saving gas $ (Morgantown: apartment, wages, tax)

[Two-Rivers]

Get the Rhoades Car with the electric motor and the pedals. The four seaters have four sets of pedals, "...... no one rides for free".

When I first looked at these several years ago, they started around $650, I know they've gone up in price. Really interested? They'll send a brochure, or they used to. I thought I had found pricing on their website before.

LOL harborlady ! Just pretend to be pedaling.

[Threerun]

http://www.whizzermotorbike.com/

120mpg baby.

A friend / old client of mine sells these at his bike store in Harpers Ferry. They are a blast to ride.

[Threerun]

Originally Posted by David Kennedy

Years ago, I was able to tour the Exxon Testing Lab in New Jersey...I learned something there I've never forgot.

As gasoline (Crude Oil) is boiled and displaced in a centrifuge it is collected from the top to the bottom...the very top being paint thinners (Toluene) and the bottom being the heaviest greases...
There are over 100 lubricant and fuel products taken from a barrel of crude.
That paint thinner (Toluene) was used as the octane booster...about 1/4 to 1/2 a cup is all that is needed for a tank of gas...depending on the size of course...

A person can buy it in bulk at almost every store...quart can is about $4.00.
Of course, safety precautions are advised...

Making a list of the errands is my most important advice and phoning ahead to see if the part is in stock...air at 35 lbs minimum in the tires...forget the label on the door.

Boosting octane only decreases the fuels capacity to detonate under pressure. The lower the octane, the greater the fuels capacity to combust under pressure.

I.E.- diesel has an octane rating of around 15-25 (actually they use cetane as a rating, but for comparisons sake use the 15-25). Diesel combusts under compression, not spark. It also releases more Btu than gasoline, but has a lower octane..

Hence- higher octane numbers mean diddly when looking for increased mileage performance. If you're adding another chemical to boost octane, all you are essentially doing is adding a 'filler'. If your engine is not prematurely detonating (pinging), there is no added benefit whatsoever by increasing the octane rating of your fuel.

[harborlady]

Originally Posted by Two-Rivers

Get the Rhoades Car with the electric motor and the pedals. The four seaters have four sets of pedals, "...... no one rides for free".

When I first looked at these several years ago, they started around $650, I know they've gone up in price. Really interested? They'll send a brochure, or they used to. I thought I had found pricing on their website before.

LOL harborlady ! Just pretend to be pedaling.

hehehehe you know they really need another smiley to choose from- the scammy smiley that whistles w/innocent look. I've always heard of the legendary 'uphill both ways' to school, so somehow there must be a downhill both ways, I just know it! lol

[Threerun]

Oh and DK- just to clarify on the octane thing; If you need to run a higher octane, then adding an octane booster could potentially save you a little coin over the pump brand. I think a 10% mix to 87 octane would bump it to 90ish, 20% mix to 92octane..

F1 cars run a 80%+ mix of the stuff, but they require high temperatures to ignite the mix.

(I used to run toluene in a high compression Mr2 turbo to maximize HP under greater turbo boost. Mixing it was more art than science though).

[David Kennedy]

Thanks Threerun...I'm learning something new everyday...but I know from practice that my cars get better gas mileage from plus and extra grade fuel...why is that?

[Threerun]

Shouldn't make a hill of beans. If your car is designed to run on say, mid grade and you fill it up with regular, the timing should automatically retard to avoid combustion by compression. That means more unburned fuel goes out through the exhaust cycle which equals poor mileage and performance, carbon build up, yadda, yadda.

By increasing the octane to recommended spec, the timing advances to the point spark combustion is at peak cycle, improving horsepower and burn (using all the fuel supplied). So you get a twofold gain.

Now if your car is designed to run on low grade, no changes in timing are necessary if higher octane is used, so there is no added benefit (theoretically).

I would say if your car is designed (by the book) to run on low grade, and your car runs better on high grade, that possibly your cars engine compression is higher than spec, which could be good if the cylinders are clean, or bad meaning they are built with carbon (which would decrease surface area hence increasing cylinder pressure, thus requiring higher octane fuel to avoid pre-detonation or retarding timing thus decreasing efficiency).

[Threerun]

Oh and one other little snippet- running 'premium' fuel (read higher octane) can actually lead to increased carbon build up because it takes higher temperatures to ignite it. If your engines compression isn't high enough, it can't create the heat necessary for a complete burn.. so then you get the carbon build up, then increased cylinder pressures as a result and now you HAVE to run premium, lol.

The word 'premium' is such a misnomer. It's premium because it costs more to refine it, that's all.

When I had a rotary engine Rx-7, we used to have to explain to new owners that lower octane gas is all you need on the normally aspirated (even modified) engines. The engines compression was so low, it just didn't need any octane 'boost'. It was amazing to see so many guys using higher octane fuel when the engine, by design, simply doesn't need it or quite frankly- couldn't burn it. .

The Low-Down on High Octane Gasoline

Here is a great read on it. Basically says the same thing I did- Premium Fuel - Do You Really Need High Octane Gasoline?

[Threerun]

Originally Posted by harborlady

-Buy in bulk when possible. Prices are anticipated to increase for cleaning supplies next. Foodland clerk told me by as much as 20%. Concentrates store more compactly if you're short space. Dehydrated/powdered versions will be more economical for shipping. One gallon of simple green concentrate will clean a whole house for about 3+ months when properly diluted. Home depot sale-$6 last month.

We trashed all our cleaning chemicals years ago. We use bleach and vinegar for darned near everything. Heck, my wife uses lemon oil with white vinegar and water for a glass and counter cleaner, and for furniture polish we use water, vinegar, lemon oil and mineral oil.

We use dilluted bleach for sanitizer and to clean the toilets (works great) and for the occasional counter top clean-up.

It's amazing how well they do and all very simple to make. I've had the same gallon container of mineral oil for about 7 years, a gallon of bleach concentrate lasts about 6 months and vinegar lasts about 2 months.

[David Kennedy]

Sounds like our better-halfs come from the same schools on cleaning materials...about that plus gas? mid-grade gives about 2 more mpg and when you balance is out with cost...its the same...market engineered to do that I'm sure...the test is always the run up to the top of Coopers Rocks to hear the engine valve noise...