Ask HN: Does anyone else notice that gas runs out faster than usual - gas smells less like gas
- not getting as much mileage as usual I filled up my car and I have a habit of resetting my mileage tracker (next to odometer) to see how many miles I get out of a full tank. I've noticed that I get much less gas than usual for the same number of bars. What can I do to make this more concrete? Has anyone else noticed this? |
Now is right about the time that refineries and gas stations switch from winter blend to summer blend, so maybe there's something to that.
>I've noticed that I get much less gas than usual for the same number of bars.
I'm having a hard time parsing what this means.
>- gas smells less like gas
Is it possible for a person to smell the difference between octanes? The higher octane fuels have lower volatiles, so that might affect the smell.
And it's not the only thing like that. Several things that I used to like now I can't stand. Pesto is another example that comes to mind.
As for the question in the post, it's probably been suggested before, but did you check tire pressure?
There's a reason those molecules got the name aromatic compunds[1].
https://carbuzz.com/feds-fight-gas-prices-easing-ethanol-res...
Of course tune up.
Have you changed gas stations / brands recently?
They rigged the pumps to rack up more charges for the first 5 gallons, and then slow the charges for the next 5 gallons. That way it always read 10 gallons at those intervals, but overcharged you if you got less. Someone pumping 4 gallons (or 14) was charged as if they had pumped 6 (or 16).
They got caught when someone noticed that the gauge ran faster, then slower as you filled up.
You shouldn’t be noticing more than a 7.5% drop between E0 and E15 gas, which would be a pretty hard swing in gas composition. What % do your figures show?
Or not.
You could also install something like https://lubelogger.com/ (naming decision aside), if you happen to do any self-hosting. It is a lightweight vehicle tracker. It has a fuel tracking screen. I personally only use it to track maintenance, but have been thinking about starting to track fuel consumption given the current disruption.
Ethanol has an Octane rating of 114%, meaning that you can run your engine with less fuel in the fuel/gas mixture, if your engine, pipes, fuel pump and rubber hoses are made for that.
Ethanol is pretty awesome in terms of HP output, but you have to reprogram the maps in the ECU to correctly use it. The timings of "how fast" Ethanol explodes inside your engine cylinders is also faster, meaning if you don't remap your ECU there's chances of backfire because the valves don't close fast enough. That means if you don't have a V-Tec or similarly digitally controlled valve steering you have to also modify your camshaft.
Source: Rebuild 3 cars and their engines to be fueled with Ethanol because I live near a race track with cheap access to Ethanol.
Edit: some gas stations in the past were using shitty additives to boost the ethanol mixture with toluols and methyl ethylene variants, so could also be that. They're really bad for your engine block. Like, reeeeally bad because their mixture is very unpredictable and varies too much for a proper ethanol ECU map.
https://bartovation.com/product/moisture-leak-detection/qual...
https://www.acustrip.com/cgi-bin/proddesc.cgi?s=40134
if you get into analyzing fuel samples beware that surprisingly small amounts of vapour can make a likewise large bang. just a drop or two of gasoline vapourized and ignited in a mortar tube, will make you change your pants.
https://thisvsthat.io/gasoline-vs-iso-octane
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2,2,4-Trimethylpentane
https://www.waldeneffect.org/blog/How_to_measure_the_ethanol...
There is quite a bit more expansion & contraction of hydrocarbons with temperature than many peoople expect.
Fuels containing a higher amount of Aromatic class hydrocarbons, (or just lesser "light" hydrocarbons) will have a higher density (lb/gal) compared to fuels having lower amounts of the heavier molecules.
Also the aromatics bring with them higher antiknock ratings which can also be better for efficiency in a number of different engines.
When acceptable octane rating is achieved by ethanol content instead, it works good too, but fuel efficiency is reduced chemically because alcohol does not consist of only carbon & hydrogen, alcohol molecules also contain oxygen which provides bulk but not energy, so alcohols can be considered to already be "partially oxidized hydrocarbons" to begin with. It's really the oxidation process of the burning fuel that provides the energy, and alcohols just have less to give than hydrocarbons.
Miles per gallon is the conventionally understandable measurement units, and even fuel injectors meter the fuel in by volume, but actual energy obtained and resulting engine efficiency depends on performance per weight of fuel, not exactly per gallon directly.
During changing seasons I like to feel the metal part of the gas nozzle for temperature during dispensing. One of the worst times is when a tank trailer has been sitting in the sun a while before delivery, and it's 95 Fahrenheit when it's not even that hot outside. I like it much better when a trailer comes from northern locations where the fuel is less than 60 degrees, then I buy more but don't fill it up. It's nice when it is colder fuel to purchase and if it's a hot summer once the gas warms up to ambient conditions you end up with more gallons than you pumped, but if you are not careful the gas tank will overflow "autonomously" if you fill it too much with cold fuel when it warms up like that :0
There are a number of other factors too, but this one is often overlooked.
And I have an old ford truck that absolutely wreaks of gas/exhaust or something rich when it’s keyed on now. Getting 9-12mpg in that thing wouldn’t get me to bat an eye but come on; in the new car?
Wasn’t doing this until I’d just filled it up last week. The last tank I went through was probably from February? I don’t drive it that much. You could say it has a pretty simple exhaust system that wouldn’t do as good of a job at masking theoretical adulterants. That didn’t even cross my mind, I just noticed this horrible noxious smell when I re parked it last night.
Los Angeles at the moment.
Didn’t California just lose a couple refineries who said no thanks and took a billion dollar loss rather than confirm to new environmental regulations?