Some ridic article by some fool

[Ted Hart]

Originally Posted by SVOboy

This is the annotated version though,

Let's start (another!) a pointless argument.... The article in question certainly has more credibility than all the "expert opinions" offered on this forum! I'm no expert...but I know enough to say " Be very careful who you call "fool"!

"How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?" is as good as most. I admit, there are some bright people here... but to call this author a "fool" means but one thing-"The pot calleth the kettle black."

[SVOboy]

Excuse me, but the person you are calling a fool was refering to himself with the title in the first place, perhaps close reading is your friend.

Besides, this article has no credibility. At least for me, and the scientific community I attempt to imitate, credibility begins with theory, fact, supporting arguments, citations, solids tests and numbers. The original article is nothing but a shady advertisement for a bunch of **** that won't (for the most part) due anything. Until I see any information about your car, your mileage, you're "secrets" I will just assume you're as shady as he...at least I put my knowledge out there for discussion.

[Gary Palmer]

SVOboy: I think you did a good job in your analyasis of the article. I agree with your assesements of the BS and their negative direction in terms of misinformation and redirection.

On the carburator power valve issue, their seems to be a lot of confusion, at best. The power valve is an assist device to allow more fuel to be input into the intake, when you try to accelerate. On a normal carburator, if you plug off the power valve, your acceleration ability goes out the window because effectively the carb is only able to put enough fuel into the intake to run the car down the road.

Plugging the power valve generally will use less fuel, but you can't accelerate, very well and the overall driveability is the pits.

In special non-stock setups, if you have big enough carburators, to where they already are dumping an excess of fuel down the intake, then plugging the valve might make it run better. On a average persons car it would not.

In either case, the point of SVOboy's analysis was to point out the inconsistencies and misinformation which are presented to people as absolute fact, based largely on some interest or desire to promote some product or device which is intended largely or solely for their financial benefit, but which is presented as a point of information from a knowledgable source, to promote their personal interest. I think he did a great job!

[ELF]

Originally Posted by SVOboy

I still dunno what you want me to do with wordpress, *shrug*

ZugyNA, I have a hard time believing buying a certain brand of gas destroyed his GMC's fuel system. He says he saw that, but I'll be damned if I believe it. Also, I've run E10 in my car plenty of times and it has yet to jump and buck, or whatever he says it does.
.

Well I beleive it, just last week my car died on the way home from work, had to drain some gas and add some fresh, had a bunch of water in it. Same thing with my friend, two weeks ago. It does happen, I don't believe the part that says it wrecked his fuel system though.

[ELF]

Originally Posted by WisJim

Isn't this the guy who also says to add the oil additives in addition to the recommended volume of oil, overfilling your crankcase? What a screwball!

Nothing wrong with overfilling the crankcase. Just about any car can take 1\2 to 1 quart extra. Makes the oil run cooler and last longer.

[ma4t]

I'm a selfish SOB, so saving gas is about saving money. I want to know something is going to work before I spend money on it.

If somebody has done a comparative analysis on different parts, I'd like to see it. Seriously, who has 2 1997 Honda Civics and wants to try two different sets of spark plug wires, then track the mileage and other data? Very rarely will you see a side-by-side analysis of comparable mods. Did filter X work better than filter Y? Did you drive a lot in the city before using a recommended additive, then start driving on the freeway? Did you use filter J for the winter, and change to filter K in the spring?

The best thing I have seen so far is info from hyper-milers who made a change and got improved mileage. But that's enough for me. There is a wealth of good experience and good info here. Just learning to drive slowly has made being here worth it. But I've got more useful tips.

As a noob (maybe this will change later) I ask myself how many gallons I will need to save to pay for a mod. Do I need to spend $100 to save $5 in gas? Nope, ain't doin' it.

Final note about any criticism. There will always be critics. The ones who point out what won't work without giving an alternate or without verifiable qualifications rarely keep my attention long. If you are intelligent enough to point out what won't work and give good reasons why not, you must be smart enough to point out what will work.

MA4T

[cfg83]

ma4t -

Originally Posted by ma4t

I'm a selfish SOB, so saving gas is about saving money. I want to know something is going to work before I spend money on it.

If somebody has done a comparative analysis on different parts, I'd like to see it. Seriously, who has 2 1997 Honda Civics and wants to try two different sets of spark plug wires, then track the mileage and other data? Very rarely will you see a side-by-side analysis of comparable mods. Did filter X work better than filter Y? Did you drive a lot in the city before using a recommended additive, then start driving on the freeway? Did you use filter J for the winter, and change to filter K in the spring?

The best thing I have seen so far is info from hyper-milers who made a change and got improved mileage. But that's enough for me. There is a wealth of good experience and good info here. Just learning to drive slowly has made being here worth it. But I've got more useful tips.

As a noob (maybe this will change later) I ask myself how many gallons I will need to save to pay for a mod. Do I need to spend $100 to save $5 in gas? Nope, ain't doin' it.

Final note about any criticism. There will always be critics. The ones who point out what won't work without giving an alternate or without verifiable qualifications rarely keep my attention long. If you are intelligent enough to point out what won't work and give good reasons why not, you must be smart enough to point out what will work.

MA4T

I think this is a 100% legitimate litmus test. For me, it's a hobby, so I am less concerned about the cost and more interested in what I discover along the way. Therefore, I consider myself an "enlightened sucker" when it comes to this stuff. The converse to this is that I don't want to destroy my car in the process, so I am also ultra-carefull in what I do.

Different (power) strokes for different folks.

CarloSW2

[JanGeo]

I wrapped some aluminum foil around my header shield on my xB soon after I baught it to help keep the pipe warmer. Since a lot of my driving is in cooler weather and getting the cat to warm up sooner when I drive slowly most of the time is a good idea. Also it did not require any wire to keep it on probably because my header it between the firewall and engine instead of in front of the engine in the air flow of the radiator. It also keeps some heat from getting to the firewall in the hotter summer months. I didn't see much point in wrapping the o2 sensor other than it gets cooled by air flow around it so I did wrap some foil around it just to protect it from the elements. Big point is since I am burning almost half the normal fuel per mile it probably not such a bad idea to keep it a little warmer since it is getting less heat energy from less fuel burning as well as when coasting.

Acetone apparently come in a few different variations of chemical structure and vary in its ability to improve fuel combustion. I am using some ACE hardware brand now but will get some beauty shop acetone to try before this gallon runs out.

[lca13]

>>How could a 25% gain in gas mileage come from,
>>at most, a 2% increase in fuel vaporization? It couldn't

Just a nit on this analysis as it jumped out on me. Finer misting of the fuel may have other ramifications than just burning some claimed additional 1-2% of fuel... altering the quality of the injector output may alter the efficiency of the other 98% of the fuel being burned as well.... I think... by positively altering the combustion in a way such that more mechanical energy is taken from the overall fuel consumed. Note I am making no claims about his claims, just that there is a "possible" flaw in the argument disputing the claim.

[Bill in Houston]

Originally Posted by lca13

by positively altering the combustion in a way such that more mechanical energy is taken from the overall fuel consumed.

I have wondered is N2O might up mileage for the same reason. Accelerate the burn, get a higher peak combustion pressure, get more work out of the gas... I'm sure it wouldn't be economical, but it's interesting to think about...