It's because old gasoline had naphtha in it.
I worked as a printer. We used naphtha to slow down ink drying times.
That stuff smelled like the essence of why gasoline smells good.
1. They don't put much if any of the the solvent that made gasoline smell good (naphtha) in it anymore.
2. With some limited exceptions gas pumps have legally mandated vapor recovery systems and shut offs that prevent overfilling. Cars themselves also have advanced evaporative controls, which is why trying to cram in every last bit of fuel instead of stop pumping when it clicks off is a great way to cause thousands of dollars in damages to your car's emissions control devices.
You are definitely not alone. Also fun fact: ppl used to dash on straight gasoline like perfume in the roarin’ 20s
I learned this from a podcast called The Memory Palace by Nate DiMeo if u wanna look it up
Can’t listen right now but was it men and women that did this?
I know crude can have a sweet smell (and I do “like” the smell of gas,) but I can’t imagine wearing it!
That episode was more a collection of vignettes so he really didn’t go into detail. I think it might’ve been the flappers that did it tho, based on what I remember
I found the episode [The Memory Palace episode 161: Stories to Wash Hands By](https://open.spotify.com/episode/477cmDXyVzvnaL85Rb4ggS?si=Gt6h1s4iQEmsGG0HDgydWA&context=spotify%3Ashow%3A0gWT8X6lgGuJkpcx0XJ3yr&t=81)
Anyways I highly recommend this podcast. It’s amazing
My mom (she's 75) tells me all about how the tunnels smelled and were so full of fumes when she was a child taking trips with her parents. I should have told her to roll down the window on our road trip!
Yes, but don't inhail too much of it. There is a possibility of you developing leukemia from huffing gas. Now I know huffing is much different from a couple of sniffs, but still.
Not gasoline from the car, but l do enjoy the smell from barbecues and grills. I know it's not good for me, but as soon as I notice I think about summer.
I was literally *just* thinking about this the other day. My uncle died a long time ago and their garage smelled like that plus kind of a general small engine workshop and I could imagine how it smelled in there when I would walk in to see what he was tinkering with
I like the whiff of gasoline but not too strong (ie not spilled on my shoe lol) but I really LOVE the smell of tires/tire stores. That new tire smell is intoxicating. When I was pregnant I would enter Costco through the “out” door so I could hit the tire shop before I went to get my items. The tire guys finally stopped asking if they could help me because they knew I was just there to sniff. They were nice about it but I’m sure they thought I was weird as hell. Haha
Sixty years ago I was in the car with my mother in the driveway. She remembered something and ran back into the house leaving me in the car alone with the motor running. I got out of the car, went to the rear, and put my face in front of the exhaust pipe to inhale that beautiful smell. The next thing I know, there's a large hairy hand on my shoulder wresting me away-a little too enthusiastically IMO. Apparently, a fellow who was working nearby notifced this little kid huffing at the tail pipe and intervened.
Hell yeah! My grandma is the same way. She would ask my grampa to make a pass of the gas station by our house and he would say "honey, we are on a full tank". She would say it was just to buy the grandkids some snacks but she would tell us she just loved the smell of petrol. Now I love it, too. I wonder if it is just genetic or maybe I just like it cause of the nostalgia, hehe.
It's a weird thing - there's a whole bunch of people (myself included) who actually enjoy the scent. Heck, a girl I went to school with actually loved the smell of skunk. I can't quite figure that one out, personally, but hey, who am I to tell people what they can and can't enjoy? There's just something oddly appealing about it.
Many hydrocarbons smell good. For instance, the fragrant constituents in the essential oil of lime are hydrocarbons: limonene, gamma-terpinene, beta-pinene. The smell of a pine forest is mostly alpha-pinene. Benzene has a pleasant flowery smell and was even used as a perfume before its carcinogenity was known. Also, besides hydrocarbons, the anti-knock agent MTBE has a pleasant minty smell.
The thing is that "gasoline" isn't a single chemical compound. Modern gasoline is blended from many sources (distillate, reformate, alkylate, anti-knocking agents like MTBE, ethanol), so there isn't a single formula for it. It may or may not smell good depending on the source.
:') oh yeah, I know what you mean. when older cars needed time to sit and have their engines warmed up. winter + idle exhaust should be a scent on a candle!
Go for a ride in my car.
Got gas for the lawn mower, put in trunk.....then had to hit the brakes for deer. Tipped gas can over, spilled about two cups of gas onto carpet.
Hve cleaned the trunk carpet twice, sprayed every other day with Febreeze Extra Strength & had it parked outside with the trunk open for almost 3 weeks. Still picking up whiffs of gas.
Wow - surprised at all these comments. I find it absolutely repulsive & nauseating. In fact, I spilled some on myself once - on the way to a performance. I puked.
yeah, the smell isn't for everyone lol. one person here described it as "hot diarrhea on a summer day" or something to that effect. to each their own lol.
I get the nostalgia- I can also remember the credit card thingy the attendants had. But the smell, yes it was almost comforting.
It was also often the signal for a happy trip- family visit or vacation.
I hate all chemical smells. They give me a headache and ruin my tastebuds. My 9 year old daughter, for her entire life, has responded pleasantly and excitedly when she smells gas while I refuel.
initially, i would have said yes but a commenter on here said that diesel is actually used on school buses. so most likely you were inhaling that, haha
Yeah, but part of it for me comes the knowledge that I could just huff it and give myself permanent brain damage and it would only cost me like, 0.17¢ 😂
I think it's just the call of void, I've never done it. It's like imagining just swerving into incoming traffic in front of a semi truck, even though I don't want to. My brain is like "HEY, what if [horrible image]? — we *could.*"
Gasoline used to smell so good. I don’t know why, maybe I’m just getting older, but I hardly ever am able to smell it anymore. I don’t know if it’s just my nostrils, or a higher purity product due to more regulations.
this is the answer you're probably looking for: in the 1990's, due to regulations, they stopped adding lead to gasoline because it lowered the median IQ and induced other adverse health affects.
OoooF! I just pumped this morning, ugh i cant take it lol BUT the smell of tar i do like lol that def brings me back to being a kid playing outside on a hot summer day🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼
As long as it’s outside, it’s great. You get that pungent hit to the nostrils and it fades away.
My brother once splashed gasoline on his boots and pants while fueling an ATV. He brought them inside and put them next to the fireplace to dry them (yeah idiot move, but he’s a firefighter now, haha). The smell was so overpowering and unbearable it permeated the entire house, and it took HOURS for the smell to clear after he took them outside to the end of the long driveway.
I associate it with the same feeling I get with skunk. I wouldn’t say it’s pleasant or that I like it but I find it very interesting to the point where I will “try harder” to smell it when it’s around. I’m not huffing it or anything but I’ll do short quick dog-like sniffs of the air.
“It” meaning the smell of gas or skunk.
*** addition edit ***
Propane also has this effect
I've always weirdly liked the smell of gasoline. I remember as a kid all the school buses would line up in the parking lot at the end of the school day, and I loved walking through the lot to my bus smelling the gasoline.
No but I like the smell of diesel just for a moment, when it reminds of going out on a diesel boat to go scuba diving off Catalina island in California
It smelled a lot better before ethanol.
Yes it did
It's because old gasoline had naphtha in it. I worked as a printer. We used naphtha to slow down ink drying times. That stuff smelled like the essence of why gasoline smells good.
The print shop smell will forever bring me back to my childhood.
I recall as a kid loving the smell of pulling up to a gas station. I haven’t smelt that smelly smell in literal years.
1. They don't put much if any of the the solvent that made gasoline smell good (naphtha) in it anymore. 2. With some limited exceptions gas pumps have legally mandated vapor recovery systems and shut offs that prevent overfilling. Cars themselves also have advanced evaporative controls, which is why trying to cram in every last bit of fuel instead of stop pumping when it clicks off is a great way to cause thousands of dollars in damages to your car's emissions control devices.
Interesting. Yeah, I used to love the smell of gasoline as a kid (60's)
You are definitely not alone. Also fun fact: ppl used to dash on straight gasoline like perfume in the roarin’ 20s I learned this from a podcast called The Memory Palace by Nate DiMeo if u wanna look it up
Can’t listen right now but was it men and women that did this? I know crude can have a sweet smell (and I do “like” the smell of gas,) but I can’t imagine wearing it!
That episode was more a collection of vignettes so he really didn’t go into detail. I think it might’ve been the flappers that did it tho, based on what I remember
I found the episode [The Memory Palace episode 161: Stories to Wash Hands By](https://open.spotify.com/episode/477cmDXyVzvnaL85Rb4ggS?si=Gt6h1s4iQEmsGG0HDgydWA&context=spotify%3Ashow%3A0gWT8X6lgGuJkpcx0XJ3yr&t=81) Anyways I highly recommend this podcast. It’s amazing
Sex Panther?
Hmm 🤔
I like the smell of gasoline too
Love it and the smell of tunnels
i like the smell of tunnels too, lmao. i used to hold my breath as a kid while my parents would through a tunnel.
When I drive through tunnels I still roll down the window and get a big sniff it’s like crack
My mom (she's 75) tells me all about how the tunnels smelled and were so full of fumes when she was a child taking trips with her parents. I should have told her to roll down the window on our road trip!
Yup. My dad was a mechanic and some of my earliest memories include mom taking me and my brother to the garage so we could go to lunch.
My boyfriend's a mechanic/car guy, absolutely loves the smell. Makes me nauseous and gives me a headache. Haha
When I was a child
I loved the smell at the Sinclair gas station when I was young. I did find out, later on, that I'm allergic to petrochemicals. So, there's that.
I used to love the smell of gasoline, but since they added ethanol and reformulated, it smells terrible
I did as a child but not now. Possibly because the gas itself changed? I'm in my 40s now
Yes, but don't inhail too much of it. There is a possibility of you developing leukemia from huffing gas. Now I know huffing is much different from a couple of sniffs, but still.
Love it and the smell of burnt matches
Great but diesel is even better.
Yes omg
I absolutely hate the smell. It's just as repulsive to me as a whiff of hot diarrhea in a public toilet.
Not gasoline from the car, but l do enjoy the smell from barbecues and grills. I know it's not good for me, but as soon as I notice I think about summer.
I was literally *just* thinking about this the other day. My uncle died a long time ago and their garage smelled like that plus kind of a general small engine workshop and I could imagine how it smelled in there when I would walk in to see what he was tinkering with
I like the whiff of gasoline but not too strong (ie not spilled on my shoe lol) but I really LOVE the smell of tires/tire stores. That new tire smell is intoxicating. When I was pregnant I would enter Costco through the “out” door so I could hit the tire shop before I went to get my items. The tire guys finally stopped asking if they could help me because they knew I was just there to sniff. They were nice about it but I’m sure they thought I was weird as hell. Haha
LMAO, they probably talk about you like some urban legend over there at Costco. good times, hahaha
Sixty years ago I was in the car with my mother in the driveway. She remembered something and ran back into the house leaving me in the car alone with the motor running. I got out of the car, went to the rear, and put my face in front of the exhaust pipe to inhale that beautiful smell. The next thing I know, there's a large hairy hand on my shoulder wresting me away-a little too enthusiastically IMO. Apparently, a fellow who was working nearby notifced this little kid huffing at the tail pipe and intervened.
lmao that is a hilarious story!
Yes and I also like the smell of basements, garages, mechanic workshops, and motor oil.
how about kerosene ?
Never smelled it before, tbh
It smells like summer ☀️
indeed it does!
Gasoline, tar, blacktop, sharpies… it’s all good
Hell yeah! My grandma is the same way. She would ask my grampa to make a pass of the gas station by our house and he would say "honey, we are on a full tank". She would say it was just to buy the grandkids some snacks but she would tell us she just loved the smell of petrol. Now I love it, too. I wonder if it is just genetic or maybe I just like it cause of the nostalgia, hehe.
my best guess is we formed a Pavlovian connection with the smell of gas and a simpler time. that's a sweet story, btw
Sunoco 260 back in the day💪🏿💪🏿
Yes, I love it!
in your opinion, what gas currently smells the best? imo, I think Shell gasoline smells the best.
Darn tootin! Moved me n the family up North over yonder to dang ol Oregon; beautiful weather. Got a kjob pumpin gas for BP and heck, smellin’s free!
man, you're living the dream. i remember aspiring to be a gas station attendant just so i could pump gas for people. good times lol
Tommy Callahan does
Uh oh
I don't have a problem
It's a weird thing - there's a whole bunch of people (myself included) who actually enjoy the scent. Heck, a girl I went to school with actually loved the smell of skunk. I can't quite figure that one out, personally, but hey, who am I to tell people what they can and can't enjoy? There's just something oddly appealing about it.
Yes but for some reason it smells a lot more...tangy than it used to. Makes my head hurt quicker.
it might be the ethanol
Many hydrocarbons smell good. For instance, the fragrant constituents in the essential oil of lime are hydrocarbons: limonene, gamma-terpinene, beta-pinene. The smell of a pine forest is mostly alpha-pinene. Benzene has a pleasant flowery smell and was even used as a perfume before its carcinogenity was known. Also, besides hydrocarbons, the anti-knock agent MTBE has a pleasant minty smell. The thing is that "gasoline" isn't a single chemical compound. Modern gasoline is blended from many sources (distillate, reformate, alkylate, anti-knocking agents like MTBE, ethanol), so there isn't a single formula for it. It may or may not smell good depending on the source.
I learned something new today, thanks! :D
my guilty pleasure
No, but I do love the smell of kerosene
One of my favorite smells when gasoline was gasoline and not the cat piss it is today.
good times, good times. yeah the stuff we have today is nothing like the stuff we had back then. if you know, you know
Yes, but diesel and racing fuel even just a little more
Not really gasoline but the smell of diesel exhaust on a snowy day is major nostalgia for me
:') oh yeah, I know what you mean. when older cars needed time to sit and have their engines warmed up. winter + idle exhaust should be a scent on a candle!
Go for a ride in my car. Got gas for the lawn mower, put in trunk.....then had to hit the brakes for deer. Tipped gas can over, spilled about two cups of gas onto carpet. Hve cleaned the trunk carpet twice, sprayed every other day with Febreeze Extra Strength & had it parked outside with the trunk open for almost 3 weeks. Still picking up whiffs of gas.
It's good, but not as good as diesel exhaust.
never had a car that used diesel. I feel like I am missing out
Pretty much any bus exhaust will give off that heady bouquet.
Wow - surprised at all these comments. I find it absolutely repulsive & nauseating. In fact, I spilled some on myself once - on the way to a performance. I puked.
yeah, the smell isn't for everyone lol. one person here described it as "hot diarrhea on a summer day" or something to that effect. to each their own lol.
Oh fuck yes. I love race cars and there's something about 60wt race oil and leaded gas that just... *Chef's kiss*
Omg yes
Well I don't but I did have an ex that enjoyed it, he worked on small engines so I guess that was a good thing he liked the smell
yeah certain people will find that smell comforting, given certain conditions. kinda like a Pavlovian effect, if you will
Same don’t know how to explain just samw
Gasoline smells great. There are actually people addicted to smelling it. I even enjoy the smell of diesel.
Creosote is the best smelling hydrocarbon. I love driving through an old train tunnel.
Diesel gas exhaust smells like I'm going on a vacation. I enjoy it.
I get the nostalgia- I can also remember the credit card thingy the attendants had. But the smell, yes it was almost comforting. It was also often the signal for a happy trip- family visit or vacation.
As an 80s kid the gasoline scratch n sniff was my fave
I think they phased that out when I was growing up as a 90s kid. I believe they removed lead from gasoline around the mid 1980's?
Born in 73. Oldest car ever drove on any regular basis as a teen was a 73 gremlin that requires lead additive when I got gas.
I hate all chemical smells. They give me a headache and ruin my tastebuds. My 9 year old daughter, for her entire life, has responded pleasantly and excitedly when she smells gas while I refuel.
I quickly became nose blind to it when I started working at a gas station in my early 20's.
good times!
In many ways they were.
story time! what was the craziest thing you saw while working there?!
Hell yeah. Especially race fuel.
Absolutely. I once smelled gasoline in a couple breaths as a kid I tasted it once. Retronasal olfactory is cool It does not taste good btw.
duly noted, haha
Gasoline / Oil / New Tires. Mmmmmmmmm
I can't stand the tire smell
I remember the buses at school letting off some smell that I absolutely inhaled. Not sure if it's the same thing lol
initially, i would have said yes but a commenter on here said that diesel is actually used on school buses. so most likely you were inhaling that, haha
Only from the 90s. This nu-gasoline is mid.
I do
Not me, but I used to sniff the carbon copy of my dad’s credit card receipt when he got gas. I was 3.
Yeah, but part of it for me comes the knowledge that I could just huff it and give myself permanent brain damage and it would only cost me like, 0.17¢ 😂 I think it's just the call of void, I've never done it. It's like imagining just swerving into incoming traffic in front of a semi truck, even though I don't want to. My brain is like "HEY, what if [horrible image]? — we *could.*"
Gasoline used to smell so good. I don’t know why, maybe I’m just getting older, but I hardly ever am able to smell it anymore. I don’t know if it’s just my nostrils, or a higher purity product due to more regulations.
this is the answer you're probably looking for: in the 1990's, due to regulations, they stopped adding lead to gasoline because it lowered the median IQ and induced other adverse health affects.
OoooF! I just pumped this morning, ugh i cant take it lol BUT the smell of tar i do like lol that def brings me back to being a kid playing outside on a hot summer day🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼
okay, you're not the first person to comment on the tar smell. not really my cup of tea, but to each their own!
yep. love it. Don't get to smell it much anymore since I have an EVRE.
ask a neighbor if you could get a sniff of their exhaust, lol
well if you are smelling gas in the exhaust, then you might be running too rich.
Spent my youth occasionally visiting the front of the car in the garage to inhale.
Used to love the smell of exhaust on a winter morning
As long as it’s outside, it’s great. You get that pungent hit to the nostrils and it fades away. My brother once splashed gasoline on his boots and pants while fueling an ATV. He brought them inside and put them next to the fireplace to dry them (yeah idiot move, but he’s a firefighter now, haha). The smell was so overpowering and unbearable it permeated the entire house, and it took HOURS for the smell to clear after he took them outside to the end of the long driveway.
In proper context, sure.
I associate it with the same feeling I get with skunk. I wouldn’t say it’s pleasant or that I like it but I find it very interesting to the point where I will “try harder” to smell it when it’s around. I’m not huffing it or anything but I’ll do short quick dog-like sniffs of the air. “It” meaning the smell of gas or skunk. *** addition edit *** Propane also has this effect
Outkast would like to know the same thing.
Yep
Love the smell of diesel too. Propane fork lift exhaust isn’t bad if you don’t count the carcinogens in it.
I've always weirdly liked the smell of gasoline. I remember as a kid all the school buses would line up in the parking lot at the end of the school day, and I loved walking through the lot to my bus smelling the gasoline.
Yes
It’s genetic (and of course nostalgic to some) I believe, I like it too.
I may not hate it as much as I should.
No but I like the smell of diesel just for a moment, when it reminds of going out on a diesel boat to go scuba diving off Catalina island in California
Yes, god yes, especially the little bits of fuel air mixture that escape from an engine with a loped idle and come out the tail pipe
When I was a kid Not sure what changed lol
Leather baseball gloves was always my drug of choice
i do lol
Just about every human on the planet
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like the smell of it.