I saw a mythbusters a few weeks ago where they pretty much debunked all the devices currently out there that are sold to "improve gas mileage." I just can't seem to find a link to a synopsis of the show online.
Most of them either did nothing, or could have potentially harmed the motor.
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Last edited by steves : 09-15-2005 at 10:22 AM.
Reason: Fixed spelling error
I saw that myhtbusters as well. They did bust all of the currect tricks-I think Popular Mechanics mag ahd a similar article and came up with the same conclusion as mythbusters. They may have been related.
But on Mythbusters they concluded that there was a big savings on using the A/C opposed to the windows down. I am going to have to try that feather foot thing. Don't see it lasting long......
But on Mythbusters they concluded that there was a big savings on using the A/C opposed to the windows down. I am going to have to try that feather foot thing. Don't see it lasting long......
My goal has been to keep the RPMs under 2000...of course that meant all of nothing this morning on my way to work when the guy in the RX8 was being ****y in traffic....
I have to admit, the feather foot actually works. I just took a trip, and basically using the feather foot and cruise I actually got a little over 19mpg's.
My goal has been to keep the RPMs under 2000...of course that meant all of nothing this morning on my way to work when the guy in the RX8 was being ****y in traffic....
I actually did this with my Ford Explorer (my wife is driving the titan since her trip is under 5 miles each way and mine is over 20 each way).
My regular driving style on the Explorer (4.0 V6 4x4 Auto) yielded an average of 15.5 mpg. My driving is almost 100% city - takes me about 1 hour to travel the 20 miles - it's all traffics and stop lights.
My last tank, keeping the revs under 2000 (99% of the time), yielded just about 16.9. Only about a 10% improvement. I'll try it for a couple of more tanks and see how it goes.
Curious if there will be a more significant increase with a Titan - bigger engine.
Yeah, you'll save a lot more in gas by your driving habits than using anything sold to improve your mileage. I notice my can fluxuate 1-2 MPG by not going WFO off the line all the time..
- Nealio
I know I have mentioned this endlessly,but driving like a sissy on the hy got me 21.4 over a 965 mile trip.Sissy meaning CC on except for hills-maybe 67 mph-but there were lots of mpg saving roadwork zones-45-55 mph.I did use the AC almost constantly,but I did turn it off for minutes at a time late at night.
The best I have done in the city is one 16.7 tank.This was driving back and forth to school-32 miles round trip.605 of this round trip was hy miles-45-55 mph interstates.My usual city mpg-before becoming a mpg nut-was about 12-13 mpg.When I get home I'll see how full on mpg fanaticism with lighter wheels helps city mpg.Thanks.Charlie
But on Mythbusters they concluded that there was a big savings on using the A/C opposed to the windows down. I am going to have to try that feather foot thing. Don't see it lasting long......
Watch that episode again. Their findings were exactly opposite. They actually bagged the "A/C on windows up" myth. They got better mileage with the windows down and A/C off in their Ford SUVs.
Thanks for that link....very interesting reading. The leadfoot one was funny though, funny because I didn't think anyone had to actually test that!
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- Joe
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When I was a mech. eng. undergrad we had a small block chevy on a test stand hooked to a dyno and tested a ton of the B.S. fuel saving devices. None worked. We had one "inventor" that came back every couple of weeks with a new gizmo. It was pretty pathetic.
Watch that episode again. Their findings were exactly opposite. They actually bagged the "A/C on windows up" myth. They got better mileage with the windows down and A/C off in their Ford SUVs.
Thanks for that link....very interesting reading. The leadfoot one was funny though, funny because I didn't think anyone had to actually test that!
The whole A/C thing should vary by vehicle. Different vehicles will have different increases in wind resistance with windows down.
Why we picked Houston to test gas savers is beyond me. It was--honest--147º F in the dynomometer room while we were testing seven bogus gas-saving gadgets. We tested a couple of fuel-line magnets, a pair of vortex generators, an $80 piece of wire that’s supposed to ionize the fuel mixture, a gasoline vapor injector and a water injector. Testing on Universal Technical Institute’s chassis dyno, we ran a set of pickup trucks through their paces, and as we expected, none of these gadgets worked. Specifically, none of them increased fuel mileage, and most of them reduced horsepower.
Sorry we don’t have any pictures of the engine compartment fire that one of them started, but by the time the photographer got over to the dyno, we’d already put it out.
Trust me folks--if there was any way to increase fuel economy for the twenty bucks that some of these devices cost, it would already be on every car on the market. Think about it--more than 99 percent of the fuel injected into your engine is burned. Even if you increased the combustion efficiency to 100 percent, the potential for improved mileage is only about 1 percent. Consequently, a fuel saver can’t increase mileage by the 25 percent or more its manufacturer might claim.
There’s one gadget I wanted to test that was taken off the market between the original story meeting and when we started acquiring gadgets here in the office. It's a plastic button the size of a quarter with some self-stick tape on one side, and goes for $150 or so. You’re supposed to stick this to the bottom of the fuel tank of your vehicle, where it will make the molecules of fuel vibrate at a special frequency, and ionize or gain energy or some other wacky thing. Just to prove there’s one born every minute. ... --Mike Allen
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09-15-2005, 10:13 AM
Devilpuppy
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