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Subject:Re: Mythbusters
From:John Rodgers
Date:Mon, 15 May 2006 03:01:00 -0500

I blew it.

On the straight "previously used" vegetable oil, the oil was filtered,
but otherwise not tampered with. The Mercedes diesel got 30 mpg, not 33
mpg. The 33mpg was on regular diesel fuel. Even so, that is pretty
impressive. In a pinch, you could go into the grocery store and buy
enough vegetable oil to get to where you wanted to go.

I wonder how the German diesels if installed in a Vanagon would handle
the vegetable oil.

John Rodgers
88 GL Driver (gas powered - the driver, not the GL - high quality field
peas)

John Rodgers wrote:
> Couldn't sleep last night. Wo in the wee hours turned on the tube and
> watched an episode of Mythbusters. Pretty interesting this one.
>
> They were debunking a number of devices intended to increase gas
> mileage. One was a little fan that mounted on top of the carb. Said to
> better atomize fuel and thus get a better burn on the fuel and thereby
> increase gas mileage. Fraud! Abolutely didn't work. Next was an attempt
> to produce hydrogen via eletrolysis and introduce it directly to the
> carb. Flopped on it's face - insufficeint hydrogen to even start the
> engine. That system was debunked.
>
> The last test was interesting. Using a measured one gallon, a Mercedes
> diesel was used and driven on a t9 mile tract @ highway speed. Went 33
> miles on the gallon of oiol before giving up. Straight   vegetable oil
> was used next, and it went 33 miles on the tank of fuel.
>
> Regards,
>
> John Rodgers
>
>