I have seen a product on the Speed Channel that claims to increase fuel economy and performance. It is a little vortex generator you put on the throat of the carb or air intake on an injection system. It has fins that cause the air to swirl which I suppose mixes the fuel and air better.

Has anyone tried it? Snake oil??

If it is so great, why does car makers have them in a stock intake system?

I bet you saw this on "Two Guys' Garage" yes?

It pains me to see them endorsing and selling what I suspect is junk in most applications.

Although I've been tempted to try it, I'm COMPLETELY skeptical of the swirlly thing.

I know people that have them and swear by them!!!
Not to the point of 20 HP and awesome gas mileage but the all said it is well worth the $30 they spent for it.

I can't believe it would do anything more than a spinning air restriction.

More turbulence might provide better fuel mixture, but I don't think a big chunk of plastic blocking the air flow would be a good trade.

Popular Mechanics did an article on these types of devises including the one you mention. They found that none increased feul economy. Most actually decreased it by quite a bit and one caused a fire under the hood.

Not sure if it listed on there site yet:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/

I put this kind of stuff in the category of the rumor of the "secret" 100 mpg carbs that back in the '60s. :rolleyes: With the pressure to offer better mileage, the car manufacturers would be falling all over each other to license the technology. Put one of these on a car and you subconsciously drive more gently to support a self-fulfilling prophecy.

On the surface, it might look good, but if you think about it, it could decrease performance. A straight path offers the best flow. When you spin the air in a vortex, it seems that it would create a condition whereby the fuel wouldn't mix as efficiently as the straight flow, and it seems that it would make the air meander, rather than shoot, though the engine. The proof is that no manafacturer is using such design. You cannot have a patent on the way air flows, so all you would have to do is make your own design that would duplicate the vortex flow.

As far as people swearing by modifications, I have seen people install loud mufflers that actually decrease engine performance, yet they swear that the modification makes the vehile into a rocket.

Junk.....kinda like those "electric turbo chargers" being advertized on e-bay. LOL

ooohhh
i saw a car with one of those electric inductionsd as stock equipment... sort of...

1981 280z i did some work on for a friend... i said something like, "what the heck is that, some kinda cheezy forced induction?"
he said its more of a cooling fan for the intake. so i looked closer and i think it actually had the snorkel underneath the intake to cool it... kinda cool. those kitties are some strange animals anyway, but they are OHC6s, so I cant complain

I had one of these things in my '88 K1500. It will come in handy when I need a small piece of stainless. A K&N filter is worth the money you would spend.

Tom

Agreed. I checked these out last year, and for true FGFs with original blocks, these things may cause more harm than good.

Be sure to use one if you have a Chevy in your Pontiac.

Those things are completely worthless - unless you also buy the snake oil to add to your tank every fill up, equal parts oil to fuel. Then I'm sure you'll notice a difference... uh, in something!

It really upset me when I saw them advertising this product in the back of Motor Trend magazine - I mean, yeah you want to sell advertising space to make more money, but they really need to be more selective with who they sell space too - b/c it can turn into a tabloid of false advertisements back there!

When it appeared on Two Guys Garage (a show I took as "serious") - they threw their credibility right out the window! Now I will never know if I can believe what they say. Again - they were just selling advertising space where the 2 guys show you "new" products instead of using commercials. I would have been much happier to see a few dyno runs, or a complete tank of gas programmed dyno run with one in vs without. Swirling air in a soda bottle looks cool, but I'm not sure if it's a good idea in your intake.

Plus - as mentioned - if these types of cheap products were so great, why wouldn't major manufactures use the technology? Hey - a 10% increase in fuel economy and hp, and it won't cost $1M in R&D?! Where do they sign up?!

Reminds me of the little sticker thingy they sell to put on the back of your cell phone that increases the signal strength by double, and reduces your chances of cancer, etc etc. And it's only $15! Hmm - wonder why the cell phone manufacturers don't use that then...

It's unfortunate that we as consumers aren't experts in mechanical engineering, as well as hydro, electric, chemical, air, etc engineers. When a product comes out, they market it to sell, no matter what it actually does or doesn't do. And we as poor consumers who don't have the technical knowledge are left helpless. That's why garbage products are worth making - b/c they will sell for a couple years before people wise up and see that it's garbage - then the company puts out another garbage product for people to try. Making it cheap is a way they sell more - for $20 people are willing to take a risk it won't actually work, and not be upset! If it costed $200 and actually worked - it probably wouldn't sell very well b/c of the price - people wouldn't be willing to spend the money to see if it actually does work. Sad.

Ahhhh the crazy world we live in. LOL These "gimicks" remind me of something my good ole grandfather used to say. "Worthless as tits on a boar hog."