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Tornado Fuel Saver Review
8th
Usually I am skeptical about the marketing claims of so-called fuel-saving devices. But recently I received an online flyer from JC Whitney featuring the “Tornado Performance Booster”. Says it can help your fuel economy efficiency significantly in addition to increasing power. Yeah, yeah, that’s what they all say. But I decided to click through just to see a larger image of the picture, and I noticed that it had user ratings well above average. Believing in the power of the consumer via social networking, the claimed benefits of the Tornado fuel saver took on a much more serious nature.
I figured that with good user reviews and a good return policy offered by JC Whitney, I had little-to-no risk on the downside, and hopefully some benefit on the upside. So I laid down my credit card info and clicked Submit. That was on a Tuesday. Living in Texas, I expected delivery the following week for free ground shipping, but was pleasantly surprised when FedEx dropped it off on Saturday. (As an aside, I am glad I purchased the Tornado before doing too much research on it; there are a lot of negative comments on it that might have dissuaded me – funny though that many of them were by people who had never tried it but made excuses on scientific conjecture for which they were not qualified).
Upon opening the shipping box that contained several items, I looked for a large box inside that would hold a tube like the one I saw in the picture on the website.
Instead there was only a small box; it said TORNADO on it, and contained what looked like a cookie cutter. At first I was a little disappointed that I paid more than $60 bucks for about $2 worth of metal. But I decided to give it a try anyway since I considered that I was really purchasing the benefit of the product and not just the product itself.
A gas saver that would provide me the best gas mileage for my buck, an increase in gas mileage per gallon can of course result in substantial savings over the course of a year.
Sunday I installed it in my Lexus before driving to Arkansas. My car is a 1997 Lexus LS 400 with 171k miles. It has 4 doors and a 4.0 litre V8. Driving about 700 highway miles each week, fuel economy is very important to me. So having the ability to improve my fuel economy sounded very appealing to me, Assuming 24 mpg and the price of $3.25 for regular unleaded, we’re talking a little over $100/wk in fuel costs. Multiply that times 52 weeks ($5,200/yr).
Hint: while you are at it, now is a good time to replace your air filter element since you already have the air filter box opened up.
After filling up in Calera Oklahoma for $2.99 a gallon, I cruised across all of Oklahoma at 73 miles per hour and into Arkansas. As soon as I arrived in Rogers, I fueled up at Wal-Mart’s Murphy fuel station and calculated my gas mileage. It was 28.89 mpg! The previous tank’s mpg was 24.67 which is just on the high side of average. On a few occasions (before the Tornado) I have gotten as high as 25.80 mpg, and only once have I ever gotten as high as 26.27. But 24 to 24.5 had been average.
First I calculate the increase above the average: 28.29-24.67=4.22. Next, divide the amount of the increase by the average: 4.22/24.67=17.106%. This was on my first tank using the Tornado Fuel Saver – 254.1 miles. Another important note is that I had an unusually strong crosswind and headwind. By “unusually” I mean that the prevailing surface winds are from the south at about 10 miles per hour. However for this drive, the winds were 20mph+ sustained from the east. And I was heading north and east for my entire trip. Typically my mileage is worse when heading into the wind, and better when traveling with it.
From a savings standpoint, if I can save 17% off of my $5,200/yr calculated fuel cost, that is $884.00 per year. To me, the sooner I invest my $65 the better!
I can’t think of a more cost effective way how to get a better gas mileage, installing the tornado air system definitely improves my overall bottom line.
As I mentioned, I am a skeptic regarding products claiming “fuel savings”. And even though I was happily proven wrong this time, I shall continue to be very scrutinous of such claims. On the other hand, I have learned you can’t always believe all the other skeptics either. If I had made my decision based upon a review I read by one of the major mainstream media networks, I would have missed out on this one.
In regards to the advertised increase in performance power, I cannot testify. My car is already very powerful, and I did not “get down on it” during my inaugural voyage.
Next on my review list is to purchase another Tornado fuel saver – this time for my 2000 Ford Excursion with a V10 Triton gasoline engine. The reason I chose to try it on the Lexus first is because the car is more consistent in its fuel mileage with a narrower range of variation. The Excursion usually gets 11.1 mpg, but is recently getting 10.5 mpg. Hopefully I will be reporting another success story soon.
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Visit JC Whitney’s Product Page For The Tornado Fuel Saver To Find Out More About Pricing and Order Details.
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By the way, as of the writing of this article I have used only one tank of gas and have calculated my mileage only once. Going forward I will check in periodically with updates of my continued results.
- Michael
October 9th, 2008 at 8:09 am
HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM!
“Don’t freak out!” …that is what I keep telling myself. It has been only 3 gallons – not enough to really sample reality. This week I drove only 40 miles in and around town – trips between 1/2 mile and 5 miles, and often at idling speeds. Typically I will add that part of my weekly driving to my highway portion before filling up. However, the needle on my fuel gauge seemed to be moving downward a lot more than I expected. In driving 40 miles after filling up, I thought the needle ought to still be touching “full”.
Concerned, I was compelled to fill up with gas immediately after filling up with coffee. It took 3.049 gallons to top off again. That equates to 13.315 miles per gallon. Eee-gad! City driving or not, that stinks!
As I mentioned in my original article, one tank of gas on a pure highway drive is not to be considered an extensive evaluation. But I said I would post my results as I go, and so I am.
The testing continues!
October 13th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
In regards to the aforementioned 13.315 mpg, it was very gentle driving with short trips – many not exceeding speeds of 35 miles per hour. 18 engine starts over 40 miles total.
Next tank, last week, was 229.8 miles, all highway, driving south and west, for 28.32 mpg.
Then, yesterday was 229.3 miles – all highway (driving north and east into the wind again) plus four non-highway miles (6 engine starts total) for 25.06 mpg.
So far, my fuel economy is declining from my initial use of the Tornado Saver. An early hypothesis is that non-highway miles are less efficient with the Tornado than my car’s default economy, while highway miles are better with the device.
November 4th, 2008 at 9:48 am
I just bought one for my ‘97 Buick LeSabre. Just this last Saturday (11/01/08) I did a full oil change, put in Bosch Platinum 4 spark plugs, a K&N air filter and a tornado fuel saver. I drive almost exclusively in town. I am planning on seeing my mileage this tank with the tornado and then next tank without. Previously, I was only getting 16.5 mpg in town. Now I’m getting around 20 according to the gauge. However, I got really good results with just the K&N and spark plugs on my 1985 Mustang LX with the carburated four cylinder (from 17 to 21 mpg). I’ll let you know what I get.
November 4th, 2008 at 10:15 am
Hi Joshua,
Do let us know about your results, positive or negative!
Ed
CustomRides.com Team Member
November 4th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Howdy! Here is a listing of all my miles and fuel efficiency so far.
254.1 / 8.794 = 28.894 (all highway)
44.8 / 3.43 = 13.06 (15-20 engine starts)
25.4 / 1.304 = 19.479 (all in-town)
258.3 / 9.553 = 27.038
220.2 / 8.231 = 26.57
192.5 / 8.024 = 23.99
224.9 / 8.147 = 27.605 (all highway)
168.4 / 7.552 = 22.298 (65 non-highway miles)
338.9 /15.125 = 22.4 (89% highway)
270.0 / 9.678 = 27.89 (4.5% in town)
As I posited before, the Tornado Fuel Saver gets my car better gas mileage on the highway, but worse mileage than normal in town. (Remember, my baseline is 24.5 mpg).
However, I have now reset my mass air sensor by disconnecting the battery, per tech support’s instructions. So hopefully I will have some good news to report soon.
December 30th, 2008 at 8:31 am
Hi there, saw this shred and wanted to chim in– First in all fairness: I am a layman– not a trained auto expert. I have been working with a hydrogen kit I built after learning about the electrolysis process to create hydrogen/oxygen. I create this mix on demand and pump it straight into my air intake. My 1999 taurus got an increase in highway mileage from 24 to 35 MPG. But the local driving MPG actually decreased. Interesting that the Tornado thing does the same thing– increase hwy mileage but decrease cty mileage….