Fuel Saving Devices

It seems to me we're both saying the ecotek is bollocks,no? So let's not argue the reasons why. :-))

Steve

Training of the right foot will do a whole lot more good. Look ahead and drive smoothly so you don't throw away fuel accelerating only to use it few seconds later heating the brakes.

-- Peter Hill Spamtrap reply domain as per NNTP-Posting-Host in header Can of worms - what every fisherman wants. Can of worms - what every PC owner gets!

I'll bet that simply weakening off the mixture a little bit would have the same 'apparent' effect

I read somewhere that the Ecotek reduces the engine braking effect, and therefore might make a car feel 'more willing' i.e. less willing to slow down!

Agreed. No offense meant :-)

Potentially, yes. If the engine is set to run slightly rich on a cruise, say lambda 0.95 (ie 5% excess fuel), and you add extra air via the Ecotek to bring it back to lambda 1, you'll get an economy improvement. You would also get the same improvement by simply retuning your engine, though, without the cost and farting noise! Crucially, post-1993 all petrol cars in Europe have been fitted with lambda sensors to accurately control the mixture to lambda 1 under all normal running conditions. Hence this mode of operation is no longer possible.

The point is that at WOT the manifold vacuum is essentially zero, and so there is no pressure to drive air through the Ecotek valve. So there isn't any flow, and so it can't have any effect.

Tony

(replace "nospam" with "fuel" to reply)

I can't see how that would happen; the engine braking's surely due to the engine's compression and nothing else?

I can think of many reasons.

It was stripped totally of sound insulation, carpets, electric windows etc, and all creature comforts. It used special low friction tyres and say drum brakes adjusted to give zero fiction when not in use. It was so high geared to make driving a nightmare. It was built out of foil to also save weight. The engine couldn't pass modern emission regs.