I saw this video and said "Damn that's crazy." What kind of negative affects can this have?
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/524517/doubl...gas_mileage_2x/


...and don't worry, I'm not actually considering putting this in my car.

 

The video didn't load. However, from the video title I'm assuming the claim is acetone will double your mileage. This is fabricated B.S. (as most mileage booster claims are).
To double your mileage, the magic ingredient (acetone in this case) would somehow have to trick your ECU into leaning the fuel mixture down to the point there was half the fuel being injected into the engine - under the same conditions (compared to standard fuel). Acetone can't do that.

Will acetone improve mileage? Yes - and No.
Acetone is a surfactant of gasoline and therefore reduces the surface tension of gasoline and allows it to vaporize more readily. This can increase the mileage of older cars that use carbs by as much as maybe 20-25%, or so. We're talking very old, very inefficient technology here, along with some dangerous tinkering. It doesn't have as dramatic an effect on fuel-injected cars though (less than 10%).
At any rate - acetone will not double your mileage.
This is in concentrations of about 2-3 oz per 10 gallons of gasoline. Larger concentrations will marginally increase the octane number, but will not increase mileage. Larger concentrations increase the risk of damage to your car.

Here's the wash - acetone binds to ethanol (which isn't a big deal in the combustion process), and this binding greatly reduces the surfactant qualities of acetone - and therefore the benefit. I believe ethanol is added to all fuels in the U.S. now at a rate of up to 10%. There's little or no benefit to using acetone in any fuel with ethanol in concentrations over 5%.

Acetone can damage anything rubber in your fuel system due to the fact it's a strong solvent (not typically seen in gasoline refined for the U.S.). Most modern rubbers are resistant to strong solvents. However, most manufacturers don't expect you'll be dumping relatively high concentrations of solvents (especially ones not typically found in gasoline) into your tank, or that these components will experience continuous or prolonged exposure either.
The other problem is strong solvents will break down your engine's oil (blow-by), greatly reducing the life of your oil.

Acetone will increase your octane number and slightly improve your mileage in not-ethanol augmented fuels. It provides little benefit in fuels with ethanol.
However (and most importantly), it's really not worth the risk of damaging your fuel system or engine for a very small (if any) gain in mileage.

 

first off acetone isn't as flammable as gasoline
second acetone is more corrosive than gasoline
all his seals o-rings and stuff like trhat are probaly a pile of mush

and lastly that guys a moron why screw up a perfetly good TL?

 

WOW...thanks Slipstream.

 

This topic has been discussed and dismissed as myth. If I remember right there was even also an episode of MythBusters that tried acetone in the gas tank. It was busted

 

Anytime!

Too many times you'll see pseudo-science that sounds convincing and makes the unbelievable sound reasonable. Big claims are always B.S., they never stand up to the critical eye.

The bottom line is there's no golden fleece when it comes to improving mileage. Not to say you can't improve the mileage of your car by around 5% with a few relatively inexpensive modifications. However, measurable mileage improvements much over 10% are a lot more expensive than horsepower modifications - comparatively, on a percentage basis.

 

True - it was "busted" on Myth Busters.
The thing they didn't mention on the show (which I covered above) is that acetone will have no effect in fuels oxygenated with ethanol - acetone will bind with ethanol. They used pump gas - which is oxygenated.
The point is irrelevant because all fuels in the U.S. are oxygenated with ethanol (eliminating any possible benefit from adding acetone).
I seriously doubt you would see any real benefit in an AP1 or AP2 engine anyway. Both engines are extremely efficient designs.