I know these have been mentioned a lot, and apologise for bringing the subject up again. But as a car engineer, these things make me so mad! I've written some notes about fuel saving devices at:
Comments/ideas welcome, "spreading the word" even more so.
Tony
A good read. Nice one.
Fuel snipped-for-privacy@tjca>
bringing the
so mad!
Seconded, Very well done.
"Tony Cains" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com...
Don't apologise, interesting research. Most of these devices I've seen advertised over the years allege a fuel saving of up to ten percent. Before putting their mothballs in the tank, fitting the magnets around the coil lead, fuel filter full of tin pellets, spinning wheel in the fuel line etc, they all state that the engine must be serviced. In the days when these devices were all the go on the back pages of Practical Motorist, Car Mechanics etc, most cars were not serviced as we do nowadays. Adjusting valve clearances, fitting a new set of plugs, contact set, air filter and oil change would easily create a benefit of three to four miles per gallon. That's the ten percent they advertised. I don't advocate the snake oil approach but I've just fitted a PSI powerbox to the Xantia 90 hdi, mainly to improve torque when towing (I'd have preferred the 110 hdi but none available at my money). This is supposed to add 20 bhp to output and it definitely feels smoother at lower speeds, more tractable in traffic (I tend to hold high gears for economy) and accelerates more powerfully. Before fitting, average fuel consumption solo, over 4,000 miles has been 47mpg. I've only filled once since but it shows 52mpg. No gimmicks in it's construction- it's a mini computer that alters the injector timing from Citroen's basic 'fits all sizes'. There is another setting inside the unit-which will produce another 7 bhp. Havn't played with that yet. Might do when I hitch up the trailer just to compare. DaveK.
An excellent site; it's nice to see someone collating the advertised pseudo-scientific claptrap used by the sellers of these products and beating them round the head with it with the aid of common sense! I should point out it is missing a few devices which *do* increase fuel economy and *reduce* emissions:
The Shred-O-Matic(tm): Simply drop your car keys in, and in an instant the fuel economy is increased by 100% and emissions drop to 0. The front foglight switch: Reduces fuel consumption slightly and decreases swearing emissions from other cars by 72.8%
Tom.
Yes, good point Dave. If you can hold a higher gear then (at least in theory) there is a definite fuel economy benefit from a torque-increasing device. (One refill isn't really enough to prove anything, though!) I don't really want to turn this thread into a discussion about "chipping", so I'll update my site with some thoughts on this over the next few days. Tony
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