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Gas Saving Gizmos & Gadgets
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Comments
zaken - your mention of smoothness is why I've never tried one of these myself. I have read (possibly just rumors) that the difference in pulleys' weight/balance could be detrimental to the life of the bearings, as well.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
They froze his assets, too
For a better understanding of man's deceptive nature, read Mark Twain's "What is Man".
http://blogs.tampabay.com/energy/2006/10/heres_a_truly_o.html
scamkit is there?This Turkish homemade student kit gets amazing mpg. Of course it's also cost $170,000, so far. :shades: (popsci.com)
I would be interested in feedback from anyone who has ACTUALLY USED IT. Speculation and theories don't move me. And I'm not going to risk my money to see if they honor their warranty. If this thing works; lets get some credible proof; and if it is a scam; they ought to be shut down.
www.fuel-doctor.com
The second reason I want proof is that there are too many people on this site who have been educated in science; and who as a result claim that what they have learned is absolutely infallable. Such people refuse to question their education; in light of the fact that scientific beliefs are constantly being revised and changed to account for new discoveries; and overlook the inconvenient fact that sometimes "laws of science" which used to be accepted as gospel have subsequently been overturned. When you go to the doctor; do you request that they only treat you with the original protocols which were first used to treat a condition? Many established medical treatment protocols have been invalidated or even reversed; when the original studies have been proven to be based on false premises or inaccurate observations. The ideal scientist is one who is always open to considering new information or possibilities; regardless of how unlikely they seem. The ideal lay person is one who does not treat the findings of science as if they were infallable religious beliefs which came from God; but is open to the sometimes uncomfortable possibility that what they have been believing can still be proved wrong. And the real limits of science include not only technological limitations; but also the consequences of human error and arrogance.
1) With no study at all, even a semi-learned person can see that this thing is a scam and will never work.
2) Please do not confuse technological advancement with overturning "laws of science". There is (and always will be) a great divide between "learning" and/or "state of the art technology", and the "physical laws of nature" such as the "second law of thermodynamics" and the "law of conservation of energy". Those two "laws" have never changed and will most likely never-ever change regardless of how far state of the art technology is advanced. This device appears to infringe greatly on one or both of the above laws.
3) Common sense, if something sounds too good to be true, then the odds of it being "true" are stacked hugely (as in millions or even billions to one) against it.
4) It is often difficult to prove a negative, and in this case even if test after test after test result in a conclusion of zero efficacy, it is unlikely that its advocates will admit that it doesn't work. That said, I'll lay odds and cash money that no verifiable scientific test will ever show this device is anything other than a scam.
Best regards,
Shipo
The inventor would undoubtedly negotiate deals with ALL the major auto manufacturers and it would become standard equipment within a couple of years.
The Current Regulating Fuel Efficiency Booster.
This is the device that improves a car's fuel efficiency by up to 18%. An independent automotive testing service showed the unit increased an automobile's average fuel efficiency from 23.8 to 28.1 miles per gallon in two weeks. The device simply plugs into a car's DC outlet and stabilizes the electrical current flowing to the electrical control unit (ECU)--the computer that controls the engine's fuel injection and ignition systems--to improve gas mileage. The device mitigates electrical interference from the stereo, lights, air conditioning, and more that can negatively affect the ECU's ability to optimize fuel injection and fuel efficiency. Includes an adapter with two DC outlets that accommodate the fuel efficiency booster and another device. For use with automobiles that are at least two years old and have 12 or 24-volt systems; not for use with hybrid cars. 4" L x 1 1/2" W x 1" D. (4 oz.)
Oh, but not for use by Hybrid Cars. Foiled Again Am I !!!
"I'm amazed you're selling a worthless product. The "Current Regulating Fuel Efficiency Booster", item 78387, cannot possibly work. Things like this are sold by scammers - why are you selling it? The EPA has tested dozens of such devices, found them all to be worthless. I'm very disappointed you would put your good name behind such a product."
Are you serious? I mean, you actually sound as if you believe the BS in that ad. Say it isn't so. :confuse:
me likey.
Ultra-Efficient Gas Engine Passes Test - A novel fuel-injection system achieves 64 miles per gallon.
Transonic Combustion, a startup based in Camarillo, CA, has developed a fuel-injection system it says can improve the efficiency of gasoline engines by more than 50 percent. A test vehicle equipped with the technology gets 64 miles per gallon in highway driving, which is far better than more costly gas-electric hybrids, such as the Prius, which gets 48 miles per gallon on the highway.
Efficient exotic: Transonic Combustion put its new fuel-injection technology into this sports car, which weighs about as much as a Toyota Prius hybrid and has similar aerodynamics. It’s not a hybrid, but it gets better gas mileage than a Prius.
The key is heating and pressurizing gasoline before injecting it into the combustion chamber, says Mike Rocke, Transonic's vice president of business development. This puts it into a supercritical state that allows for very fast and clean combustion, which in turn decreases the amount of fuel needed to propel a vehicle. The company also treats the gasoline with a catalyst that "activates" it, partially oxidizing it to enhance combustion.
The technology is one of many being developed to squeeze more efficiency out of existing engines to meet new fuel economy standards and other regulations--without making vehicles more expensive. "It's a time of renaissance for internal combustion engines," says William Green, a professor of chemical engineering at MIT. Improvements include smaller engines boosted with turbocharging, improved valve timing, and direct injection, in which fuel is injected directly into the combustion chamber rather than into an adjacent port. He says Transonic's approach "may be a promising way to improve on conventional direct injection."
Any possible magic devices from the past, if they worked, would have been passed up because it was seen as an added cost that consumers wouldn't pay for. Given the upcoming CAFE regs, all of that is changing. Costly updates will become a necessity rather than a curiosity.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
We know the weight of their vehicle and its fuel efficiency. Great. But what else? How much power is that engine putting out? What other fuel efficiency devices are being employed on the vehicle?
50% improvement? Based on what? It says at the bottom they are currently testing it in existing engines. So, if that is underway, what was previously done to come up with this 50% number?
I'm sure the list goes on.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
- Smokey's 50% increase in fuel economy was compared to engines of the mid 1980s, not exactly a golden age of fuel economy. Said another way, I dare say that the 2.0T currently in the VW GTI would very nearly match (if not exceed) the performance and economy of Smokey's engine without all of the extremely complex plumbing.
- From the perspective of this "New technology" being worked on by Transonic, nothing even remotely new, and like texases said, I'm thinking that the thermal losses are a much larger hurdle than more efficiently burning the gasoline. Think about it this way, I recently read a very detailed dissertation on the state of the art of combustion technology, and we find that very little of the gasoline that is injected into a combustion chamber (ala. the VW engine I mentioned before) is actually wasted. Is the combustion as efficient as what is derived in a Perfectly Stirred Reactor (PSR)? No. Is it over 90% as efficient? Yes.
- So, if modern combustion science is able to atomize fuel to a level that is approaching the PSR, then where does Transonic think they're getting this 50% gain?
- With the above in mind I'm going to go out on a limb here (in my mind a very short and strong one) and say that what the folks at Transonic are touting is bordering on a scam.
As a fellow member (markcincinnati) is known to say from time to time, "I'm often wrong but never uncertain." That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Best regards,
Shipo
To quote the late Michael Crichton, (Author of Jurassic Park, among others):
"I am certain there is too much certainty in the world."
Ummm, yeah, you have me convinced. NOT!
Sorry, there is absolutely zero chance that the miracle product you "tested" did anything but waste money.
There
Has
Never
Been
A
"Gas-Saving"
Product
Which
Has
Been
Proven
To
Work.
Ever.
Never.
Ever.
So you can understand our cynicism I hope.
If there ever IS something that works, it won't be "you and a few friends" using it. It will be about 90% of the world's drivers using it. In today's instant communication world, something that works will be on a million Twitter accounts within hours of being proven true.
Well let's just explain this product. Yes it will make someone money if you buy it. But since I can't even send you to the site to buy it well then I guess this will end our talk. I was just letting people know about something that I KNOW works! If you want to buy it, buy it, if not don't! Makes no difference to me!! Didn't come here to argue with anyone. Just was trying to help others. So I know not to come back here anymore. Have a great day & God Bless!
Many, many, many of those proven, accepted improvements began as some backyard inventor's brainchild; were initially sold as a gas saving product, and were eventually bought by the auto manufacturers when they couldn't deny their value. Others were developed in auto manufacturer's research labs. But every single one of them increased gas mileage.
Have you been sleeping for all these years??? During the 1950s, in the good old days when cars were simple and anybody could fix them with a screwdriver and a crescent wrench; the average fuel economy of a 6 cylinder motor was about 20 miles per gallon on the freeway. Today, most 6s get 25 to 32 miles per gallon on the freeway. It is a new day today: Please wake up!!!
Please name some. I can't think of any. The major contributors to fuel economy, compared to, say, 1930, are: Overhead valves; high compression engines; high octane gas; fuel injection; computer engine controls (injection and ignition); exhaust gas sensors hooked into the computer controls. None of these sound like 'backyard inventors' products. Larsb is right that none of the 'gizmos and gadgets' that we read about here and elsewhere have been proven to improve mpgs.
And the starting point of this recent discussion is starting to sound just like one of those.
The truth of the matter is, if this little pet product of yours is so great then it would have been proven out in lab after lab after lab worldwide and be in common use today (said another way, it would have near universal application). The fact that it isn't is quite simply such a preponderance of evidence that says you're wrong that nothing you say will even remotely pique the interest of anybody schooled in the arts of combustion science.
Do I care that you have your fantasy? No. Do I care if you are trying to mislead folks into buying a product that provides no more efficacy than a bottle of snake oil? You bet'cha.
I dunno, is Lucas yet another one of those MLM companies where all that's really being sold is the right to sell other shares to others? Do they also sell "male enhancement" pills like the Amsoil folks do?
If someone invented something that works in their basement workshop, they'll patent it and license it to the majors, they won't try selling it on the Home Shopping Network. Not if they want to be taken seriously.
skywatcher1973, you can post all of the anecdotal evidence you want, only those that know no better (i.e. those with non-scientifically trained minds that want to believe) will pay attention. For the rest of us, we'll wait for the real scientific break throughs to be presented to the market at large before we spend our hard earned money.
What's funny is that buying some of this junk can help your mpg.
Gas-saving Gizmos and the Placebo Effect: Why People Claim Real Gas Savings From Methods That Can’t Possibly Work (Technology for World)
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accessories/Lucas-Oil-5-25-oz-fuel-injector-cle- aner/_/N-262d?counter=0&filterByKeyWord=lucas&fromString=search&itemIdentifier=3- 69511_0_0_
I'm sorry none of us regulars are excited to read about your experiences but we've been kicking this stuff around for just about a decade now and have yet to see anything worthwhile come down the pike.
So my reply to you is I want to be Happy!!!
Have a good time bye!
Oh & I haven't replied back because I stopped receiving updates on this, just thought I would check in to see what you were downing me on this time!
No, sorry, by definition your numbers are anecdotal and as such are anything but real.
My question is: How can you tell me that this product doesn't even work? You don't know what it is! You haven't used it before! So why run your mouth on something that you haven't ever heard of??
Ummm, I don't have to eat a dog poo-pie to know very well that, A) it won't taste as good as my pumpkin pie, and it won't be healthy for me. So why do I run my mouth, errr, fingers? Because after the billions of dollars (yes, billions with a big honking "B" in front of it) the world's automakers have spent on improving fuel economy, there is an absolute zero percent chance the product you're advocating is what you say it is. Why? Because if it was, said automakers would have long since lined up and paid big money to test it and to build engines that could take the greatest possible advantage of it. Said another way, it would be in near universal use world wide right this very minute.
The above said, I do know what the product is, I've looked it up and Bobbie Smith should be thanking you for getting me to go even that far. The thing is, the internet hype around this product is straight out of the MLM/Snake-Oil marketing handbook, so much so that any studying of this product will generate more questions than answers and further convince anyone of any intelligence that this is just the latest in a long-long line of fuel economy scams to be visited on the motoring public.
You may know alot, but you don't know anything about this product or anything about me!! I will stand strong in what I believe in!
In many ways this world we live in is divided into two; a part that has religion and will believe blindly, and those that are atheistic and can only be convinced when incontrovertible evidence is presented to them, evidence that is verified by multiple non-aligned third parties. Long story short, if you want to believe this product works, you can easily make yourself believe. For my part I call “shenanigans” on your claims.