Tornado air management system - scam or not ?

[96 Cherokee]

Searched this forum and the OEM forum and did not find much on it. A few "gufaw" type comments, but no one posted any data. Has anyone tried one on a Jeep 4.0 and done an accurate fuel milage comparison? One of my customers says he runs them in all his vehicles,(he is a farmer) and claims better milage.


Added info: looks like its the same thing as a Turbonator.

[dyna]

While this is a subject, years ago when I was into Landcruisers Man O free offered a "hydrocat" or something like that went inbetween the carb and mani. It was made of stainless or? and was supposed to charge the fuel or ? leading to improved economy. If that was the case then why where they banned from sales in Ca. Also the drop in the tank type catalists pellets. More snake Oil?

[Dookie]

honestly, if it weren't a scam, i think you'd see a LOT more people running them. i'd imagine you'd see equal results from boring out your TB and slapping a regular spacer on it. but - i have no experience with them, so this is just speculation.

do you have a link to the product?

[96 Cherokee]

honestly, if it weren't a scam, i think you'd see a LOT more people running them. i'd imagine you'd see equal results from boring out your TB and slapping a regular spacer on it. but - i have no experience with them, so this is just speculation.

do you have a link to the product?


http://www.turbonator.com/index.html?id=adWordsTurbonatorTO

http://tornadofuelsaver.com/272/tfssa.php

http://jcwhitney.tornadoair.com/?JCWRETURN=www.jcwhitney.com:80&SESSIONID=HN5SWSOZU4KGPAPPAEV3SLQ

[Dookie]

hmmm... skeptical about their stated gains. but:

"Try The Turbonator for thirty days. If you don't get more power and better fuel economy after installing The Turbonator, you can return it for a refund. Lifetime Exchange: This commercial product (Turbonator) is warranted for the lifetime of the vehicle against defects and workmanship. "

give it a try! let us know...

[flexjay87]

you know what could happen if a little chunk of that broke off and got sucked into the engine, not good.

[hackedxj]

More Power: Are you looking for more power from your wheels? Whether you have a stock or aftermarket intake system, the Turbonator will add up to 35 horsepower to your vehicle.

Better Gas Mileage: The Turbonator allows your engine to burn fuel more fully and efficiently, resulting in MPG gains as high as 31%. It pays for itself in no time.

If there were ANY truth to that, new car makers would be putting them on from the factory. I think they would lure more suckers if they lowered their numbers to something half way believable.

[96 Cherokee]

you know what could happen if a little chunk of that broke off and got sucked into the engine, not good.

Uh, yea, that would suck...........

[96 Cherokee]

I'm looking for fuel milage. Have plenty of power already. Even if it increased the milage by only 1%, it would be well worth it. But, so far, I can't find anyone who has tried it and found ANY benefit. The only test results I have found are on the manufacturers websites, and I tend not to believe their data. Ha ha

[red91]

hmmm... skeptical about their stated gains. but:

"Try The Turbonator for thirty days. If you don't get more power and better fuel economy after installing The Turbonator, you can return it for a refund. Lifetime Exchange: This commercial product (Turbonator) is warranted for the lifetime of the vehicle against defects and workmanship. "

give it a try! let us know...


yeah...remember the post mark date that is when you bought it and the day they start counting.....and to ship it back a week early certified mail with receipt so they cant screw you....

[Gerr]

I was given something simular as a gift a few years ago and we ran it on the dyno at the tech school I was going to and found it did nothing for power and nothing for emissions like the one I had stated. as for fuel economy it did less than 1 percent and I was driving 60 miles each way on the freeway back then. save your money

[w_howey]

Care to explain how 'swirled air' is going to make a difference on a motor, where the fuel and air don't mix until they are in the combustion chamber?

[Lucas]

I think it was last month's Polular science or Popular mechanics that did a full on evaluation of many fuel savers/power boosters like the tornado. The conclusion was that it was a terrible idea and that in tests it did actually decrease performance and gas mileage. The only device that they did "approve" was some type of magnetic clip on, but only because it did nothing to hurt results compared to their control.

[noresttill]

they cant spin faster than the air pushing in on it and in order to "pull" air in it would need to spin faster.

Its more likely get jammed and restrict airflow all together

[langer1]

It don't do squat. It is a good show at the County Fair.

[JKTXJ]

I was surprised recently to see that auto parts stores are now carrying these things even. It's one thing to be on late night infomercials, but at auto parts stores too!! Well, it was Schucks :D

[GI-John]

To add to the above comments...

Even if it did "swirl" the air coming into the TB, the air hits a 90* bend at the Intake Manifold and is then directed to the runners. Any swirl would be negated and then turned turbulent by those.


Snake Oil I say, buy an old Geo Metro.

[PapaPump]

yeah kragen here in cali (same as schucks) has them and they are damn expensive. i think like $70, even the emplyees were making fun of them. i think anything that claims to "swirl air" just wont work, especially with the XJ intake design.

i took one out of the boc, it was the diameter of an orange, spotwelded sheetmetal in a cuter pattern...all that and more for the low low price of $69.95!

[dmillion]

Send me $25 (less than half the cost of the Turbonator!), I'll pray for your Jeep, and I guarantee you that will improve your power and mileage more than any of these things could.

(And I'm not even very religious!)

[96 Cherokee]

Well thanks to all for the replies. NOT ONE POSITIVE RESPONSE ! I think that says it all, I'm saving my 69 bucks. I have no need for useless snake oil products. It does surprise me that NAPA would sell this crap if it does not work.

Lucas,

That information you posted was extactly what I was looking for. Thanks. :)

[LT1XJ]

I can only imagine what the profit margins are on those things. I still have to laugh when somebody raves about there mileage increases with a tornado. It is just like anything, the more you spend, the more you want to think it really works. I saw one sitting in a customers truck the other day, I got a good kick out of it and wished I carried them so I could have made the buck on it. Well, I will take the lost sale.
Dustin

[lost1]

lol....when I got my XJ it had one of these things in there...it's still in there but simply because there's less chance of any part of that thing breaking off than something else getting sucked inthere...I put some mesh over it and it acts as a large particle collector now...not a darn difference between whether it's in or out.

[mikeny59]

Did not read all the posts but this months' Consumer Reports Magazine reviewed about eight different devices, including that one and basically said your mileage and performance would increase equally if you sent me the cost of which ever one you planned to purchase :laugh3:

Mike