Lets say for example, I'm stuck out in the middle of the desert, in an average 6 cylinder, fuel injection, late model unleaded petrol car, with no petrol.

If I happened to have various flammable fuels, such as kerosene, diesel, paint thinner, methylated spirits, rubbing alcohol, high proof whiskey, and any other common one you can think of;

1 - Which fuel would be the best substitute on it's own (going by kilometers per liter, potential damage to engine, performance, ect.)

2 - Which of the above fuels would work even marginally, and,

3 - Could any two sub-par fuels be mixed to create a better one? For example, mixing the diesel and the methylated spirits or something to give it a lower ignition temperature.

If it is a carbureted engine, the lighter spirits would work best once the carb is tuned. If it's fuel injected, I doubt any of them would work at all.

all sorts of shit goes wrong when modern cars run out of fuel, or the battery dies.

1)put car on neutral
2)push.

youre probably not going to go very far if you put anything else down there other than gas

i think this is better suited to gearheads.

you could try using gasoline, but i dont know how that'd work out in a car that runs on petrol

limey bastard

you could try using gasoline, but i dont know how that'd work out in a car that runs on petrol

limey bastard

Nice.

-N-

crayons

With modification, cars can run on just about any volatile fuel. Some fuels work without modification, like ethanol. Acetone will run great too. The only problem is the cost and availability of these fuels, of which you'll have to do your own research.

Gravity.


OK, during the war they made cars run on coal gas.
There was a big metal kiln thing they put coal into & then lit a fire under the kiln & it produced coal gas after a while.
That got piped into the cars carby.
Theres pics about.

Gravity.


OK, during the war they made cars run on coal gas.
There was a big metal kiln thing they put coal into & then lit a fire under the kiln & it produced coal gas after a while.
That got piped into the cars carby.
Theres pics about.
http://www.taxi-library.org/photos/coal-gas-powered-taxi.jpg
I remember reading about these a while ago. Not the most practical method of storing energy, but for its time, it was pretty smart.

Methylated spirits should work. It is ethanol with a bit of methanol to make it poisonous. I wouldn't consider running the car for a long time on it since ethanol eats away rubber.
Same with rubbing alcohol and high proof whiskey.

Acetone (paint thinner) may work, I'm not sure. It is a simple ketone so it should be more volatile than petrol. It probably will work, but I wouldn't try it unless in that situation since it will eat away at rubber.

Kerosene and diesel will not work. They are made from alkanes with lengths of 20 to 40 carbon atoms which means it takes a lot of heat to ignite them.

If I had to chose from the fuels you mentioned I'd go with metho.


http://www.taxi-library.org/photos/coal-gas-powered-taxi.jpg
That thing is huge. You'd think they'd put a compressor on it.

Some of the earliest cars ran on steam, filling up the water tank at horse troughs.

Trouble is, equine diseases ran rampant for a while, so the horse troughs were turned off. There endeth the steam-driven automobile.

Some of the earliest cars ran on steam, filling up the water tank at horse troughs.

Trouble is, equine diseases ran rampant for a while, so the horse troughs were turned off. There endeth the steam-driven automobile.

Also not the most efficient mode of transportation in my hypothetical desert.

The gas generators I have seen (pics) were a LOT smaller than that, big, but smaller.
About 3 or 4 feet high by 2 feet dia, they attached to the cars bumper.

Another fuel could be Alcohol made from Grass clippings.
I don't know how well that would work as I think the alcohol is made from sugars.
I don't think theres much sugar in grass.

But they make Methanol from trees & I guess grass isn't that much different.

The gas generators I have seen (pics) were a LOT smaller than that, big, but smaller.
About 3 or 4 feet high by 2 feet dia, they attached to the cars bumper.

Another fuel could be Alcohol made from Grass clippings.
I don't know how well that would work as I think the alcohol is made from sugars.
I don't think theres much sugar in grass.

But they make Methanol from trees & I guess grass isn't that much different.

You have to distill wood alcohol.

You can buy a conversion kit somewhere on the internets that allows you to convert your engine to run on cooking oil.

you could try using gasoline, but i dont know how that'd work out in a car that runs on petrol

limey bastard

It's only North America that uses the term gasoline to refer to petroleum spirit.

Yankee fag

If you were to get a deisal car, that could run on a lot more types of fuel. I'd say put in an alternate fuel tank to switch to when putting along steadily to conserve real diesel for situation like OP mentioned.

A diesel engine will burn just about any flammable liquid since it compresses it until it ignites.

If you were to get a deisal car, that could run on a lot more types of fuel. I'd say put in an alternate fuel tank to switch to when putting along steadily to conserve real diesel for situation like OP mentioned.

A diesel engine will burn just about any flammable liquid since it compresses it until it ignites.

Here the farmers sometimes grow 'Rape seed' which I think is a weird name for 'Canola seed' & then send it somewhere to get the oil squeezed out of it.

The oil gets mixed with Diesol, you can't run it at 100% from what I have heard.

I think its also got something to do with Crop rotation.