[chevellenut]

Hey everyone ive got a question about those spiral max and similar products.Do they do any good i was more interested in if they help gas mileage much.My vehicle only gets about 14mpg and i drive alot every day so any help would be nice.So if any one has ever used one let me know how it done.Thanks

[crazie]

i'm not positive as to the spiral max, but we dyno'ed a car at our school w/ a tornado, we gained 2 or 3 ft. lb. of toque. K&N's however help out quite a bit, something like 8 or 10 horses on our car.



-carl

[4 Jaw Chuck]

Dyno runs usually vary that much from run to run, concentrate on getting what you have up to snuff (i.e. worn out carb) or reducing the carb size if you want to pick a few mpg. Nothing wrong with running a 2-4 barrel adapter either.

I picked up 3 mpg with a 69-351W in a 69 Mustang with a Cam Dynamics 290 "Magnum" cam using a 2-4 adapter and a 2150 Autolite 2 barrel, made a big difference when I was going to school in the winter. 4 barrel carbs suck-er back on the choke all the time at cold temps. The added sensitivity at low speeds actually smoothed out the cam a little and made driving in the snow easier and better able to control wheelspin.

Whats your setup/car/etc?

[chevellenut]

Well im wanting something for my truck to just get better gas milage.Its a 90 chev,350 throttle body.So i dont know of really any thing i can do to it.Thats why i was wondering if any one ever tryed any of those things and got better gas milage.Thanks

[Robinson Robin]

One of the mags did a test on one of those things a couple years ago and got something like an average of 2 hp loss in hp on the dyno and no difference in fuel economy. When you think about it the theory behind them is very flawed.

[lust4speed]

Geez, need my eyes tested, or need to pay more attention. Read the original post wrong. Never mind...

[elukas]

Hey Chevellenut,

I've tried both the spiralmax and other products that were supposed to increase my fuel mileage. Sad to say, the expensive self proclaimed miracle piece of aluminum did not increase my gas mileage.

When buying them, you try to convince yourself that the science behind them could hold water. But when I did comparison drives over the exact same routes with the exact same driving style, I at least found no difference in mileage to my dismay. Yes, I made these trips solely for the purpose of determining if the spiralmax was effective... I'm just weird that way.

Anyway, chevellenut, I think a simple cold air intake/ducting system would have been much more beneficial and suggest you look into that instead.

I do however believe that some of the products from eagle-research.com sold by George have merit as legitimate gas mileage increasing devices. His carb enhancer is a simple product most backyard mechanics should be able to hookup in a few minutes (even though I never did get it tuned right). I was also playing with water injection and believe if done right it would increase fuel mileage. However the costs in time and money to build or buy a real water injection system make it not really worth the time unless you have a turbocharger and are using it to try to run more boost.

-Erik

P.S. I appreciate you guys input on the tornado and other devices, but it's hard to claim a gain is really a gain on a dyno when its only 2 hp. Is it repeatable? If you take it back off will your results drop back down? Thanks though.

[machine shop tom]

If these types of things worked, the car manufacturers would save (or make) millions by exceeding cafe standards, etc. The only people getting any real benefit are those selling them.

[elukas]

"If these types of things worked, the car manufacturers would save (or make) millions by exceeding cafe standards, etc. The only people getting any real benefit are those selling them."

That's a good point.

And another possibility is that a few might work to improve gas mileage some but have a detrimental effect on engine longevity.

Either way, you're better off spending the time and money somewhere else.

[troy-curt]

elukas, how can you answer these kind of questions, and ask the questions that you ask in your in your other threads?? Just curious.

Troy

[2DoorCaprice]

NEVER trust a magazine when doing comparison shopping.

Magazines are in the business of selling advertising space, revenue from issue sales only pays the distribution system.

If a product that is advertised in the Mag, is tested by the Mag, it will always get a positive review. The more a company pays, the better it does in a competitive review between products.

If you want an honest review, ask the message board. The lack of droves of people going out to buy should indicate that it doesn't improve gas milage and and provide mystery HP from "spinning air"

[chevellenut]

Hey thanks everyone.I didnt feel like they would do much but at this point im getting desperate.It might be time to sell the old thing and get a small one.