mental health/substance abuse tx) one frequently runs into all manner of woo and what I term “thinkful wishing”. At the annual week-long SA ‘Summer School’ in Wilmington NC I found myself in a training the title of which now escapes me, but did not at all tip me off to its actual content: faith, prayer, and God as a MH/SA tx intervention. I won’t bore with the details – we can all well imagine – but I made the mistake of reacting to having heard enough nonsense at that year’s school ironically themed as “Evidence Based Treatment Modalities.” Bear in mind that most of NC is rural and solid Bible Belt. I raised my hand to voice complaint on a particular howler of a nonsense claim by the presenter, and though well-known and liked by most in the crowd I quickly became a pariah. I was basically shouted down. The 35-40 psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, counselors, and nurses in the room clearly had signed up for that training for the religion and I had dared to question. They acted like I’d given the preacher a raspberry during his Sunday morning church sermon. My suggestion that any treatment that cannot be questioned is poor treatment indeed was regarded as if I’d pissed on Billy Graham’s pant leg.
(We did manage to get that and a couple other decidedly non-evidence based topics removed from ensuing annual schools.)
I think Eric should just drop the subject and let his friends continue to put acetone into their expensive BMW’s. Sooner or later a gasket will give and Eric can retake the upper hand by offering them a lift home … if they don’t mind driving in a Town and Country.
Nice to read that stateside BMW drivers are living up to the reputation that they gained in the UK years ago…
Rgds
I don’t know about anyone else but I put in 2 oz of acetone
in my 98 Hyundai Accent and 2 days later it started sputtering and stalling. I just hope I didn’t do too much damage
[...] does not improve gas mileage should be considered important enough justification to drive this …http://www.theness.com/neurologicablog/?p=276Auto components lighten up to improve mileage – USATODAY.comAutomakers are putting cars on a diet in [...]
I first heard about the acetone theory about 3 years ago, gas was not to bad at the time, but about a year ago, I decided to check into it further, acetone by itself seems to only work when stations are not adding the extra oxygenation additives to the fuel, but I did find a site that went a little further, and with my full size van, Ford E-350 Super Duty with the Triton V-10, I see a 20-25% increase in mileage, with a large engine every little bit helps, the trick is to use the acetone and xylene as well, this combination works better than just the acetone. The xylene, found in the paint section of any hardware store, is a varnish thinner. It appears that with thinning with xylene and reduced surface tension gives better combustion, when I had my emission test done, I was surprised to see the numbers were lower than the previous year. the formula is the same 2 oz per 10 gal of acetone and xylene. Now when you fill up, make sure that you only add the amount of chemicals to the amount of gas you added, whats in the tank is already treated, so you are just treating the added fuel, if you add to much, it actually reduces your mileage. Regards
[...] lost all my friends this week at a dinner party where the topic of acetone in the gas tank came up.http://www.theness.com/neurologicablog/?p=276 Acetone In Fuel Said to Increase MileageAcetone In Fuel Said to increase mileage … less wasted [...]
Reading this blog entry, I came upon a comment that I couldn’t help but laugh about. Someone posted a comment that our automobiles of today are 98% efficient. Really now? So….the catalytic converter on our vehicles burns the other 2 %, right? Hmm…then that would make our vehicles nearly 100% efficient! Dunno what your your smoking, but it just aint so. Hate to piss on your parade, but even with the technology we have, we are a ways off from that scenario. Another comment posted was about the “Independent Labs Tests”. That doesn’t impress me….ESPECIALLY when the lab is funded by one of the “7 Ugly Sisters”, so to speak, “Big Oil” for those of you not in “the know”. Here is one to put in your pipe and smoke. Give me gasoline from the early 70’s and I’ll show you 100 mpg. Easily. Why cant I do that today? Because of the many additives added to gasoline, each of which has a different boiling point, some of which are well in excess of 450 deg. What this means is it won’t “break down” with temperatures we can create with our internal combustion engine. You think this was done by accident? Or this. Let’s put our thinking caps on for a minute…..
1. Who has the most to gain?
2. Who stands to lose and not gain?
If I was a stockholder for Exxon Mobile, it is in my best interest to sell gas. Lots of gas. The more I sell, the more I make. If all of the sudden everything went TWICE as far, I am going to sell 1/2 as much. I’m no rocket scientist, but this is a no-brainer.
Now “big oil” is running our country, from Washington on down the line. What most cant see is “we” created this nightmare. We allowed it to happen. Our society of today has no clue, as the majority of it functions like a programmed robot.
I had a conversation the other day with a gal from Canada, and the conversation lead to the highway system connecting US, Canada and Mexico. I informed her Canada wasn’t exempt from this plan. What she told me floored me, and it sums up what has happened to the people in our country today. This is what she said, and I quote: “I believe what I am told to believe”.
Kinda speaks volumes for where we have taken our society, huh?
Also, when one takes the time (and I encourage you to do so), and go to the US Patent Office (They have a search able database now), and do a search for high mileage fuel devices. What you will find is they are all (most of them) owned by one of “The 7 Ugly Sisters”, sitting away somewhere in a lock box, doing nothing but gathering dust. Also, they were all designed around super heating the gasoline into a true vapor. Efficiency goes through the roof. Problem today is these “additives” muck up the vapor fuel delivery apparatus EVERYTIME, and it does so in very short order.
Lets put logic out the window for a second. Those who are providing you your gasoline. The “good guys”, remember? Well, these “good guys” have posted record profits, all while “doing the US consumer a favor”. After all, they are looking out for us, right? Remember that next time it takes 89 US dollars to fill up a 22 gallon fuel tank.
The Acetone and the Xylene are no more dangerous than at least 4 (four) of the current additives in a gallon of gas you buy today. The Xylene acts as an “oxygenator”, giving the same effect as the gas pumps you see that say “Oxygen Added”.
Oh, and if we’re so efficient, why do we need a catalytic converter to “burn” all the fuel that didn’t burn the first time?
And to think this ol country boy figured it all out? Don’t kid yourself. They have know far longer than I. COULD we be driving more economical vehicles? Yes. BIG TIME. But as long as automotive manufactures answer to big oil, it just won’t happen.
Now, you may all begin laughing and making silly programmed jokes….hehe…..because I’m paying on average 2 bucks a gallon at the pump. Snicker away!
Peace
||Also, when one takes the time (and I encourage you to do so), and go to the US Patent Office (They have a search able database now), and do a search for high mileage fuel devices. What you will find is they are all (most of them) owned by one of “The 7 Ugly Sisters”, sitting away somewhere in a lock box, doing nothing but gathering dust. ||
Any chance you could search and post the findings here? Because i went there did a search:
http://usasearch.gov/search?affiliate=uspto.gov&v%3Aproject=firstgov&query=high+mileage+fuel+device
And nothing came up supports your claim.
For those who are not Patro39
http://skepchick.org/skepticsguide/index.php/topic,12172.0.html
A good first test of the DeAngelis Novella Postulates.
1) Powerful evil:
“Now “big oil” is running our country, from Washington on down the line”
2) Sheeple:
“Our society of today has no clue, as the majority of it functions like a programmed robot.”
3) Army of Light
“And to think this ol country boy figured it all out?”
“I had a conversation the other day with a gal from Canada, and the conversation lead to the highway system connecting US, Canada and Mexico. I informed her Canada wasn’t exempt from this plan. What she told me floored me, and it sums up what has happened to the people in our country today. This is what she said, and I quote: “I believe what I am told to believe”.”
“Now, you may all begin laughing and making silly programmed jokes….hehe…..because I’m paying on average 2 bucks a gallon at the pump. Snicker away!”
ive been doing a lot of reading about the use of acetone to increase mileage. not sure if it works or not yet, and still deciding if i should try it on my 2003 4Runner V8.
one thing that irked me was _Arthur’s post regarding the cost of acetone outweighing the gains (if gains are possible). _Arthur, you are way off buddy! think about what you are measuring and your variables! the recommendations are 1oz-3oz of acetone per 10gals of gas.
ok lets do some calculations on cost
16oz bottle of 100% pure acetone = $5 (beauty supply store)
$5/16oz = $.31/1oz of acetone
1oz of acetone per 10gals of gas
$.31(cost of 1oz of acetone)/10 gals = $.03/1gal of gas
thats an increase of $.03/gal of gas you buy.
87 octane is about $4.50ish/gal
so $4.50 + $.03 = $4.53/gal of gas; thats .66% increase in cost/gal of gas.
.66% is, in my opinion, very insignificant.
lets run some scenarios:
87octane costing $4.50 gal
20 gals of gas = $90
avg 18mpgs = 360miles/tank
$90/360miles = $.25/mile
87octane costing $4.50gal
20gals of gas = $90
1oz of acetone/10gal of gas = 2oz of acetone
2oz of acetone = $.62
total cost of “fuel” = $90.62
avg 19mpgs (gain of only 1mpg) = 380miles (5% increase in mileage)
$90.62/380miles = $.23/mile (8% in cost savings.)
so IF you can gain atleast 1mpg, it already pays for itself. with 1mpg increase, the point at which there is ZERO gain in cost savings is when you have a base of 150mpgs and a increase to 151mpgs. i dont think we will get those kinds of mpgs anytime soon. but who knows
im not a advocate for acetone in gas. im still deciding if i should try it or not. ive read so many things for it and against it. im tired of reading blah blah blah. so, if i decide that 2oz of acetone in my 20gal tank of gas will not SIGNIFICANTLY damage my suv, i will give it a try and see for myself.
Increasing the fficiency of gasoline woudl increase the profits of Big Oil not decrease them.
Joshik according to the wik page mythbusters tested this:
||[Myth busters] also tested the idea that adding a small amount of acetone to gasoline increases fuel efficiency by making the gasoline burn more completely (presumably without damaging the plastic parts of the fuel system.) However, the result was that alhough there was no apparent damage the fuel system, the efficiency of the fuel actually decreased.||
I encourage you not to take the word of a wiki page or of a TV show. But I also encourage you to consider the problem of testing it yourself:
You’ll need to average this over a very long period of time. The week you use acetone you might encounter less stop and go traffic. You will experience increased fuel economy, none of which may be attributed to the acetone.
It’s manifest that simple changes in driving habits can lead to big improvements in gas mileage. If you knowingly have acetone in your tank, you might subconsciously attempt to drive in a more efficient manner because you have the end goal of better gas mileage. We all have a good idea of what we think we should be getting in terms of mileage at certain cardinal points on our fuel gage. I’m pretty sure I should be getting about 450km per tank (sorry I’m Canadian, not sure what that is in miles). If the fuel gauge is at mid level and I’m at 190 km, I might well adjust my driving habits. With acetone in the tank and the expectation to do even better, this might make me change my driving habits even more.
Best of luck.
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All I see is a bunch of masturbatory pseudo intellectuals arguing abstractly and uselessly into the atmosphere, about things of which they have no first-hand knowledge.
Well here’s some hard evidence,…from someone who has DONE it (granted this is the internet and someone can be, say, or do whatever or whomever they want).
November 2006
1991 Nissan Maxima SE, 3.0 V6, Automatic Transmission
This particular car has a mileage rating of 17 City and 24 Highway,..according to fueleconomy.gov,…which is quite accurate;…as with 89 octane gasoline,…and normal (FAST)driving, the car yielded a combined gas mileage (filled up, trip odometer set, drive until almost empty,…fill up again and divide the miles driven by the gallons of gas used, for those who may not know how to check such things) of between 19 and 21 MPG, with other occasions of Highway-specific testing yielding no greater than 23 MPG.
NOW we begin….
Trip from Pittsburgh, PA, to Easton, MD
Gasoline was filled to the top,..on level ground,…with BP 89 Octane,…careful calculation of maximum fuel capacity was made,…with a carefully-measured 3 ounces of Acetone per 10 gallons of gasoline.
All said and done, the car yielded 28.7 miles per gallon with the acetone additive. Testing since then has yielded the same results. For those with low IQ, or for the hard-of-hearing; that is a: MORE THAN 24% INCREASE IN FUEL ECONOMY WITH 3 OUNCES OF ACETONE PER 10 GALLONS OF GASOLINE
I did not write it down how many miles exactly, but I knew it then and I did it right, so the MPG is all that matters.
But I just have to ask,…how many of you have actually TESTED their car with 3 ounces of acetone per 10 gallons of gasoline? Anyone? I sure didn’t see anyone raise their hand with a case wherein they PERSONALLY disproved this theory. It’s not hard to do this testing yourself. Unless you are dull at basic math, or you do not know how to work your trip odometer….
And I don’t give a damn about MythBusters,….I have seen them foible “experiments” before, and I would certainly not take the word of a mainstream-media TELEVISION SHOW telling me how something that could save me dollars at the gas pumps does NOT work.
Gunslinger – Evaluating the plausibility of a claim and the existing available evidence is not mental masturbation.
Also – you are putting far too much faith in your own “test.” You seem to be relying on the published mileage for your vehicle, but did not actually do a baseline for control. I would also recommend a blinded trial, as driving habits can significantly affect gas mileage. You might also control for other factors, such as how long it has been since the last tune up, and the use of detergents in the fuel to clean certain parts.
In other words – your information is not sufficiently controlled to be of any use.
Finally – I cited more references than just Mythbusters. But they at least documented their tests in a way that can be examined. Why should I put more faith in your test than theirs?
Gunslinger reread my previous post from 17 Jul 2008 and let me know what you did to control for the issues raised there.
Definitely acetone is not a good stuff to increase gas mileage. Few ways we can increase gas mileage when winter begins like:
Heater and defroster – make sure they work properly.
save gas Lights and flashing hazard lights – see if they work.
save gas Oil – check for level, and weight. Make sure you have either a high-viscosity or multi-viscosity oil rated for winter use.
save gas Thermostat – check if operational.
I have written a blog post on improving gas mileage
http://www.savegaspros.com/articles/how-to-improve-gas-mileage.php