Fuel,Gas,Petrol An Gasoline are they the same?

Question

If one uses different grades(Octanes) of this,Can and will it make a difference in the mileage per gallon?

If so How can this be?

Answer 1

1) Almost - "Fuel" covers lots of things, like fuel oil for the home. It does include gasoline/petrol.  It is the generic term.  Wood is fuel for a wood stove.

2) No, octanes as a rule do not make for better mileage.  Some engines used to respond better to higher octane, but to use a higher octane in an engine that doesn't require it is just a waste of money.  Many cars now auto-adjust for octane content and run just fine on regular fuel.  Some cars PERFORM better, but they have to be designed that way.  I have an MG with a high-performance engine, and it will perform better on higher octane, but the average car doesn't have that problem.

Regardless, it's not going to give you better mileage.  Generally you use the lowest octane you can get away with without engine knocking, and for nearly all cars that is just regular.  Some people put in higher grades of octane thinking that the lower ones "damage the engine" but that's just c**p.  Use regular unless you have an engine knocking issue, otherwise you're just wasting money.

Answer 2

I talked to an oil refinery expert once, and he told me that premium gasoline is the biggest marketing scam ever perpretrated on the American public.  Unless you have a high performance sports car it won't make one bit of difference.

Answer 3

Fuel is a generic term and may be used to mean gas, which is short for gasoline, which is the same thing as petrol.

Petrol is a term used in England and some Commonwealth countries, but hardly ever in North America where the term used is gasoline.

Higher octane gasoline can make a difference in your mileage, but it may not. What makes the difference is which particular engine you have in your vehicle, and what fuel it was designed to use. There is no benefit to using high octane fuel in an engine that is designed to run best on regular and it's generally a waste of money.

When I bought my new truck I ran it on "regular" grade gasoline (87 octane) for a while, then on mid-grade (89 octane) , then on premium (91 octane). My mileage was horrible on regular, a little better on mid-grade, and better yet on premium. Deciding which fuel to use should not rest on just on the miles-per-gallon figure. I calculated the dollars-per-mile and it turned out that using premium was the most economical. This is the method I recommend to anyone.

Answer 4

Modern engines are designed to use certain fuels. For instance most military trucks, tanks and so on are designed for multi-fuel use. They can use all grades of petrol, LPG, Cooking fat, diesel etc.

Normal cars now use unleaded petrol (Gas is an amercian term), unleaded fuel is rated 95 octane in the UK and then you can have superleaded. This means it comes out of the pump looking for Lois Lane!

You can ruin an engine by using the wrong grade of fuel and yes it would have an effect on mileage, cos the car would not run. In the UK people with big engine car buy used cooking oil, strain it and use that. However your car smells like chips (french fries).

An engine then is desiged to use a certain fuel and should use the recommended fuel. You can convert a petrol car has a dual fuel car. You can retro fit an LPG unit in and have an automatic switch to switch between the fuels. Petrol for starting and the LPG gas to run it.

But if you really want to save petrol (gas) buy a cycle or put a sail  on the car and hope the wind is the right direction!

Answer 5

Yes. Yes. There is more energy in a gallon of higher octane fuel. The problem is that in most engines, the engine design is such that it cannot convert all of the increase in octane into horsepower, so it is not normally cost effective to purchase the higher octane.