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April 30, 2008
Crackpot Alert
by Jack Lee
As gas prices climb people are seeking alternative ways to boost their mileage. Most of the gimmicks out here on the net are just that. For instance there is the Vortec and Cyclone devices. They claim by passing air vanes stuck on your air filter "it creates a swirling cyclone of air within the combustion chamber, leading to better airflow, increased fuel atomization and more efficient combustion." Sounds good, but this has been around for over 60 years and its bunk. If it worked as advertised GM would put them on their vehicles as standard equipment, they are really simply and have no moving parts. They offer a guarantee and bank on the fact most people will never try to claim it. I think these things rank up with the magnets to improve the taste of water.
There's another device that claims you can burn water. No you really can't burn the water, but the water injection allows you to advance the timing a bit and that increases the power by a very small amount and this will improve mileage. Your engine might run a little cooler and burn a cleaner too, but the net effect is very minimal, if any, and the hassle of adapting a pressurized water injection system and tanking up with water all the time probably makes this device impractical.
There are simple things that work to improve mileage and if you're not doing it, you should. Properly inflate your tires. This is a big one. Most people run tires under inflated and that sucks up the gas and it wears out your tires faster. The next thing is keep your air filter clean! Do just those two things and you will be really close to
maximizing your gas mileage. I drive a Buick and I get a combine mileage of 26 mpg, other Buick owners I've talked tend to get much less. I do better on gas mileage than most because I drive smart, I'm easy on the on starts, I drive the speed limit and I keep my vehicles properly maintained... that’s it. On my Chevy pickup with a 350 CI engine, I changed the air filter to a K&N and put a low back pressure muffler on it, my mileage is about 20 mpg, most say they get about 15-16 mpg with similar vehicles without the these improvements.
Thats my opinion and you can take it for what its worth, but just be advised the scammers are going to be coming out of the woodwork as prices stay high.
Posted by Post Scripts at April 30, 2008 08:33 PM