Is Coca-Cola in Your Gas Tank a Form of Automotive Torture?
Ah, Coca-Cola. The Real Thing. The Pause that Refreshes. There’s nothing like a tall, frosty one on a hot summer day. But have you ever thought about what would happen if you ever poured the stuff into your gas tank? No? We haven’t, either. Until now.
Closely guarded “secret recipe” aside, Coke is mostly sugar and water. And neither mix with your car. Ever heard about sugar in a gas tank? How about water in the tank? Both are really bad. Nonetheless, the intrepid folks at YouTube channel TechRax thought that dumping two liters of the stuff into an unsuspecting BMW 325i wagon would be a good idea. What’s more, they decided to film their experiment and put it online for all to see.
“We’re here to save you guys some money,” the narrator oddly says as he finishes pouring the sticky stuff down the filler neck. Then he hops in the car and takes off. Within a few seconds, the engine starts to knock. Still, he keeps repeating “seems good, seems good.” Less than a minute after that, a sickly hissing noise starts to come from the engine, which the geniuses in the car attribute to the Coke’s carbonation. Seconds later, their Bimmer throws a check engine light.
“It’s definitely tweaking right now, dude,” the narrator says as the wagon grinds to a halt. Then he proceeds to crank the starter trying to bring the car back to life, adding insult to injury. They end the video by taking the dead car to a mechanic, where they get a $1,500-plus estimate to make any repairs. Considering that they spent $1,000 for the well-used but still lust-worthy wagon, they conclude by saying that their “experiment” was worth it. Maybe it was; at the time of publication, the video has been viewed nearly three million times.
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Nonetheless, we wouldn’t wish this kind of death on any car, let alone a running, driving, desirable station wagon. Hell, we wouldn’t do this to a rotted out Dodge Colt if we got it for free. The whole thing seems like a waste, but that shouldn’t be surprising considering that TechRax has also filled a 1,500-gallon swimming pool with Coke ($2 per two liters, you do the math), literally throw a brand new iPhone X into a 4,000 foot deep hole, and set another one on fire alongside a Samsung Galaxy S8, all for those sweet, sweet, YouTube clicks. Clearly, these guys have too much time and money on their hands.
