turbonator?

[stuffy]

i have heard different things about the turbonator, some say it works, some say it is b.s.,
has anyone installed one and have some experience as to whether it has improved fuel economy?

i have sort of passed them off as a gimmick, because i figured if they worked so well (company claims something like 5-20% improvement in fuel economy), then car manufacturers would install them on all new vehicles, and i assumed this wasn't the case until i saw an ad for a jetta tdi diesel that mentions a vortex-creating air intake system that improves the mixture of air and fuel- sounds like a turbonator to me.

any ideas? is it worth the 60 bucks?

[Goose]

I wouldn't bother. Since I work as an engineer for a major automotive supplier (nothing exciting, believe me), I am familiar with such devices. The bottom line on these kinds of things: they don't really help or hurt anything. Their main value is to the the guy selling 'em.

Believe me - there are TONS of engineers working VERY hard to extract the most from a given quantity of fuel. Huge profits are at stake. At this point in modern engine development, most efficiency losses (based soley on combusion) are thermal. I'm really simplifying things with this statement, but you get the idea.

If you want to try a device like this, no big deal - just don't expect much.

[stuffy]

that is kind of what i figured, but what piqued my interest was the ad for the jetta tdi,
it was the first time i had seen a major car manufacturer advertising something similar.

[Master]

^^^wow SUPER NEWB QUESTION....

point is....none of that crap works

[Idjiit]

Originally Posted by Master

^^^wow SUPER NEWB QUESTION....

We can only aspire to be as cool and knowledgeable as you.

[stuffy]

i dont' mind sounding ignorant on issues involving cars.....

because that is pretty much what i am. don't find it shameful at all to tell you the truth.

thanks for the responses.

[DJ_SpaRky]

It's like pissing down a waterfall.

[why?]

Originally Posted by stuffy

that is kind of what i figured, but what piqued my interest was the ad for the jetta tdi,
it was the first time i had seen a major car manufacturer advertising something similar.

What something like that does is to completely burn all the fuel by supposedly tumbling the air etc, etc.

If you are lucky, an aftermarket device might be able to give you a 1% increase in gas mileage.

You'd be better off just checking your air pressure in your tires every week and changing your driving style to be more relaxed.

SCC did a test on one of these devices a while back and it did basically nothing.

[wlfpck]

they claim that it causes the air to spiral. Which yes it could.

But force its way in faster? Flow faster?

NO.

In a tube, like your intake, I think it would be better if the air just flowed in and its done. Not take a longer path. And wouldn't spiraling the air just slow its velocity down?

[eight_heads]

Originally Posted by stuffy

i have heard different things about the turbonator, some say it works, some say it is b.s.,
has anyone installed one and have some experience as to whether it has improved fuel economy?

i have sort of passed them off as a gimmick, because i figured if they worked so well (company claims something like 5-20% improvement in fuel economy), then car manufacturers would install them on all new vehicles, and i assumed this wasn't the case until i saw an ad for a jetta tdi diesel that mentions a vortex-creating air intake system that improves the mixture of air and fuel- sounds like a turbonator to me.

any ideas? is it worth the 60 bucks?

also remember...diesel engines work completely different than gasoline engines... gas engine add more air and fuel to rev higher...diesel engines just add more fuel to the same amount of air

[boxerboy]

Diesel engines also add more air. Most run a turbo.

[why?]

Not to mention diesel engine don't have spark plugs.