So I saw the stupid info-mercial abou the Tornado Fuel Saver. Does anyone out there have first hand experience with this? Does it really work like the advertisment says?
Here is a link to the device
Thanks for clueing me in about URateIt.com
Whenever you see something like that, you have to stop and ask yourself, “If there were a simple device that the auto makers could put on the vehicles they produce, one that would result in measurably improved gas mileage, why wouldn’t they do so, especially since they have to meet Federal CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) standards?”
The same goes for things like STP Oil Treatment. I once saw an oil company exec, in an interview, saying that if they could add something to their oil to make it better than their competitors’ products, they’d do it in a heartbeat.
A year or so ago today, my dad thought he was going to be a millionaire off those things. He got all the tools together, he was contracted out, he even bought a credit card thing. Welll, my mom and I both told him how much it would not work. Anyways, he still did it, and sold one.
Now he thinks that he can save golf with this “SIMPLE ECONOMICAL TOOL!”
Asshole…
In this month’s Choice magazine, which does nothing but product testing and evaluation they discussed oil and petrol additives and concluded that none are any use at all.
Sorry for the hijack; but speaking of STP, what’s the deal with it? I remember STP patches and stickers when I was a kid. STP seemed to be a respected product on the racing circuit and with people who had “muscle cars”. But as a kid, all I thought was “STP = Racing. The patches are cool.” So what’s STP all about?
As I understand it, STP is just motor oil with an extra dose of detergents.
This was discussed a few months ago on the NPR show CarTalk. The reason gas mileage appears to improve a little on the first few drives is nothing to do with the Tornado, it’s all down to driving habits.
If you’ve you’ve just installed (and shelled out $ for) a new widget to improve your mileage, then you are more likely to employ better driving tecniques (smoother acceleration, slightly slower speed on the freeway or whatever). Your mileage improves. A month later you’ve forgotten about it, so you revert back to old habits and your mileage drops down again.
plus an efficient advertising team 
STP was “the racer’s edge,” or at least we all though because of Andy Granitelli’s commercials slippery screwdriver test. Never mind how little fingers on a screwdriver had to do with lubricant film in engine bearings and cylinder walls. It’s just another bit of the long history of advertising demonstrations that we fool ourselves into thinking are relavent to what the product is supposed to do. IIRC a relative who had a new Kenworth trucks said that if the shop did analysys of the oil and found STP the warranty would be voided.
IIRC independant test for Slick 50, the teflon additive, were very revealing. In the commercial they show a small Briggs & Stratton type mototor being run with the additive. Then they drain the oil and run the endgine again. Miraculously it keeps running.
The independant tests were run under controlled conditions. The motor did keep running for a while as the remaining oil film on the bearings was enough under zero load conditions of idling. The motor eventually siezed up. A similar motor that never had the additve had its oil drained and it ran longer. It seems the teflon particles tended to clog oil galleries which kept the bearings from being lubricated enough.
If such wonder devices and snake oils performed as claimed under unbiased, controlled testing they wouldn’t have to hawk them on infomercials.
If people adjusted their tire pressure monthly, they’d probably be surprised at how much that helps, and that’s based on science
God forbid anyone do anything based on science. Anectdotal evidence sells, not science.
Ain’t no one slowing down either. The energy needed to go 70mph is something like twice the energy needed to go 50, and no one is slowing down.
What I like about the webpage is where the Tornado has appeared in popular auto magazines.
Yes, as paid ads, or perhaps a consumer warning not to buy this item.
Here is what STP claims to do on their web page located at http://www.stp.com/oil_oil.html:
Also, their FAQ page at http://www.stp.com/faq_oil.html, they say:
There are actually some additives they COULD have chosen to use, such as ZDDP, or calcium that would provide increased wear resistance, at least in extremely high-stress metal-to-metal situations. They might use them, but they don’t ADVERTISE that they use them.
Regarding claims that higher viscosities protect motors better, I call BUNK. While some engines do profit from a higher viscosity oil than reccomended by the manufacturer (a small-block chevy like the LT1 motor in my Chevy Caprice comes to mind), in street applicationsl many modern engines would actually show more benefit from LOWER viscosity oils than are reccomended. Both Honda and Ford are reccomending 5W20 motor oils for most of their vehicles in the North American market, and used oil analyses are showing extremely satisfactory wear numbers with those oils.
Ford’s service bulletin reccomending 5W20 actually retroactively reccomends this weight for the Crown Victoria from 1992 through present, with its 4.6 Liter V8.
5W20 issues aside, if you don’t want to run the 5W30 your automaker reccomends, you could just put in 5W40 or 15W40.