The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop fuel economy scam or real

Has any one tried the Tornada? Also wondering about the fuel magnets. Are these a hoax or has any one had good luck with them?

I haven't tried it (and thats not the other half of that comment) but isn't this claim made by the same guy who wants to sell you magnets for your shoes? :p

I haven't tried the tornado nor do I believe in it, but if it is a hoax they must still sell a few to keep going because its sure been around for awhile.

I installed one of the Tornado fuel savers in my 2003 Chevy full size pickup that has a 4.3 V6. I commute 50-60 miles to work M-F and I thought it would be worth a try. The milage rating for this truck stated by Chevy is 15 - 18 MPG. I do not usually spare the pedal on my commute in, so prior to installing the Tornado fuel saver I was typically getting 15-16 MPG on regular gas. After installation I have been getting 19-20 MPG on regular gas. That is ~ 18% improvement. The improvement you see on your vehicle depends on how good or bad your stock air delivery system is now. The Tornado fuel saver website has data listed for various vehicle and engine types, so that you can see what type of improvement you might expect. I was skeptical myself, but they do offer a money back guaranty, so I gave it try. No regrets here.

Don't have an opinion on the Tornado, but can offer one on the fuel magnets.

Several years ago, we had a customer from the southwestern US call on a Friday before a car show. Seems he was trying to sell a car, and he had problems keeping it running due to rust in the fuel tank. I mentioned the old Carter Magna-Trap. For those not old enough to remember, Carter offered a glass bowl fuel filter, and due to the rust in the ground service station tanks, offered a small magnet that was designed to fit in the filter housing. The magnet would stop any rust particles going through the filter. I suggested to the customer that he acquire a modern glass bowl filter and use a honey-do magnet (the small ones your wife or girl-friend puts on the fridge with honey-do jobs) in the glass bowl.

The customer replied that he had a large herd of dairy cows, and had a good supply of "cow hardware magnets". Cows are not the brightest animals, and seem to like eating old baling wire. You feed the cow a magnet, and the wire stays in the first stomach. Anyway, he said he would make a loop in the fuel line, and tape on 3 magnets.

The following Monday, he called back, and was laughing so hard he couldn't talk. I asked him if he had been successful in selling the car. He said no, but had got so tired of answering the question about the function of the magnets that he started telling people that the magnetic flux field supercharged the gasoline, etc., etc., etc.; and the fun he had more than made up for not selling the car. Seems like many believed him, as a few months later I read an article that over 300,000 cow magnets had been sold to car owners, and the dairy people were unable to obtain them for their cows.

This silly story even made a J. Carson monologue!

Anyway, my part of this is absolutely true, so don't buy the magnets unless you own cows!

Jon

That cow magnet has been a real life saver to recover screws and bolts that drop down into the intake. I use a little surgical tubing to be able to to fish around for parts. If you attach it to most screwdrivers, it will usually hold the fastener unti you can start it.

Has anyone ever stuck a magnet to the bottom of their gas tank to attract rust and help keep it out of the fuel line, etc. down stream? Seemed to me like something that might work.

I never knew rust would stick to a magnet...???

:confused:

-ftyler

For any of these miracle gas economizers just ask yourself, "If this thing is this good why isn't it on new cars?" With all the pressure car companies have on them for fuel economy you can bet your bippy that they would use them.

The reason they can sell them is that there is a new sucker coming up every day.

cujo8 may have gotten 18% improvement but all we have is a posting on the internet, not always the best information available. If he actually got that kind of improvement there is no way to know for sure that the tornado was the cause, it could have been lots of things.

These types of things have been around for at least 60 years that I know of and will probably always be around because there is no law against them.

The magnets that "line up the fuel molecules" are even more of a scam.

One of the favorite stories of years ago was "Detroit and the Oil companies tried to keep this off the market and threatened us with lawsuits".

Keep this in mind, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is!

I did get the milage improvements I stated and it could not have been due to anything other than the Tornado fuel saver, since I installed it on unmodified 2003 Chevy 4.3 Liter V6. I checked my gas milage many different times prior to installing the Tornado Fuel Saver any many times since and I still see the improved milage. I was getting 15-16 MPG before and now I am getting 19-20 MPG after. The benefits that you see may be different depending on the your specific application. I am just telling you what I found from my experience with the TFS and I am not selling them or even care if you wish to purchase one or not.

My Dad was telling me a story about this gas thing he had, that some people used to use back in the say cause they thought that it would improve fuel economy. If I remeber right he got it from an old pickup/car when he was younger and still has it today sitting in the shed. I think it was a gas line going through a pipe which was heated by warm water, which was supposed to improve fuel economy. I can take pics of it if ya guys want. Thanks,

- Shane

I bought one of those things in my youth. It was a "water Injector" that bolted under the carb and was supposed to give all kinds of mileage increase and power to my '34 Furd roadster.
All it ever did was take my money and burn out most of my exhaust valves in the flathead V8

Another scam was spark plugs that would "fire in oil", usually a glass jar full of oil. What most people didn't know was that any spark plug will fire under oil and since this was part of a traveling carnival who knows how it was hooked up?