With fuel price increase we all are affected and started looking for fuel saving devices. Here is an article I found on the net. Very Informative!!!
Do fuel saving devices really work? Are they worth the added expense?
With the rising price of gas, some areas having risen to more than $3.00 a gallon, I'm getting a lot of questions about fuel saving devices. People want to know which ones work and which ones are wastes of money. As the price of gas continues to rise, so does the advertising of these devices. Here are some more fuels saving devices you might come across:
Types Of Devices: Fuel Line Devices, Heaters Or Coolers...
These gas saving devices fall into two specific categories, fuel heaters and fuel coolers. Now there is some merit as far as fuel heaters are concerned. Mercedes Benz diesels have a fuel heater in the injection pump to preheat the fuel coming in and returning to the fuel tank. Actually this serves a dual purpose; it heats the fuel for better combustion and raises the temperature of the fuel to prevent the fuel from gelling.
Nissan installed a heating grid underneath their carburetors to warm the fuel as it went into the intake manifold. This heater helped in the mixing of the air/fuel and promoted more efficient combustion. Actually this was an emissions control device. It allowed a leaner fuel mixture so less fuel was required and this lowered tailpipe emissions.
Adding a fuel-heating device to your vehicle will be a costly modification, and it is very unlikely that what you save in fuel will pay for the installation. I haven't seen any 'kits' to perform this modification, so it would have to be a custom installation.
Fuel cooling devices perform on a directly opposite theory. Cool fuel is more condensed and results in more power from the engine. Essentially making the fuel mixture, and the companies that sell them, richer. Generally they are not touted as a fuel saving device but rather a "performance enhancer'.
Types Of Devices: Liquid Injection...
These devices introduce a liquid; generally water, into the fuel system. There is a definite need for it in a forced induction, turbocharged or supercharged, internal combustion engines to prevent engine damage. Only in extreme cases, such as very high compression ratios, very low octane fuel, or too much ignition advance can it benefit a normally aspirated engine. Water injection has been around for a while, having been used during WWII in some aircraft engines. It is also used in some racing applications. It is not a fuel saving device, as some would have you believe. Actually water injection and EGR do the same thing; they lower the temperatures in the combustion chamber to prevent detonation and lower NOx emissions. Water injection just does it more aggressively than EGR.
Types Of Devices: Ignition Devices...
These types of devices enhance the ignition system in some way resulting in a 'hotter' spark. While they may increase the firing voltage of a spark type ignition system, they do not increase fuel economy or horsepower. Think of it like this; you have a three-inch puddle of gas and you throw in a match. As soon as the match gets close enough, the gas starts burning. Now take two matches and tie them together. Light them and throw them in the same three-inch puddle of gas. The gas starts burning ant the same time as when you used only one match. An overly simplistic analogy, but essentially correct. A hotter spark does not increase or improve fuel burning. It just guarantees it.
High voltage ignition systems are used in racing engines, because they have a much higher compression ratio when compared to a stock engine. And since a higher compression can impede the spark a higher voltage is needed to insure spark.
In a normal engine a spark enhancer does no good at all.
Types Of Devices: Mixture Enhancers...
I saved this one for last, since this is the one most people have heard of and fell for. These devices make some general modifications to the vehicle intake system. Probably the most well known of these types of device is The Tornado Air Management System. The Tornado is basically a fin that goes into the air intake hose between the air filter and intake manifold. This has the effect of spinning the air and making the fuel mix more completely with the air resulting in a claimed 30% increase if fuel mileage and horsepower. There is one slight flaw in this theory. There is no fuel in the intake manifold. Fuel is injected into the cylinder at the intake valve.
I have personally tested this device on three different vehicles. I did the standard fuel economy tests and tested horsepower on a Dynamometer. None of the tests show any increase in either fuel economy or horsepower. In fact in one vehicle gas mileage and horsepower actually decreased.
The Tornado relies on perception. You do something to improve your vehicle and you 'feel' the improvement. Nothing has actually improved; you just believe it has. It's the same feeling you get after an oil change, nothing has changed. It just feels better.
The fact is most people do not have the knowledge or equipment to do an empirical test of fuel economy or horsepower, so all they have is their gut feeling.
Recently a new one has come onto the market called The Turbonator. Different name, but the same thing as the Tornado.
Best Fuel Saving Methods...
The best way to extend your fuel mileage can be done by following these simple tips:
- Check your tire pressure
- Keep your engine tuned
- Trim excess weight
- Consolidate trips
- Avoid jackrabbit starts
- Cut down air conditioning use
- Shut the engine off if you are going to idle for more than a minute or so
These simple steps can get you up to 3 more MPG. If you have a 15 gallon gas tank and based on a fuel cost of $3.00 that's a savings of about $135.00, and even more as the prices continue to rise. This is money that goes into your pocket, not the pockets of some con man selling you snake oil.
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