Re: Tornado...Tell a friend!

[Gerard <gerard@poboxes.com>]

There are other makers of the similar thing. The ads read something
like: "swirls the air to form a vortex which vaporises the fuel
more effectively for better combustion therefore better power and
economy". I thought about it and thought about and I guess a really
good vortex could do some good work at atomizing the fuel and mixing
it with the air. But no matter which way I thought about it I just
just could get the vortex to move all the way to where the fuel was
put in. I mean, put this Tornado or whatever thing in the inlet
pipe of a CIS car, the vortex will be dead at the filter. Put it in
EFI before the filter box and the filter will kill the vortex. Put it
after the box and before the air meter and it will do lovely swirly
things on the heated wires, which might be large enough to change
the swirling action. (BTW, I think one of these things could actually
help in those funny cases of having a cone filter on a EFI heat-wire
air meter car that lacks enough tubing between the meter and filter
to suitable smooth out the air flow. I think someone had a fault like
that recently on the list). Put it after the flow meter and before
the throttle body and it will make a difference if you're running
single-point throttle body fuel injection and the injector is way before
the inlet flap of the throttle body, which I think is wrong (injectors
are after the flap, right? Never seen a throttle body injector before).
Anyway, inlet manifolds will kill the vortex effect, I don't see how
a single vortex will easily split into several little ones or be able
to switch direction so quickly in a turbulent environment like an
inlet manifold. Perhaps this thing is really great for nitrous
injection, put the vortex-maker just before the NO-injector to get it
all mixed up real good...but I have a turbo, so inject the stuff into
the turbo and let the turbo mix it up!

Well, that's my way of looking at this Tornado thing. And I'm no
engineer, these are just opinions of a pleb.

While we're at it, I've looked up some other stuff if anyone is
interested in all those gadgets they have for saving fuel, reducing
emmissions, increasing torque and power. Some seem usable, some seem
downright dangerous to me.

	1. Mileage Wizard (ww.mileagewiz.com).

	   Price: $329.95 per unit.

	   Description: a pipe that has hosing wrapped around it.

	   Method of use: the pipe section fits into a radiator hose
	   and there is an inlet and outlet for fuel to run through
	   hosing/tubing around the pipe.

	   Claim: 5-10 miles per gallon more, with proven test results.

	   Concept: quite old, I put something like this onto the list
	   last year, the idea is that heated fuel provides better
	   economy since it is near vaporized point and less dense and
	   therefore mixes easier with the air. Cooling the fuel makes
	   it more dense and you can get more fuel into the cylinder
	   for more power, provided you get enough air in.

	   My opinion: $300+ is way too much! Take the fuel line
	   wrap it around the radiator hose, or, even better, wrap it
	   around a manifold to heat it up. And, oh yes, good luck! :)
	   I think the principle works and it comes in some neat
	   looking packaging too. But I wonder if these guys ever
	   considered a case of overheating? Also, you now have 2 extra
	   possible fuel leakage points...and straight onto some lovely
	   hot radiator hosing. I'm sure it works as said, but one
	   could probably have one made for way under $300. I have no
	   idea just how performance would be affected, but power
	   increases are claimed.

	2. PowerCat (R) (www.powercat.com)

	   Price: $157.99 for 4-cylinder app.
	          $169.99 for 6-cylinder app.
	          $177.99 for 8-cylinder app.
	          So I guess $162.99 for 5-cylinder app! :)

	   Description: a small unit housing magnets and some "alloy"

	   Method of use: clamps onto fuel line some 12-inchs from
	   carb or injection unit

	   Claims: Reduce emissions 50%-85%. Immediately add 15HP.
	   Improve gas mileage. Smoother running engine, less
	   maintainance.

	   Concept: fuel enters via fuel line and is treated by the
	   "alloy catalyst", then passes through magnetic field to
	   prevent hydrogen atoms from clumping together and allow them
	   to bond more easierly with oxygen, hence a more complete
	   fuel burn (97% as opposed to 75% average)

	   Other interesting info: ISO9000 approved manufacture by
	   Douglas of McDonnell Douglas and they actually mention the
	   lab names of those who have done tests on it.

	   My opinion: old story as well, I saw this many years ago
	   even here in South Africa. I'm no chemical engineer, there
	   are more capable and knowledgable people on the list who
	   understand what happens when fuel burns, perhaps they could
	   let us know whether this concept helps.

	3. Fuelsaver Prozone (www.fuelsaver.com)
	   Price: must send e-mail for this.
	   Concept, and blah-blah: same as #2 above, but would make
	   a noisier infomercial if we based it all on websites.

	4. The Clean Air Valve (www.wave.net/rvg/cav/cav.html)

	   Price: $39.95 for gasoline CAV, $20 rebate if ordering by
	   e-mail. $99.95 for diesel CAV, $50 rebate if ordering by
	   e-mail.

	   Description and method of use: becomes part of the PCV
	   system, I think on the Audis it will replace that joint on
	   top of the valve cover or perhaps in the piping from that
	   joint to the airbox.

	   Claims: increased fuel economy (11.34%), increased engine
	   performance, lower emissions (+- 50.73%), longer lasting
	   engine and tune-ups, never needs replacing.

	   Concept: gases coming out of crank hinder the natural
	   combustion of the fuel when the gases are recirc'd back into
	   the inlet air stream (hydrocarbons and oil put the flame
	   out I think). This is a filter that removes the hydrocarbons
	   and oil from that recirc'd air and gases.

	   Other interesting info: passed Chrysler's 5-year durability
	   test, tested by government labs, Limited Lifetime Warranty
	   in USA, proven to increase fuel economy.

	   My opinion: probably could go a long way to removing crud
	   from the inlet system and helping burn fuel better. I would
	   not know exactly how detrimental a PCV system is to the
	   burn quality of the air fuel mixture, but I guess there is
	   some detrimental effect (F1 motors run a open vent system,
	   no recirculation, must get some power from doing that).
	   It's just a filter, not as flashy as the other stuff and
	   at $20 probably might do something helpful to economy and
	   emissions.

Those are the only ones I looked at. They'd probably all make wondeful
infomercials for TV. The fuel heating thing is just fancy packaging,
but the idea probably works. $300 though is ridiculous for some
plastic and metal tubing!!! Now, who is going to make the unit that
had the heating element and the magnets in it? Just how much can you
heat the fuel? I mean, on the MC of my 200t if the fuel was heated
and then passed to the fuel distributor and then passed over the
IM and EM (both on the side of the fuel distributor) just how much
heat would be needed to set the stuff off? Wasn't that the reason
behind the injector cooler, to keep the temp of the fuel and injector
down so they don't go bang!

Interesting stuff, no?

G.

PS: this is a non-technical e-mail, folks, it is, afterall, me who is
    speaking! :)
-- 
"a thousand miles from here, there is another person smiling"
1990 Turbo (200t, MAC13A ECU, 1.4-1.6 bar (1.8 bar with faulty WGFV!),
FWD auto)
name   : gerard van vught
tel    : +27-21-696 0331 (h) / 082 923 9609 (cell)
url    : http://www.poboxes.com/gerard/
e-mail : gerard@poboxes.com  / han.solo@galaxycorp.com