The Tornado: a road test for gas mileage evaluation

[aldive]

I had previously dyno proved, at least on my truck, the Tornado does squat as far as increasing RWHP. I have up till now not tested this apparatus as a means of escalating gas mileage.

I have a friend who purchased a Tornado and installed it in his car. He was extremely disappointed in its performance; he actually lost about one half miles per gallon.

I asked if I could borrow his Tornado to test for gas mileage on my truck; anxious to see my results, he readily agreed.

I had to go to Naples, FL, to help a friend with a project. This was a perfect opportunity to assess the Tornado’s effect on gas mileage. Naples is 100 miles south of my house.

I was using a computer tune that Doug ( http://www.bamachips.com/ ) made for me for gas mileage on 89 fuel.

The test was conducted as follows: I installed the Tornado, a 2 minute job, and filled the truck with BP 89 and drove to Naples at 75 MPH ( GPS determined ). As soon as I exited I75, I refilled with BP 89. I then visited my friend and did some local driving in Naples. Before entering I75, I once again refilled with BP 89 after removing the Tornado. The drive to Sarasota was also done at 75 MPH. Upon arrival in Sarasota, I refilled with BP 89.

Driving impression: I could tell no difference whatsoever in the driving performance with or without the Tornado.

I drove faster than I normally do because of time constraints, so I did not expect to achieve 30 plus MPG. Actual speed ( GPS determined - Dead Link Removed ) was 76.2 MPH on the way South and 76.4 MPH on the North leg.

The drive with the Tornado netted 28.7 MPG whereas the drive without the device netted 29.0 MPG; a net loss of 0.3 MPG.

Conclusion: As seen in the dyno chart below, the Tornado did nothing as far as increasing RWHP. Further, the Tornado actually caused a slight loss in gas mileage.

At least for me, the Tornado proved to be of no value both in power making and gas saving.

 

[davesexplorer]

wow... the truth.

 

[JDraper]

Article from CNN...

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/08/07/gas.saving.investigation/index.html

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Liz and Rocky Rothwell, a retired couple from Orlando, Florida, thought they could save money on gas by dropping a little green pill called BioPerformance in their car's tank.

"When it goes in your gasoline, it disperses out. It's supposed to increase the mileage in your car from anywhere from 25 to 30 percent," Rocky Rothwell said.

The Rothwells had such high hopes for this product that they went to a company presentation and signed on as distributors in a multilevel marketing plan.

But the pill turned out to be a dud, according to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott.

Abbott had the pills tested. He concluded that the pills didn't work and he found they were made mostly of naphthalene, the same stuff that used to go in mothballs.

Abbott shut down the Texas-based BioPerformance and is suing the company and its owners for allegedly running a scam that cost people such as the Rothwells thousands of dollars.

Responding to inquiries via a letter, an attorney for Gustavo Romero, one of BioPerformance's founders and owners, writes: "It is our expectation that additional scientific testing will answer the issue once and for all."

At a time when gas prices are near record highs, many people are searching for ways to make their gas money go a little bit further. And there are a number of products on the market that claim to stretch a few more miles out of a gallon of gas.

CNN teamed up with Popular Mechanics magazine and auto mechanics from the Universal Technical Institute in Houston, Texas, to run individual tests on a couple of other "gas-saving" products.

First, we determined the base line by running vehicles without any of these add-on products.

Mike Allen, an automotive guru and senior writer with Popular Mechanics, then installed a set of magnets that are supposed to align the molecules in the fuel so it burns more efficiently.

"This is one of the more elaborate fuel line magnets I've ever seen," Allen observed. "It's got three really powerful bar magnets, and it sort of straddles the fuel lines so the fuel goes through the middle."

But when we ran the engine with the magnet installed, the vehicle's gas mileage decreased by about 10 percent.

"We're theorizing that the magnetic field is so powerful it is interfering with the wiring in the fuel injectors," Allen said.

Energy Cel, the company that makes the magnets, said its product works and that it has been tested "... with positive results."

"We are dismayed that your mechanics did not have the proper training for placement and testing of our magnetic device," the company said. "We always welcome testing of our products by qualified, trained personnel that use the proper procedures. If tested correctly, our product works."

Next up was the Tornado, a device that turns air inside a car's air intake valve into a mini-tornado. The manufacturer -- Tornado Air Management Systems -- said it makes engines burn fuel more efficiently.

In the test, the Tornado reduced a Lincoln Navigator's fuel mileage by just under a mile per gallon, from 18.4 mpg without the device to 17.5 mpg with it installed.

But the manufacturer stands behind the Tornado: "We have more than 100,000 satisfied customers. Our product works."

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency did not test the same products that we did, but it has checked out more than 100 products that make similar gas-saving claims over the last 30 years and none has worked, according to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson.

"It's a scam," Johnson said.

Experts said the best way to squeeze more miles per gallon out of a vehicle is to ensure that tires are inflated properly. They said this simple step can save as much as 10 percent on fuel mileage.

 

[UtahX]

Thanks for the info Al.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Why can't some attorney sue Tornado just like the first company which makes the moth ball pills?

 

[Stic-o]

My dad swears by one in his 250, I think it's all in his head

 

[Jason94sport]

Makes sense, your putting a restriction into the intake tube.
I can't believe anyone actually thinks this POS does anything.

 

[holter95]

ooooohh... good ol' MLMs

I guess it's no surprise that people gullible enough to believe that a magic pill will give them, not just a slight increase, like 5-10%, but 25-30% better gas mileage are also the ones dumb enough to buy into a Pyramid Scheme to market them.

Hope they enjoy their lifetime supply of overpriced toilet paper too...

 

[TheVarmit]

Thanks for all the info aldive. You got the same results with the Tornado I got and posted about earlier on a different thread. Soooo, if anyone swears by a Tornado I have one, in original box, collecting dust in my garage.

 

[BrooklynBay]

I wonder what the Tornado company will say if they try to dyno a vehicle, and get the same results? I'm sure that their company can't be the only one to get good results, and everybody else that uses it gets poor results. They charge $70 for those things.

 

[gijoecam]

I'd be interested to buy one, dyno it before and after, track mileage before and after, then politely ask for your money back citing the dyno charts and mileage tracking. I would be surprised if they refunded your money, but might be worth asking just to see.

-Joe

 

[Cali' Explorer]

I think a lot of the "Gimick" in these devices is the driver. I think its all a trick of the mind. Individuals spend $70+ on the device expecting to get better mileage, and they start driving better to get he mileage they expect from their investment.

 

[manarpat]

damages

Why can't some attorney sue Tornado just like the first company which makes the moth ball pills?

It all boils down to individual damages. While I am not intimately familiar with the facts of the pill/mothball case, the couple at issue lost a large amount of money to the manufacturer, and they probably had the pecuniary means to hire counsel to get their money back as soon as the investment was found to be a sham. Granted, all the people that bought a tornado or something similar lost a lot of money as a collective whole, but it is the individual losses that matter with respect to a lucrative case such as was the extent that the couple lost as an investment unit.

Bottom line, the law recognizes an age old Latin principal called "caveat emptor." It translates in English to "let the buyer beware." All those familiar cliches such as "a fool and his money are soon parted" or "you get what you pay for" are all rooted within this principle.

One of the only ways that an attorney would be able to mount a lucrative suit is if enough people gathered together to form what is known as a class action lawsuit (huge costs on the attorney to bring about with no guarentees of returns especially if the case losses) coupled with whether or not the company in question still had any resources to pay. After all, a judgement/ court order to pay is useless if the defendant is insolvent.

For the precious few that had found gains in the gimmicks, more power to you and consider yourselves fortunate. For the rest that have found the empirical data to state otherwise, your analysis is correct, you as the buyer have the personal duty to think before you part with your hard earned money as there will ALWAYS be scammers out there willing to help.

 

[Cali' Explorer]

Another problem with this is that it is up to the accuser (IE: Those who are calling it a Gimick) to PROVE that it doesn't work. I would say that it would be near impossible to problem whether or not the Tornado MIGHT be able to gain you 1 - 2 MPG. And, without a lot of money in research and engineering, you'd have a hard time proving your case methinks.