[sailfreeguy]

As a chemist and an atomic 4 owner, I wanted to pass along some information that may be helpful. The three major simple alcohols that we deal with as consumers are, methyl alcohol, ethyl alcohol and isopropyl alcohol. Methyl alcohol has and is still used as "dry gas". Its a water scavenger which means it combines with water in our fuel systems, autos having been the main use for decades. While effective methyl alcohol is a low octane dry gas and it can cause your car to run a little rough while its being burned and the water "attached" is being vaporized. Ethyl alcohol has a higher octane rating and picks up water in the same fashion. A dry gas that is ethyl alcohol makes the burning of the alcohol/water solution smoother.

I have found that isopropyl alcohol, which can be obtained as a dry gas, such as "heet", has a much higher octane than the methy or ethyl alcohol. It can actually help boost the octane of your gasoline when it is added to it and also get rid of water. You have to look at dry gases carefully, many are methyl alcohol which I wouldnt use in my lawn mower. Others are ethyl alcohol and isopropyl alcohol, you have to pay more for the isopropyl alcohol but its worth the extra 75 cents a bottle and if you know that you have some water in your tank or even suspect water in small amounts it will be beneficial for you to add the isopropyl. You have to read the small print on the back of the bottles to make sure what youre getting though because all of these dry gases will advertise on the bottle that it will make your engine run smoother.
I add a bottle 12-16 ounces of the isopropyl alcohol to every tank of gas so I pick up 4-6 bottles when Im at the auto store.
One major thing to NOT do is to buy rubbing alcohol because it already has tons of water in it. If you were able to get isopropyl alcohol in larger quanities from a chemical company to help keep the cost down, purchase ONLY anhydrous alcohol, which means there is no water in it!
I hope this info can be helpful to you.
Sincerely
Bob