What oil is best? and what ratio?

[bwalker]

You left out the fact that companies will almost always charge as much as they can for almost any product. Travel around CA and you will find quite a variance in fuel prices even if you just look at the major brands like Shell or Chevron. "Whatever the market will bear" seems to be the universal mantra rather than a price based on actual costs. Cynical? Heck yeah! Even locally there are two Chevron stations about 10 miles apart and one is always about 25-30 cents more per gallon than the other.

California does have a shrinking refining capacity and limited pipelines, so it's a pretty tight market. Hence why my company is looking at railing gasoline and Diesel into the state.

 

[Nutball]

Why do you have a bunch of gasoline vapors in your garage?

Not a bunch, just enough to smell from lots of gas cans.

Your mileage will decrease in the winter, but ita not the fuel itself. Its the fact that during cold weather to maintain the correct fuel to air ratio the engine requires more fuel. That and the fact that the engine management system pours the fuel to the engine just after it starts to warm the catalytic converter.

I think you are wrong here. The worse MPG is by far due to driving through denser air. The aerodynamic factor weighs in much more than the increased power made from burning more fuel in denser air.

 

[bwalker]

Not a bunch, just enough to smell from lots of gas cans.

I think you are wrong here. The worse MPG is by far due to driving through denser air. The aerodynamic factor weighs in much more than the increased power made from burning more fuel in denser air.

You shouldn't be storing that much gas and it shoukd be air tight...
You can think that, but you would indeed be wrong. Its not that air density doesn't increase drag. It most certainly does. However that colder and denser air requires more fuel too and its not an insignificant amount. Pales in comparison.
A 10 degree swing changes fuel consumption by 3.3%. The effect of a 10 degree swing in temperature on drag is 1%. These are theoretical numbers. Winter blend gas does have very slightly less BTU per gallon and this can, but not always influence mileage by a small amount.

 

[Nutball]

More fuel isn't needed if you don't push the pedal down as far. Assuming a person keeps their summer and winter acceleration constant, wind resistance will be the dominant factor, especially when coasting down hill or to a stop. Anything that slows the vehicle, be it wind resistance or brakes is a waste of gas already burned.

 

[bwalker]

More fuel isn't needed if you don't push the pedal down as far. Assuming a person keeps their summer and winter acceleration constant, wind resistance will be the dominant factor, especially when coasting down hill or to a stop. Anything that slows the vehicle, be it wind resistance or brakes is a waste of gas already burned.

Your engine management computer says otherwise. At every throttle setting you are using more fuel in cold weather.

 

[Nutball]

More fuel + more air = more power which means I don't need as much throttle as in the summer, except to fight through the denser air.

Just think about it for a while. I may be the stubborn one who will come around and agree a week later, but it could be you too.

 

[bwalker]

More fuel + more air = more power which means I don't need as much throttle as in the summer, except to fight through the denser air.

Just think about it for a while. I may be the stubborn one who will come around and agree a week later, but it could be you too.

3% to 1%...
You are also making the assumption you are going to use less throttle. Have you ever paid attention to how far your throttle is open? Do you even have a way to track this?
The other thing is I live at a comparatively higher altitude to most guys east of the Mississippi and that means thinner air. I can assure you my trucks gets about the same mileage as every other truck of that model and configuration.
A decrease in tire air pressure and the tires becoming hard influence mileage more than aerodynamic drag.
By your logic a 4 cylinder would get worse mileage than a v8 because you use less throttle. Think about it.

 

[MustangMike]

I'm not going to say that temperature does not affect mileage, but I notice a distinct change in my mileage after the fuel changes no matter if it is colder or not.

A cold day in the fall compared to a warm day in the winter, when temperature is almost the same, and with the winter fuel my mileage will be less by a noticeable amount. It happens every year.

 

[Chumango]

I think you guys believe that gasoline is like baking a cake with a set recipe. Its not. Its just a set of parameters that must be met with a variety of ingrediants

You said it better than I did, but that's what I meant. And CA definitely has a different spec.

A decrease in tire air pressure and the tires becoming hard influence mileage more than aerodynamic drag.

It depends on how fast you're driving as long as the tires are not severely under inflated. At low speeds, aerodynamic drag is relatively unimportant. At high speeds, aerodynamic drag dominates the power requirement, becoming much greater than engine resistance and tire rolling resistance, as a function of roughly the square of the velocity.

Just curious, what is your role at the refinery? I am a practicing chemical engineer, and although I've never done work for a refinery (chemical industry and government facilities), I have a working knowledge of fuels and how they are made. Whenever I fly over the Gulf Coast, I look down at the refineries and petrochemical facilities and make comments about the beautiful sight. All those distillation columns and reactors and heat exchangers.

If people understood what it takes to make gasoline, the capital investment and the operation of the facility, they would wonder why gasoline does not cost more than it does. I also think that if people stop to think about who actually makes money on gasoline, the government makes far more on a gallon of gasoline than do the refineries that produce it.

 

[Duane(Pa)]

Yes, I have been inspecting engines for years.
Have even inspected auto engines run long term on 50:1 marine oil.

I’m confused. Can you elaborate a little?

 

[bwalker]

I’m confused. Can you elaborate a little?

Sure. At one time I ran a Canadian fishing lodge in a remote location. We ran a fleet of outboards along with every other vehicle on 50:1 boat gas. The one truck was a 79 GMC that had been run that way probaly since 1979. The other stuff was including a 1990's gmc 1500, several Kawasaki mulesa Polaris sportsman, Polaris 6x6 that was a two stroke ran on i section and 50:1 and several Yamaha Rhinos. Changed plugs on everything besides the trucks once per year. Other than that nothing special done.

 

[bwalker]

You said it better than I did, but that's what I meant. And CA definitely has a different spec.

It depends on how fast you're driving as long as the tires are not severely under inflated. At low speeds, aerodynamic drag is relatively unimportant. At high speeds, aerodynamic drag dominates the power requirement, becoming much greater than engine resistance and tire rolling resistance, as a function of roughly the square of the velocity.

Just curious, what is your role at the refinery? I am a practicing chemical engineer, and although I've never done work for a refinery (chemical industry and government facilities), I have a working knowledge of fuels and how they are made. Whenever I fly over the Gulf Coast, I look down at the refineries and petrochemical facilities and make comments about the beautiful sight. All those distillation columns and reactors and heat exchangers.

If people understood what it takes to make gasoline, the capital investment and the operation of the facility, they would wonder why gasoline does not cost more than it does. I also think that if people stop to think about who actually makes money on gasoline, the government makes far more on a gallon of gasoline than do the refineries that produce it.

I was speaking of normal city and hwy driving.
I am assigned to a FCC unit or "cat cracker". Currently I am working in Process Saftey Management writing operating procedures amongst other stuff. I occasionally will fill in as a DCS Operator or as a Area Operator.
And yes margins are very tight in refining. I often wonder how we make money myself.

 

[MtnHaul]

California does have a shrinking refining capacity and limited pipelines, so it's a pretty tight market. Hence why my company is looking at railing gasoline and Diesel into the state.

If only it had a shrinking population too.

 

[bwalker]

I'm not going to say that temperature does not affect mileage, but I notice a distinct change in my mileage after the fuel changes no matter if it is colder or not.

A cold day in the fall compared to a warm day in the winter, when temperature is almost the same, and with the winter fuel my mileage will be less by a noticeable amount. It happens every year.

The hydrocarbons used to make gasoline have a BTU content that tracks their carbon number. The light ends blended into gasoline for winter use are in the C2 -C4 range. Think Butane from those gas station cigarette lighters. These displace some heavier, higher BTU streams, but its not a huge amount. Roughly a few percent. If you run a distillation curve on summer vs winter this would be apparent.
Diesel fuel would be different as winter blend is half #1 and half #2 best case. #1 is roughly kerosene range stuff snd substantially lighter. As a result mileage decrease substantially from fuel alone.

 

[bwalker]

If only it had a shrinking population too.

You would think it would based on the number of Cali people moving to MT and ID.

 

[MtnHaul]

You would think it would based on the number of Cali people moving to MT and ID.

I guess I live in a popular area. A couple years ago the blankety-blankin' blankety blanks in the state legislature passed a bill aimed at addressing the housing shortage but what it has actually meant is any "nice" area can now no longer reject new housing developments except under the rarest of circumstances. In the last two years the town went from having zero buildings over 3 stories to now having multiple 5 story apartment buildings with plans for more and even taller developments. Maybe I'm a NIMBY person but I do believe that as population density goes up the quality of life goes down, and the sense of relative freedom is also diminished. I was born here and my little community is relatively untouched for the moment, but at this point the only long term plan that makes any sense is some version of GTFO.

 

[drumbum]

I guess I live in a popular area. A couple years ago the blankety-blankin' blankety blanks in the state legislature passed a bill aimed at addressing the housing shortage but what it has actually meant is any "nice" area can now no longer reject new housing developments except under the rarest of circumstances. In the last two years the town went from having zero buildings over 3 stories to now having multiple 5 story apartment buildings with plans for more and even taller developments. Maybe I'm a NIMBY person but I do believe that as population density goes up the quality of life goes down, and the sense of relative freedom is also diminished. I was born here and my little community is relatively untouched for the moment, but at this point the only long term plan that makes any sense is some version of GTFO.

It's gotten to the point where there is nowhere left to go,.....unless you want to freeze 9 months out of the year. Nowhere free anywho.

I consider muhsef a captive expat

 

[bwalker]

It's gotten to the point where there is nowhere left to go,.....unless you want to freeze 9 months out of the year. Nowhere free anywho.

I consider muhsef a captive expat

Unfortunately freezing isnt the impediment you would think. My former home is getting destroyed by outsiders. Mostly FIBS aka Farking Illinois Bastages.

 

[drumbum]

Unfortunately freezing isnt the impediment you would think. My former home is getting destroyed by outsiders. Mostly FIBS aka Farking Illinois Bastages.

Iffin eye culd ohnli go bak too uh tyme wen eye culd speek freelee

 

[Chumango]

I am assigned to a FCC unit or "cat cracker". Currently I am working in Process Saftey Management writing operating procedures amongst other stuff.

I worked for a number of years with some engineers who did HAZOPs and design support at a couple of refineries in the Billings area.