Short answer... For a serious emergency, maybe. For any other reason, no. You risk serious engine damage. It's easier and cheaper to keep a gallon of gas on hand, or to pay a buddy or AAA to bring you some.
Longer answer...
First thing is to clear up what white gas is, or rather, isn't. "White gas" is one of those non-terms which gets tossed around a lot but doesn't really describe anything beyond a very broad general classification. It is commonly invoked when the combustible liquid involved isn't pump gas, diesel, kerosene, or some other recognizable or name-specified petroleum product. In current usage the product it's most commonly used to describe, Coleman Fuel, is plain old naptha, albeit a good grade and properly filtered (AKA lighter fluid and camp fuel). To be perfectly honest even naphtha is a bit broad as a category, covering a relatively wide range of light petroleum distillates.
The froms of naphtha most commonly available have stoichiometrics close enough to pump gas that they will run in most gasoline engines, at least on a mechanical level. Carbureted engine are usually no problem. Electronically controlled engines will struggle with fuel trims. The killer is octane. Naphtha hovers around 70 so the engine is going to ping like crazy even under very light loads, maybe even at idle. The engine is going to run like crap and quickly begin self-destructing from the inside, probably starting with the piston rings or ring lands. It's doubly bad given the compression ratios used these days in search of ever-higher fuel efficiency. That's if the computer doesn't throw up it's little electronic hands and quit entirely in confused frustration.
Brad
