I just watched an info-mercial about a little stainless steel airfoil (looks like something you would use to section a half grapefruit) that is placed in the air induction path that is supposed to form the incoming air into a rotating vortex. The manufacturer claims measurable increase in fuel efficiency and 5-20 rwhp. Typical info-mercial demonstrations and "expert" accounts of the product's performance. They dyno'ed an Impala SS (equipped with a K&N intake) before and after and netted 20 rwhp. I am not sure about the validity of their runs; the runs were done in a way that I had never seen. Installation took maybe 2 minutes. They are asking $75 for the "Tornado." It seems too good to be true. Has anyone seen or had experience with this product?

 

Don't believe it. Those claims are ridiculous.

 

I personally have no experience with this product , but this discusion has come up before with people saying it is bunk.

 

It's BS...save your $$$... :rolleyes:

 

Never used one.. but it sure sounds like snake oil to me. Those claims are too good to believe.. Like magnets on the fuel lines.. These devices are targeted at a certain segment of the market.. I would like to believe the corvette bunch are too car savvy to fall for these BS devices..
mike :chevy

 

I remember JC Whitney making claims about various gas saving gimmicks (10-25% better MPG). Well I guess if you bought them all your car would not use any fuel and gas would be pouring out of the tank.

 

How about you dyno your car before and after installing this device and report back to us? :jester :jester :jester

Tom

 

Oh no....This product has resurrected? This was a big item on the old Camaro forum I used to hang out at.....
Forget it ! :lol: :lol:

 

They converted all of those left over "Tom Mix Whistling Rings", into "Amazing gas-saving Tornados." :D :D :lol:

Anybody remember the Whisling Rings? Remember if you say, "yes", it stamps ya as an, "old fart". :yesnod:

Good luck.
Mark

 

:rolleyes:

 

I bought five of them. One is on the intake before the MAF and the others are mounted on the tips of the Corsa Exhaust. I had trouble with just the intake one and figured it wasn't exhausting the addition air fast enough. Now things flow so fast thru the motor that I can't walk behind the car when it is running! :lol:

 

Send me only $50, instead, and I'll send you something sure to save you gas!!! Come on, as people have said or implied, get REAL. There is no magic! Electronic engine control comes as close as any of us are ever likely to see.

BTW, my 2 month old '01 coupe just got 29.7 mpg total on a 2300 mile trip with the a/c on, top on, and cruise set at 73mph on the interstate with some around town driving at 5 destinations along the way. How could we expect better? I've had "economy cars" that wouldn't do as well!!! :lol:

 

Snake oil

George

 

Good rule of thumb to follow - never, under any circumstances, buy anything from an infomercial or other TV comercial. I got burned with that scratch removing stuff, what a bunch of crap. :U

 

OK, yes-those claims are BS. But, we all know (at least anyone who has an intake upgrade, cold air kit, TB bypass, removed their MAF screens, etc. knows that getting more air in and more exhaust out (and exact gas) is a key to more power.

So, looking at my Vortex ram and Granatelli MAF 5%, I wonder...
That air does not have much room to "smooth out" or "slow down" before it hits the open MAS wires. Mr. G told me himself that part of the reason for adding the 5% richer MAS was because of cold/ram air "turbulence."

Could this turbulence be causing a power loss at lower rpms, or a mild surging effect? Could some silly aluminium corkscrew or airfoil help? I believe the potential for improvement is there, but it may be immeasurable (like the TB bypass...it works, but how much is anybody's guess. If anything the argument made for it is "it can't hurt...").

Fact about intake air: the less turns and deviations it makes the better (until it mixes with fuel in the combustion chamber). Almost more important though is "intake velocity. At certain given rpms, the bigger the MAS, the throttle body, the intake, etc can hurt your low end due to reduction in intake velocity into the combustion chamber.

Don't beleive me? I'll prove it. Get a soft drink straw and a empty paper towel cardboard roll. Make a spitball for each. Load. Point at nearest female and fire. See which reaches the target faster and harder. You know from high school that the straw is the more effective weapon (just as she knows hitting you with her shoe is an effective escalation of force, or cutting of $ex).

But...if you could have the bigger intake tract, and can reduce turbulence, and increase intake velocity (or match a smaller tract at lower rpms)-you could (in theory) see minor hp benefits.

For $75, it ain't worth it. For $5.00, I'd try it

 

Didn't mean to imply I was considering shelling out $75 for a grapefruit cutter. I was more interested in the theory as it applies specifically to our induction plumbing. Any engineers want to comment on fluid mechanics here? What would it take to measure the velocity and nature of the incoming air with the vehicle stationary (as on a dyno), at speed under WOT. Do any of you guys ever wonder about the inflow shape/speed especially after modifying the induction system? I do and I always wonder what can be done to improve it (less turbulance, higher velocity, denser charge, etc) without spending the $$$ for twin turbos.

Tom, If you loan me your car for the weekend I will be happy to spend the $75 and report back to you on the results of my experiment. Just make sure the tires are in good shape. :jester

 

The "amazing wallet draining Tornado"

 

A guy in our f-body club years ago had one of these things attached when we were running at the strip (MIR). Between runs we were all talking and he had already made several passes with about the same times. When I saw his Tornado, I said, "Hey, let's take it off and see what happens". The car ran faster without it! I don't remember how much (it wasn't very significant) but to me that was proof enough that the only thing the Tornado is going to be sucking is money out of your wallet.

The guy never reinstalled it, and consistently ran a tad faster the whole rest of the day. We used that to rib him for a while. :-)

Mike

 

Guys,

We were sent a couple of the Tornado units for testing a few months ago. We tested them and found them to be completely ineffective. The claims that they were making were false and they did nothing for the car.

Don't fall for it and don't buy it.

It won't work and you will be wasting your time and money.

Hope this helps.

Shawn

 

THanks Shawn: I know that turbulance can rob cars of HP. I ve seen the inframercial.. The Idea has merit..but as far as the claims they state.. it is snake oil.... you need some real independant stuffies donr buy reputable people not the Sistern College of automotive excellence.. Now I Sally Strouthers was offering this product.. I would a givin my 75 dollars to the starving children of Ethiopia.. God Knows Sally isnt starving.. :blueangel: :jester :blueangel: