“Look what happens when I switch on the kettle!”

“Right, I’m going to try turning off the lights in the kitchen!”

“Oh my god, did you see what just happened when the washing machine came on?”

I know – it’s sad but true. With less time and energy than is contained in one kilowatt-hour, we had transformed into electricity measurement geeks.

I’d just got bac from the launch of the Low Carbon Households project, which is being run by Lewes District Council. Fellow Living contibutor Jeremy and I will be monitoring our home electricity use for a year, as will more than 30 other households in the district.

An eco-eye out

We’ve all been equipped with an eco-eye mini, a neat little device that reveals what’s going on behind the scenes.

The idea of monitoring energy use may not push everyone’s button, but when you get one of these bad boys clamped onto your supply you can’t help but get involved with it.

It’s very simple. You plug the sensor into the mains or insert a couple of batteries (they came supplied with proper ones, Duracell AAs – when does that ever happen?). Then you lock it on to one of the wires going into your fusebox – no cutting or rewiring required.

Next you put batteries in the separate monitor screen, and set the time and the cost per unit of electricity (according to your last bill). And that’s it. You’re recording real-time use of power in kilowatt-hours, and can see how much your current use would cost over a week, month or year – as well as the likely CO2 emissions.

Within seconds, you’re wondering why the level is so low, or so high, and why it’s changing all the time. It’s a bit of a jolt.

We’d been told at the meeting by Climate South East’s Matthew Bird that the kettle would be a shocker, and he was right. Making a cup of tea sent our low, mid-evening reading shooting up five-fold. You quickly realise why the National Grid struggles to cope with the surge in demand during half-time in cup finals.

And…?

So, this is all very well. But will it actually change the way we behave?

Well, the early signs are: yes. Our kettle doesn’t have a water gauge, so it’s easy to overfill. I did exactly that this morning, and felt so unable to waste the hot water that I made a full cafetiere (which could be reheated later, for rather less power, in the microwave) and a Thermos flask of tea for my train journey later in the day.

I’ve eased off the monitor-watching a bit this evening, but it’s sat there, watching, waiting, and ready to reveal the true energy impact the next time we hoover, or dry the kids’ hair or leave the TV on standby.

And as they say, knowledge is power.

Anyone else out there got an eco-eye mini or similar smart meter plugged in to their home? Let us know your experiences of whether it’s helping you to save energy.

IMAGES by me

By Eric Peters, Automotive Columnist

People who lived through the original Great Depression learned how to squeeze every last drop of value out of every penny they had — and never wasted anything.

It looks like this generation is going to have to relearn those lessons… double-time quick.

The best way to save money, of course, is to avoid having to spend it in the first place. Here are a few ideas that might be helpful:

Extend Your Battery Life

Batteries are expensive — good ones can cost more than 0 — so the longer yours lasts, the better it is for your bottom line.

One way to extend the useful life of your car’s battery is to keep it at full charge by avoiding such practices as running accessories (radio, headlights, interior lights, etc.) for extended periods with the engine off. When the engine is off, so is the car’s alternator — which produces the electricity that normally operates the car’s electrical systems as well as keeps the battery fully charged. When the engine is off, you are running on the battery exclusively — which drains away charge.

When you restart the engine, the alternator will restore full charge to the battery; however, excessive discharging (and recharging) of the battery is bad for its long term ability to hold a full charge. This is why you should only use the battery to start the car — not run the accessories for long periods of time.

If the car is not used regularly, consider buying an automatic “trickle charger.” Even though the car is off, there is a gradual draw of current that, over time, can weaken the battery and reduce its longevity. A trickle charger is a simple device that you connect to the battery’s positive and negative terminals and plug into a household outlet. That’s it. The device turns on and off automatically, as needed, to maintain the battery at full charge. Automatic models are completely safe and cannot overcharge your battery. But they can save you money in the form of longer-lived batteries.

Take Care Of Your Tires

Flats are much less commonplace than they once were, in part because modern tire construction methods and materials are much improved over the way tires were made in the past. However, the downside is that people often take tires for granted — and don’t regularly check tire pressure. Everyone has read how this hurts gas mileage — which is absolutely true. But under-inflated tires also wear out more rapidly — which can affect your vehicle’s safety as well as cost you money in the form of more frequent tire replacement.

Under-inflated tires may actually be more commonplace today than in the past because of the widespread use of aluminum alloy wheels. Reason? Alloy wheels often have air bubbles and other imperfections imparted during the casting process (vs. stamped steel wheels). Internal — and microscopic — corrosion can also result in tiny porosities that let air slip out as you drive. The leaks are typically very minor, but over a period of weeks or months, the losses can be significant. And it won’t be noticeable to the eye until the pressure has dropped to dangerously low levels.

New (2009 and up) model years cars have built-in electronic tire pressure monitors, but most older cars do not and require the old-fashioned manual check with a gauge — ideally at least once every two weeks.

Keep An Eye On Your Gas Tank

Keep it full, or as close to full, as possible at all times. There are several money-saving benefits to be had. First, you can save a few bucks on the fuel itself. If the tank is kept full, or near full, you won’t find yourself running on fumes and forced to fill up at the first-available (and probably most expensive) station you find. Second, you can save money by reducing your vulnerability to the random upticks in price we’ve been seeing lately. If you find a good deal, tank up — and you’ve got more time to find the next good deal.

But the real money savings from keeping a full, or near full, tank comes in the form of cutting back the odds you’ll need expensive fuel system service in the years ahead. Why? A partially empty fuel tank is more prone to internal condensation (water) build-up as the outside temperature goes up and down. Tanks and fuel lines are made of steel — and steel exposed to water eventually begins to rust. The rust particles flake off and can clog fuel filters, fuel lines and fuel injectors — leading to big bucks repairs.

Eventually, rust can eat holes in the tank (and lines), too. Replacing these parts is neither easy nor inexpensive. A full gas tank will help avoid these problems.

Be Smart About The Clutch

Just like brakes, clutch wear occurs during the course of normal operation — mainly through friction. When the clutch is out and you’re driving along, there is virtually no wear on the clutch disc. The majority of the wear happens when you’re just starting out — and when you’re shifting gears. This is when the clutch is partially (or fully) disengaged. Material is being worn away through friction. Reduce the friction — and you decrease wear and increase longevity. Since replacing a clutch can cost as much as ,000 or more, the longer you can go between clutch jobs, the better.

Avoid stop and go-type driving, for openers. In fact, if the majority of the driving you do consists of stop and go driving (which forces you to constantly engage and disengage the clutch) you might be better off buying a car with an automatic transmission. The difference in fuel economy is minimal (today’s modern automatics are very efficient; the difference in fuel economy between automatic and stickshift versions of the same car is usually no more than 1-3 MPGs) but more importantly, the slight fuel savings isn’t worth much if its wiped away by an 0-,000 clutch job.

Next best, try to tailor your driving to minimize stop and starts — as well as gear changes. Try to maintain your vehicle’s momentum in traffic. It is much easier on the clutch to “roll out” in second than to start out from a dead stop in first. When you change gears, do it smoothly and quickly (but not abruptly). Avoid “riding” the clutch — which is just like riding the brakes and has the same effect.

Lastly, don’t allow drivers who aren’t fully competent with a stickshift near the driver’s seat of your car. The best car for them to learn on is someone else’s car.

Comments?
www.ericpetersautos.com (click on “Forum”).

How To Squeeze Every Penny Out Of Your Car

Further Reading:

• How To Make Your Car Last Forever (Or Close To It)
• 5 Little Things You Can Do To Save Gas
• 10 Things Everyone Should Know About Tires
• Don’t Overreact To These Common Car Problems
• Do You Make These Mistakes With Your Car?

Fuel Economy Tips for Drivers of Petrol Automatics

If you currently own this type of car, and you can’t live without an autobox, I would strongly recommend switching to a diesel automatic as soon as you can. In the past, I have found to my own cost, that with a conventional petrol automatic the odds are stacked against you from the outset. The last petrol automatic I owned, was a Mercedes 190E 2.0 petrol with autobox, it was a petrol guzzler! The official figures stated that it was supposed to return 30mpg, but it was barely giving 25mpg when I first got it. With a thorough service, a few tweaks and a light foot, I could get 32mpg without additives, and a little more on a long run. The bottom line is that economy will ALWAYS be poor with that setup, mainly because with an autobox you don’t normally have the ability to induce engine braking on demand. Those of you old folks who are familiar with automatics, will know that when you take your foot off the go pedal, the revs have a tendency to drop dramatically, stepping on/off throttle is more like push/coast, the big problem is that you’re using petrol ALL of the time! The only option you are left with is a superlight right foot! To summarise this type of car, I am just going to say that it is damn near impossible to escape the following equation: Petrol + Automatic = Piss Poor Economy. If you are stuck with this setup, don’t worry, there are plenty more tips on this site, to help slow the descent of your fuel gauge.

Tips for Manual Petrol Car Drivers

This is the most common car type on UK roads today, although diesel cars with a manual gearbox will probably take the lead in the near future, still with me? It’s worth mentioning that in this type of car, with the exception of steep hills, you should never need to go over 3000rpm. Tearing up the gears, then cruising in 5^th gear, is NOT driving for economy! I have tested all the fuel economy myths, the old method of the lowest revs in the highest gear, works quite well, (eg: 1500rpm in 5^th gear) but there are other factors that you must be aware of. A method I like to employ, is what I call the Imaginary Rev Limit, where for instance on a flat road, starting from a standstill, you imagine that you can’t exceed 2000rpm but there is a rule you must apply to this method, and it is just simply, never let the engine struggle. If you are sitting at 1500rpm in 5^th gear, and the car is chugging, or vibrating badly, then you have two options. Option 1: Increase your speed in 5^th gear, until the car runs smoothly again. Option 2: Drop down to 4^th gear to lessen the strain on the engine. Whatever option you choose, the engine would no longer be stressed. Option 1, would yield the highest fuel economy on a flat road, or a slight uphill stretch. This method does not take the engine ‘Sweet Spot’ into account, but it will serve you well if you can’t find the sweet spot. There was a time in the past when even I believed the sweet spot was a myth, but it is there, you will find it somewhere between 40-60mph in 5^th gear (or 6^th if you have a 6 speed box), in difficulty to find it’s similar to the G-Spot in women! If you have a mpg computer in your car, which gives an accurate reading in real time (a lot of them don’t), you should be able to see it, by varying your speed while cruising in your highest available gear. If you have a spare £100, you could buy a scangauge, you can find them on the internet, just google the name, it plugs into the OBD Socket found under the dash in most cars. It is much more than an mpg meter, and is extremely accurate, but probably only justifiable for a serious fuel economy nut like me. To sum up the sweet spot, I think it is accurate to say that it is a product of the torque characteristics of your engine, and is usually found at the peak point in the rev range where torque delivery is at its strongest, which is why it varies from car to car. Read the article ‘Driving Style’ for a snippet of knowledge on how to keep your engine running without using any fuel. What did he just say? Alright it was a little play on words, but the point I would like to get across, is that there are times when your car is using no fuel at all, and you can exploit that knowledge if you know when it’s happening.

Tips for Diesel Car Drivers

This type of car is by far the smartest choice for everyday motoring, and as the majority of diesel cars have a Fuel Cut Off valve, which cuts off the fuel supply when you take your foot off the pedal. In the grand scheme of things, it does a similar job to the EFI setup in a petrol car. Although the Fuel Cut off Valve in a diesel, is entirely different to the EFI setup in a petrol car, they both cut off the fuel supply when you let off the throttle, so the same driving style applies. For this reason I recommend all the same tips described for a petrol manual car. The bonus with a diesel engined car, is a lot more engine torque/pulling power, this enables you to change gear earlier, and cruise at much lower revs. Diesels engines are also much more efficient at tickover, than petrol engines, and as far as driving techniques are concerned, I’ve more or less covered it in the Petrol/manual section.

Driving Style Tips for UK Motorists

I cannot stress enough the impact your driving style has on fuel economy. You must adjust your driving style to suit both, the vehicle you are driving, and the environment you are driving in. To get the best out of your car, you must first properly understand the fundamental driving techniques to use, but more importantly, WHY YOU SHOULD USE THEM! One obvious thing to mention at this point, is that although I will include tips for cars with an automatic gearbox, these articles are biased in favour of cars with a manual gearbox. There are many reasons for this, not least the obvious fuel penalty with a conventional autobox. If you can’t live without an automatic, there are CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) based automatics, which offer little, or no fuel penalty over a manual gearbox. Please note at this point, that I won’t be covering petrol cars that are fitted with a turbocharger, as you would probably own it for all the wrong reasons!

I’m going to hazard a guess here, and say that around 90% of petrol cars on UK roads in 2008, have Electronic Fuel Injection or EFI, older cars used carburettors before EFI became the norm. You need to be aware that some of the methods your ‘dad’ told you to use, do not work so well in modern petrol cars. Cars fitted with EFI have something your daddy’s car didn’t have, A FUEL RETURN PIPE! Yes, quite simply put, it’s a pipe that will return unused fuel to the tank. Q: When does that happen then? A: Every time you take your foot OFF the accelerator. This is where most people make a BIG mistake, they start thinking that if they coast along the road in neutral, and keep their foot off the pedal, they won’t be using any fuel, …WRONG!!!!!! Here’s why. You’re driving along and you come to the top of a big hill, and you start thinking to yourself, I’m gonna freewheel down this and save some fuel, so you stick it in neutral and coast down the hill on tickover, WRONG AGAIN!!!!! WHY? Because, when you were coasting down the hill in neutral, your engine was ticking over, so it was using fuel, and not returning it to the tank! Now, at this point, you might be thinking, ‘but I still saved fuel’ and I would say ‘Yes you did ‘grasshopper’, but what you should have done at the top of the hill is this. – At the top of the hill you should have taken your flipper off the go pedal, and left the car in gear, now you should use engine braking to go down the hill, stepping down a gear or two to slow yourself, and a little foot brake if needed, or if it’s a big open road ahead, you could just have left it in 5^th or 6^th and gather speed. Why use engine braking, I hear you ask?, it just doesn’t make sense? – well it’s quite simple really. When you go down the hill using my method, if the car is still in gear when you take your foot of the accelerator, the engine will not be using any fuel, I mean NONE WHATSOEVER!, it just returns it to the tank. If you let the revs drop below around 1000rpm, tickover will kick in to stop the engine from stalling, and you will be burning fuel. Whereas, if you take your foot off the pedal, but keep the engine revs above the point (approx 1000rpm) where tickover kicks in, your car will not be using any fuel. The point of that example is to get you to use engine braking whenever possible, simply because it cuts off the fuel supply to the engine. When approaching junctions or traffic lights, work your way back down to second gear when possible, to keep the fuel supply cut off for as long as possible, but never shift down into first while the vehicle is in motion, I know 99% of you will know this, it’s just for the 1% who don’t know. Just one more tip for this section, on the subject of cold starts in the morning. When you start your car in the mornings for the first time, some of you will sit there for 5 minutes to warm the engine up. The almost traditional engine warm up, is a blatant waste of fuel, it is totally uneccesary and will play havoc with your mpg figures, driving off immediately after starting your engine in a non turbo petrol car is much more fuel efficient.

Edit: I came across this video made by a Jeremy Clarkson wannabe in the UK, its a bit nerdy but he makes a few useful points. Anyway Clarkson can rest easy and his job is definately safe for a little while longer.

The majority of UK motorists, probably spend 30-90 minutes of their daily commute in heavy traffic. Traffic jams & queues seriously hurt fuel economy & ultimately your pocket, so I would encourage you to explore alternative routes to your destination. This may seem obvious to some, but there are a lot of sheep out there who just ‘follow the herd’, they drive the same route every day, get stuck in the same traffic jams etc. If you are one of these people, you may need to go take a Bungee jump/Rollercoaster ride/Sky dive etc . An eye-opening experience of that nature should snap you out of ‘Robot Mode’ and start you thinking for yourself.

Imagine for a moment that you work at home. You get up at 8:15, send the kids off to school, grab a coffee, lounge on the sofa & write fluff on your laptop till lunchtime. You don’t watch Televison news or buy a paper, only robots do that, they are used to misery & depression and think it’s normal. Instead you take a drive out & visit friends or family for a few hours, and get back in time for the kids coming home from school. Then after you help the kids with their homework and have your dinner, you play online poker for the rest of the day, or watch a movie, play your guitar/piano etc, no traffic, no boss, & no stress. Well that’s my average day and I love it! I am not a rich man, but life sure is sweet! Most of you will not have a choice, and you must suffer the daily grind through the jams. Something you should be asking yourself is, if your car is suitable for the environment you spend the most time driving in? If you are planning to buy a used car in the near future, you should be looking for a diesel car. With fuel prices so high these days you need to get the most miles for your money. There are many frugal Petrol hatchbacks I could recommend, but if you rack up high miles, or you need anything larger than a Fiesta, Corsa, Clio etc, a diesel car is the way to go, the benefits are obvious. If you spend half your daily commute stuck in traffic at tick-over, the diesel car will use a lot less fuel, probably less than half of the equivalent petrol vehicle, simply because diesels are much more efficient at tick-over than an equivalent petrol engine. Also let’s not forget to mention the generally better economy for the remainder of your journey, add in stronger reliability, longer engine life, lower depreciation and higher resale value, its just plain silly not to buy one! Some of you may be thinking ‘but Diesel Fuel costs more than Petrol on UK forecourts’ yes it does, and a new diesel car usually costs more to buy in the first place. When you do the maths on petrol v diesel, at 12,000 miles per year, it really only begins to pay off AFTER 3 years, this is also the point in ownership, when a lot of people would change their car for a new one, eliminating the savings. For higher mileage driver’s, it starts to pay off much sooner. I would recommend that if you buy a brand new car, you should keep it for as long as possible, at least 5 years if you can, to really feel a difference in your pocket. With depreciation being the 2^ndlargest motoring expense for UK motorists, it makes far greater financial sense to buy a used car. An example of smarter thinking, would be to buy a 3 year old car ,with warranty, at your local car auction (pay trade price), drive it for 1 year, then sell it privately to get all your money back! Zero depreciation? Well maybe for you! We call that one ‘The depreciation game’. As any good used car guide will show you, there can be a huge difference between Trade Price & Private Sale price of any used car, and that is the Wave you get to ride on, for up to a year. Anyway, this article is supposed to be about driving environment and I am way off track.

The reality of your daily commute is more likely: up at 6.30, quick breakfast, you then bolt out the door, into your car, and you spend the next 90 minutes stuck in traffic, flicking mints at the car in front. You eventually arrive at work, just in time to hear a lecture on punctuality. If that sounds like your typical day, then i’m smirking right now, for the simple truth is, if you work for someone else ‘they’ decide how much you earn this month, and unless you inherit a few million, you will always be poor. I’m not trying to make you feel bad, I just want you see that in the real world, there is no such thing as job security, and there are only sheep & wolves in the business world. Don’t be the Sheep.

Fuel Economy Tips for Diesel Automatics

Although not quite as fuel efficient as a manual diesel, this my favourite type of car. The main reason being that it’s a great all rounder, a seriously smart choice for any situation, and I will tell you why I think so. In June 2005 I wanted to take the kids on a long summer holiday, as any parent knows, the school summer holiday’s last about 5 weeks longer than we would like, and listening to 3 kids say ‘I’m bored’ 3 times a day through the holidays, didn’t really appeal to me.

The car we owned at that time, was just too small for a big trip, so what I really needed was a cheap estate car. The used car market in Northern Ireland is very small, and I could only spend £1000 + the small trade-in allowance we expected to get, while still being able to afford the holiday. All I could find for the money, was a 6 year old Ford Escort Estate Car, it was the weedy 1.4L, to pull 2 Adults, 3 Kids & a boot full of luggage, from here, via the Cairnryan ferry in Scotland, on a marathon 6 week trip that will take in Scotland, England, Wales & the Isle of Wight! This should be fun! Well the driving part wasn’t much fun, and destroying the catalytic converter when I drove over a rock in the road, somewhere in the Welsh mountains, wasn’t much fun either.

On the same trip, the incident that earned me the family title of ‘The Incredible Sulk’, was being stuck in the biggest traffic jam I’ve ever seen, on the M3, just outside Southampton, for 5 hours, in the sweltering heat, with no aircon. That was when I discovered that pushing the clutch in and out every 30 seconds, for 5 hours, doesn’t just hurt your leg, it can also burn your clutch out! That’s also the same day I spent 5 hours wishing I had borrowed my Father’s car, which was a DIESEL AUTOMATIC! The autobox would have made the stop/start aspect a breeze, it was also great on fuel, it even had aircon! If we had placed a ‘swear box’ in the car on that trip, it would have been filled 10 times over! I should also mention that I did average 46 mpg overall with a full load for the entire trip, in a 1.4 litre petrol estate car, and drove the 450 miles home, and boarded 2 car ferries (with those nightmare steep ramps), with the clutch slipping the entire time. Your probably thinking ‘why didn’t he just get another clutch fitted in Southampton?’ After 5 weeks on holiday, WE WERE BROKE !!! The reason I have told you all this, is that if you spend most of your life in traffic jams, a diesel automatic car would make your life so much easier.

Using Chemical Fuel Additives to improve fuel economy

Some of you may have heard about the old trick of adding nail polish remover to your petrol or diesel, to increase power & economy, well don’t do it, you will be sorry and I will tell you why. This old trick was one of the first experiments I tried with additives, and I’m not trying to put you off additives, I thoroughly recommend using chemical additives to improve fuel economy, and with nail polish remover it does appear to work at first. The problem lies in the fact that NPR contains only about 50% Acetone, which is the chemical that is performing all the magic, but there are many other chemicals in nail polish remover (including anti-combustion chemicals), and a high percentage of plain old water. What I discovered very quickly was, that while I temporarily got a lot of extra power (about 30% more) in the first few weeks of use, my mpg actually got WORSE. The water building up in the fuel tank, eventually came back to haunt me in the form of misfires and chugging etc.

The obvious answer to all these problems was to buy the 100% pure stuff (lab grade), which I promptly did. What a difference this stuff made, it was pretty damn impressive to say the least. The car used for those initial experiments was a 1997 Volkswagen Passat 1.8L petrol estate with a manual gearbox. Before I began the experiments it was a complete dog of a car, it had no power, 0-60 in 2 weeks, as for top speed, up to that point in ownership I had never got it over 85mph, it just wouldn’t go any faster. My first experiments with NPR in the Volkswagen, made quite a difference to performance but economy was suffering, partly due to the anti-combustion element of NPR, and also because I began to ‘drive it like I stole it’.

When I began using pure acetone in my petrol mix, things got very interesting indeed. At first I thought that benevolent gremlins had fitted a supercharger to my car during the night, it was truly an amazing transformation, my tired old car now felt like it had only left the factory yesterday. After a little more research on the internet, I discovered what was really happening under the bonnet, and it was all good news. What I discovered was that in a run of the mill petrol car, about 75% of the petrol entering the combustion chamber is wasted. In a diesel car it’s about 65% wasted during combustion, the bottom line is that petrol cars are about 25% efficient and diesel cars about 35% efficient. So what happens when you add in pure acetone? In a nutshell, it slightly alters the characteristics of petrol or diesel fuel, and this alteration produces a cleaner burn and reduces wastage. The full picture of what really happens is deeply technical and way beyond the scope of this article (and my expertise), the knock on effect is more power and better fuel economy, what more can a man ask for?

You will be amazed at just how little acetone is required, and do not increase the amount of additive beyond the recommended mixtures stated below, because it will not make the slightest difference to power or economy, it will just waste your valuable additive (about £10 or $20 for 5 litres).

The recommended mixture for petrol is 3 fluid ounces per 40 litres of petrol (just half a cupfull)

The recommended mixture for diesel is 1.5 fluid ounces per 40 litres of diesel (quarter cupfull)

Disclaimer: You undertake all these activities at your own risk, I will not be held responsible for any damage caused by the use of the information contained in this article or indeed the entire website.

You will feel a significant increase in power using these mixtures, but improvements to economy are minimal (somewhere between 10-25%), to really see a significant improvement in mpg you need to make up your own additive mixture. Bookmark this page and check back soon for my extra tips on making your own acetone based additives, I am currently seeing a 40% improvement using a particular additive mixture in a 2002 Hyundai Accent, I am still testing this new mixture and I will post an update here very soon.

One more thing I would like to mention is how much smoother an engine runs with acetone in the fuel, it turns even the roughest running engine into a silky smooth one. It literally cleans your engine from the inside out, it works like a kind of restoration fluid removing all the old carbon that has built up over the years. New cars will just run a little sweeter, you will feel the biggest difference in cars with more than 50,000 miles on the clock. Although you will always feel an immediate difference in any vehicle, in those older cars, the transformation really begins to happen after the second or third tankful of additive usage. It takes a couple of tankfull’s to remove all the old carbon build up from within your engine, once you pass that stage of usage, the power really begins to kick in.

Here is a related video I came across recently, it was filmed by some nut in the USA, it isn’t a great example of using acetone, as the person is using an automatic petrol car and hasn’t attempted to mix it properly, but it may be of some interest to you anyway. See for yourself.

A Cautionary Tale

Before using additives in my old VW passat, I had a friend fit a cheap exhaust on the car, and to be honest it wasn’t fitted very well, it was a quick fix. The car drove well for a few weeks until I started using additives, now don’t get me wrong here, I am not even slightly trying to discredit the use of acetone, it is my second favourite chemical in the world, but after the second week of using additives in that car, my exhaust fell apart, or more accurately, there was so much extra engine power that it pushed the exhaust apart. Now let me explain what actually happened, the exhaust did not break, it just came apart where the mid section joined the back box, and my friend fixed it again. The following week it happened again, then again the week after that. By then I’d had enough and took it to a proper exhaust fit outlet who fitted the exhaust properly, afterwards, even with continued use of additives the problem never returned. The lesson in this tale is that, if any part or repair on your car is already substandard, don’t go blaming the additive for creating new problems, the problems were always there. The simple lesson I learned with that car was that, if your car already has a weakness, don’t expect an additive to fix the problem, those problems must be fixed before you start looking for a miracle cure. There simply is no excuse for not keeping your car in tip top condition, it should be serviced regularly to get the best possible fuel economy out of it. If you scrimp on servicing you will pay for it at the petrol pumps, at around £50 for a basic engine service, it is money well spent.

In all my experiments with acetone, I have not experienced any other problems related to using this chemical, no corrosion, no melting rubber parts, no other problems at all. Before using additives I would occasionally fill my fuel tank with super unleaded to get a little boost, what I have learned from all my experiments thus far is that, using a little acetone is 200% better than paying extra for super unleaded, it’s also cheaper.

Update:

Just though i’d share this with you:  After running a Volkswagen Polo SDi Diesel for the last 12 months, I can honestly tell you that the biggest improvements using Acetone as an additive, has been with this diesel engine.  It makes such a difference to fuel consumption, engine power and smoothness, it virtually eliminates diesel knock.  I would estimate at least 30% better economy with Acetone in an VW SDi/TDi.  I used standard diesel for the first tankful, then added some acetone in the next one.  The difference was unbelievable, this non-turbo diesel felt like its TDi sister, and I could feel the difference immediately.  The beauty of acetone is that you will feel the power and smoothness within a minute of adding it to the fuel.  Vw Polo 1.9SDi – average mpg = 75

<- This Car is currently under development in France and is Fuelled by Compressed Air!

I would like to offer a few tips on used fuel efficient cars, and offer a little advice to those who may be considering a change of car. If you are about to purchase a new car which you plan to keep for 3 years, and you think that diesel is the way to go, THINK AGAIN! As much as I love diesels, when you compare the cost of ownership of a new diesel car, over the petrol equivalent for a 3 year ownership, in most cases it just does not work in your favour. With a higher purchase price, higher servicing costs, quite often the diesel car is in a higher insurance group, then when you factor in that diesel is currently 12 pence a litre MORE expensive than petrol, the potential savings look bleak. The gap between both fuels currently appears to be widening on a monthly basis. A diesel car will retain a little more of its value after 3 years of ownership, but running costs will make it the more expensive option, overall. It really does not make great financial sense, UNLESS you plan to keep the car for more than 3 years. There will always be people out there who have a hard time accepting reality, the facts being, that sometimes car manufacturer’s, use the ‘PERCEPTION’ of economy, to nail you in the long run. It’s not all bad news, there are many great bargains to be found on the used car market. Below is a list of 50+ super frugal cars to look out for at used car dealers in the UK.

Alfa Romeo 147/156 1.9L JTD Diesel – 50+ MPG

Audi A2 1.4L TDI Diesel – 65+ MPG

Audi A3/A4/A6 1.9/2.0L TDI Diesel – 55+ MPG

BMW 118d/120d/318d/320d Diesel – 50+ MPG

Citroen C1/C2/C3 1.4L HDI Diesel – 65+ MPG

Citroen Saxo 1.5L Diesel – 55+ MPG

Citroen Xsara 1.4L HDI – 60+ MPG

Fiat Punto 1.3L Multijet Diesel – 60+ MPG

Ford Fiesta 1.4L TDCI Diesel – 60+ MPG

Ford Focus 1.8 TDdi Diesel 60+ MPG

Honda Civic 1.7 CDTI Diesel – 55+ MPG

Mazda 323 2.0L TD Disel – 55+ MPG

Mazda 626 2.0L TD Diesel – 55+ MPG

MG ZR 2.0L TD Diesel – 55+ MPG

Mitsubishi Charisma 1.9L DID Diesel – 50+ MPG

Peugeot 106 1.4/1.5L Diesel – 60+ MPG

Peugeot 206 1.4L HDI Diesel – 65+ MPG

Peugeot 307 1.4L HDI Disel – 60+ MPG

Renault Clio 1.5L DCI Diesel – 65+ MPG

Renault Megane 1.5L DCI Diesel – 60+ MPG

Seat Ibiza/Cordoba 1.9L SDI/TDI Diesel – 60+ MPG

Skoda Fabia 1.4L TDI Diesel – 60+ MPG

Toyota Yaris 1.4L D4D Diesel 70+ MPG

Toyota Corolla 1.4L D4D Diesel 60+ MPG

Vauxhall Corsa 1.7L DI/DTI Diesel – 60+ MPG

Vauxhall Astra 1.7L DTI ECO4 Diesel – 65+ MPG

Volkswagen Polo 1.4L TDI – Diesel – 60+ MPG

VW Golf/Bora 1.9L TDI – Diesel – 55+ MPG