Top Gear last night

[ravenhair]

Did anyone see the bit on Top Gear last night where viewers were given a recipe for cheap fuel which used cooking oil and white spirit? Can anyone remember what the proportions of each ingredient were and if there was anything else involved? My partner is already hearing ker-chinnng sounds in his head at the thought of running his Land Rover on something that costs 3p a litre. He will, of course, be paying tax to Customs and Excise, Mr Customs and Excise Man, if you're reading this.

[tracymort]

i'm sure on the news in the last few weeks there was story about a village in wales using cooking oil in their cars. the local asda noticed sales were up and the smell of cooking followed the cars. they were arrested, it is illegal unfortunately!

[goodsy]

If you use say 100 units of fuel it shoul be approx 97 parts crisp 'n' dry and 3 parts white spirit, although you can kerosene as a mixer.

[ravenhair]

Brilliant! Thanks goodsy. And thanks, too, tracyh, for pointing out the legality (or not) of the whole affair. Mr Ravenhair has been duly warned . . .

[TheHitMaker]

Not illegal, if you pay the necessary tax. The oil used was filtered stuff that had come from a deep fat fryer in a restaurant. The proportions (as already mentioned) was 97% oil, 3% white spirit. The cost of this was about 3p a litre, but the tax would be around 27p a litre, taking the cost to a reasonable 30p per litre. There is no loss or performance and this will only work in diesel engines.

[Randy]

See todays Guardian newspaper (21/10/02) - its online - for a full page on it, and a how to do it yourself (including getting the forms to pay the tax ;)

[snotmonkey]

if you have to pay the duty on oil to power a car even though the oil has had vat added to it where would you stand if your car was electric would you have to pay extra duty on this fuel? and if not why not?