The addition of acetone to your gas when filling up can improve your gas mileage – or at least that’s what many people claim. A small amount of acetone is also said to increased engine performance and longevity. Wow, sounds too good to be true… right? Lets discuss the theory behind this magic.

The basic theory is that acetone aids in vaporization of gasoline. In an automobile engine, gasoline is vaporized before combustion. This process isn’t perfect and results in gasoline that is both vapor and liquid. As you can imagine, the liquid doesn’t ignite as well and the end result is less power. This is where acetone comes in to play. It reduces the over all surface tension of the mixture, thus increasing the amount of gasoline that becomes vaporized.

Read the first post here: How To: Improve Your Gas Mileage

The Car

From my readings I have found that different cars and engines have reported wildly different results. This experiment will involve my 2003 Saturn ION. Below are some of the specification.

2003 Saturn ION (EPA Gas Mileage, User Gas Mileage)

• 2.2 L L4
• VTi Variable Transmission
• 13.5 Gallon Fuel Tank

Test 2: (*In Progress*)

This test will be the actual driving portion where gas mileage is calculated. I will run each mixture twice, and between each mixture series I will run 1 tank with no acetone. The test will involve me driving my car to and from work with no passengers. The drive is 43 miles each way with 34 of those being highway miles. Approx. 79% of the drive will be highway. I will use cruise control while in the highway (set to 75 MPH). The non highway speeds will be around 55 MPH.

The numbers are in, and it appears that the average of the two tanks with 1 ounce per 10 gallons is 32.45 MPG. Not bad when compared to the EPA’s highway mileage of 29 MPG. I must say I have also noticed smother idle and better throttle response , although I’m not really pushing the performance right now. I plan to do a performance test later on after these tests are complete.