For the next decades it is expected that the fossil fuels and bio-fuels usage in internal combustion engines remains to be the main source for vehicular propulsion. This justifies the intense worldwide research and development to comply with the challenges of increasing efficiency and emissions reduction. The modeling of commercial fuels and engine combustion processes presents great challenges. There is also the need to better understand how different fuel components interact and influence engine combustion and performance parameters. In the present work, components selection and engine dynamometer tests were done to identify representative surrogate fuels for commercial Brazilian gasoline. It was concluded that formulations of n-heptane, iso-octane, toluene and ethanol can be used to model oxygenated gasolines. Methodologies were implemented to evaluate the influence of the fuel components on fuel properties and several engine combustion and performance parameters. The potentials of each component and corresponding chemical group were identified. Using in cylinder pressure measurements it was developed a methodology to calculate flame propagation velocity in a commercial engine. Further, mathematical modeling was developed to calculate this combustion parameter, based on fuel laminar flame velocity at standard condition. The relations were designed considering the intake Reynolds number, temperature and pressure of the unburned gases inside the cylinder. The results put together informations and methodologies that can be used in several steps of the fuel development process for different applications.