Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 6:06 am
Biodiesel is basically waste oil with a form of methane that keeps it from gelling so that it doesn't require a preheater like WVO. Runs exactly the same, if not better, than diesel.
There's plenty of information on the internets about mileages and such that I don't care to copy to here, though EPA numbers aren't always right. I know people who've gotten high 20s in Corvettes, which is only a few mpgs less than my 2.3 Mazda3 driven conservatively (under 80). The point was only that low end torque is more useful for mileage and performance than engine speed capability (except maybe on a racetrack) and how you get it isn't important. People frequently like to attack pushrods as 'old tech' (even though ohc also date back to at least the 1910's), but I think it's a pointless argument when they can work equally well and what I care about is what works not what is supposedly high tech (because it's all dinosaur tech anyway). Since it was brought up, I felt the need to defend it. If someone made a practical steam car, I'd drive that.
But it also ties in with this subject in that the LS engines' characteristics are akin to a diesel in that efficiency increases (aside from diesels better BSFC) due to the ability to run taller gearing, thus reducing engine speed, thus using less fuel.
There's plenty of information on the internets about mileages and such that I don't care to copy to here, though EPA numbers aren't always right. I know people who've gotten high 20s in Corvettes, which is only a few mpgs less than my 2.3 Mazda3 driven conservatively (under 80). The point was only that low end torque is more useful for mileage and performance than engine speed capability (except maybe on a racetrack) and how you get it isn't important. People frequently like to attack pushrods as 'old tech' (even though ohc also date back to at least the 1910's), but I think it's a pointless argument when they can work equally well and what I care about is what works not what is supposedly high tech (because it's all dinosaur tech anyway). Since it was brought up, I felt the need to defend it. If someone made a practical steam car, I'd drive that.
But it also ties in with this subject in that the LS engines' characteristics are akin to a diesel in that efficiency increases (aside from diesels better BSFC) due to the ability to run taller gearing, thus reducing engine speed, thus using less fuel.
) where the vege or animal fat-based oil is heated and reacted with sodium hydroxide to separate the glycerol from the oil. Obviously it is impossible to remove all of the glycerol, which is what causes gelling at extremely low temperatures. Methanol is also used as a catalyst in many cases...Funnily enough a friend of my father's, whom has been making biodiesel since the 90s, uses Drano as his catalyst.
In the winter, the dash would shake so hard on startup, you could not hold the wheel without losing teeth.