The Unending Turbonator / Tornado / Spiralmax / etc Debate

[cogito]

I have seen adds on TV about products such as the "turbonator" (http://www.turbonator.com/) and other similar products, does anyone know if they really work (even half as much as they are advertised), or is a complete waste of money?

Regards,
Cogito

[Slanter]

I've heard that several of the magazines listed in the "As seen in" graphic on their front page actually dyno tested this thing (or one of its cousins "The Tornado" or "SpiralMax") and found results ranging from no horsepower gain to losing horsepower. I have never seen a dyno graph from a reputable source showing such a device providing an increase in power. Putting one of those pinwheels in your air intake system will create a restriction, like driving around with the throttle unable to completely open. And the vortex isn't likely to make it past the throttle, either.

[blueskip]

I think first of all your both talking about apples and oranges. One of you is talking about something along the lines of an (electric) esupercharger or turbonator and the other is talking about a tornado fuel saver (non electric).

I can't speak for the turbonator but I can attest that the tornado DOES work on a '99 Ford Contour but again as it has been said time and time again it is SLIGHT. I drive 92 miles one way to work so even a slight difference is noticeable on my huge gas bill. It saved me about what is said which was roughly 10% increase in gas mileage. Ok that's only a whopping 3 mpg but it is there all the same and I'm absolutely positive. My car will get on average an extra 30-40 miles on a fill up now. This isn't a lot for most people but since I drive so much it adds up rather quickly and anyone that fills up every two days at todays gas prices will notice the number of miles before their car runs out of gas in a short time. The car is a little more perky in the 30-70 mph range too. I'm not spending money to dyno test it. I don't care about the hp gain if any. I do care it does save gas and I can pretty much conclude it saves gas by increasing hp without changing anything except efficiency. (So I'm pretty sure they're not lying about hp increases.)

I plan on buying a turbonator soon to see if it helps further with my mpg. I don't trust the plasic blades on it though being exposed to my intake so I have to resolve that problem before I'll attempt to install it though. Maybe some sort of custom filter setup.

[Slanter]

No confusion here, blueskip. The "Turbonator" is not an electronic supercharger at all. Here's how they describe it on their own web page: "The Turbonator™ is a non-moving vortex generator that goes inside your air intake hose, right after your air filter. It is made entirely from stainless steel." Pretty much exactly the same thing as the Tornado, although some of the Tornados I've seen appear to be galvanized steel instead of stainless.

As for your MPG increase. The Tornado, as I have said before, is likely to restrict the intake. That's like having a throttle that won't open all the way. Depending on how you drive, I can see that increasing the mileage. But it's not through more efficiency - I'm pretty certain the increase is because your engine cannot draw in as much air with the Tornado jamming things up.

[Hattaresguy]

I can't beleive people actually buy that stuff!

If you think that helps throw a little Z max in your fuel and Slick 50 in your oil.

This thread was good for a chuckle though.

[Slanter]

Or would that be putting Zmax in your oil and Slick 50 in the gas tank? Somehow, I'm not sure it would make much of a difference either way.

[Hattaresguy]

It is amazing how many people buy this stuff and don't know about all of the law suits these companys have against them.

The gov rulled that Slick 50 was using false advertising and cannot make any of the claims on the bottle anymore.

[M1A1]

Hey,
I'm brand new to the forum and of course happy to be a part of it. I was reading your comment on this "Turbonator" thing. I've been thinking about buying it for my 1999 Camaro. Until I ran across this forum, I've seen other opinions that seems to differ from yours. However your comments tells me that you are very knowledable and well informed in the car business. So I'm very interested in what you have to say about this thing called Turbonator. Do you recommend something else that would do the job at a reasonable price?

Thanks Man,

Michael

[Slanter]

Hello M1A1,

A true turbocharger is going to cost you a fair amount of money, unless you are willing to go to all the work of taking a turbo off a junkyard car and adapting it to yours. And on the last generation Camaro, that's a royal pain given its cramped engine compartment. Turbocharging and supercharging are some of the few bolt-on mods that will give you 50% or more extra horsepower.

But if you just want an inexpensive, easily installed part that will give you a small boost in power, I recommend either a gauze-type air filter, or a cold air intake system if you have a little more cash to spare. For the Camaro, you can find cold air intake kits from K&N or RKSport. I think BBK and SLP may also may have something you can use. K&N and Accel both offer gauze filters. You can also add synthetic oil - that's one of the minor tweaks that is not all hype.

[M1A1]

Thanks Slanter...appreciated the information. Glad I didn't waste the money on the Turbonator.

M

[uneed2know]

No confusion here, blueskip. The "Turbonator" is not an electronic supercharger at all. Here's how they describe it on their own web page: "The Turbonator™ is a non-moving vortex generator that goes inside your air intake hose, right after your air filter. It is made entirely from stainless steel." Pretty much exactly the same thing as the Tornado, although some of the Tornados I've seen appear to be galvanized steel instead of stainless.

As for your MPG increase. The Tornado, as I have said before, is likely to restrict the intake. That's like having a throttle that won't open all the way. Depending on how you drive, I can see that increasing the mileage. But it's not through more efficiency - I'm pretty certain the increase is because your engine cannot draw in as much air with the Tornado jamming things up.

Hey slanter this is uneed2know, I joined this forum just to tell you that you have no idea what you are talking about. First off if your motor doesn't take in enough air then there isn't the right air-to-gas ratio which would result in less power all together. Second off my father and three of his friends own six car shops around the U.S. and every one of them have a dynamometer (which is a dyno just so you know). They have done test with all the air intake products but we are just talking about the turbonator. They tested four different suv's (tahoe, navigator, pathfinder, and a jeep grand cherokee). Five sports car's(civic si, rx 8, toyota supra, ss camero, and a subaru sti). And two trucks (ss silverado, and a srt-10). And as you can see there is a variety of cars ranging from four cylinders, rotary engines, inline and v6 motors, turbo motors, v8's and v10's. However i'm here to tell the people that said they didn't work like yourself that they were wrong, way wrong. The suv's had the lowest stats due to weight and the tunning of the motor. On average the suv's gained 8-12 bhp, and an increase of 20-30 mpg per tank. The sports car's had the best increase, the bhp on average was 28-33 gain, and had a 60-85 mpg increase. The ss silverado had 27 bhp increase and a 50 mpg increase per tank and the srt-10 had a 24 bhp increase and a 35 mpg increase per tank. Now did you just think the people that made these products would waste there time getting pattens and the rights to sale there product would just make some stats up. So before you act like you know what your talking about you should keep you ideas to yourself until futher notice. And for anyone else who wants to find out more stats about cars just hit me up and ill let you know.

[uneed2know]

I think first of all your both talking about apples and oranges. One of you is talking about something along the lines of an (electric) esupercharger or turbonator and the other is talking about a tornado fuel saver (non electric).

I can't speak for the turbonator but I can attest that the tornado DOES work on a '99 Ford Contour but again as it has been said time and time again it is SLIGHT. I drive 92 miles one way to work so even a slight difference is noticeable on my huge gas bill. It saved me about what is said which was roughly 10% increase in gas mileage. Ok that's only a whopping 3 mpg but it is there all the same and I'm absolutely positive. My car will get on average an extra 30-40 miles on a fill up now. This isn't a lot for most people but since I drive so much it adds up rather quickly and anyone that fills up every two days at todays gas prices will notice the number of miles before their car runs out of gas in a short time. The car is a little more perky in the 30-70 mph range too. I'm not spending money to dyno test it. I don't care about the hp gain if any. I do care it does save gas and I can pretty much conclude it saves gas by increasing hp without changing anything except efficiency. (So I'm pretty sure they're not lying about hp increases.)

I plan on buying a turbonator soon to see if it helps further with my mpg. I don't trust the plasic blades on it though being exposed to my intake so I have to resolve that problem before I'll attempt to install it though. Maybe some sort of custom filter setup.

what up blueskip this is uneed2know, i just want to say don't linsten to slanter until he has some credible information like what i have supplied to him in another reply. the turbonator is a good investment but ill give you a couple more that are cheap and will increase your bhp a lot. first if you have stock intake you should get short ram air intake which adds 8-12 bhp (this will also increase the effectiveness of the turbonator), then you get a sportchip which fools your motor into thinking it has cold air intake and it adds up to 20+ bhp (and it has no harmful effects), and you can get it on ebay real cheap. now they have an electric turbo which adds 2 psi and 20-40 bhp and it also helps the turbonator. just so you know i have a civic si with everything i said plus a greddy turbo and an exhaust turbo which is new plus it is all built and has a little over 430 bhp but i haven't got my turbo upgrade yet so there is still some more power coming.just let me know what you think and hit back.

[MaV]

´hi uneed2know...

think you on to something right there.. but will a tornado filter work with a k&n??

mav

[uneed2know]

?hi uneed2know...

think you on to something right there.. but will a tornado filter work with a k&n??

mav

i couldn't send this back throught the mail you sent so here is the answer to you questions.

hey what up mav this is uneed2know, to my knowledge the turbonator will on any car so i would suggest that you to get one, also k&n it would be a good idea too, the kit souldn't case a problem. so give it a try and i think you will like the gian of bhp

[Gsr2000]

Uneed2Know,
Thanks for your post. I was looking into the turbonatur for my Gsr. Seeing that you have an SI and are pleased with it, I will definately look in to buying one. I have a cold air intake on right now, so this turbonatur should work well with it right? How much would you estimate the power gains with the cold air and the turbonatur combined? I'd also love to hear some other cheap power gain options if you could suggest some. Thanks man

GSR2000

[Slanter]

Hey slanter this is uneed2know, I joined this forum just to tell you that you have no idea what you are talking about. First off if your motor doesn't take in enough air then there isn't the right air-to-gas ratio which would result in less power all together.

Hello uneed2know. Are you familiar with how fuel injection systems work? Most of them use a mass air flow sensor. This is a device that measures the amount of air flowing into the engine. If anything reduced this amount of flow, the computer can detect this and adjust the fuel injectors to compensate. Some cars use a somewhat less direct method called a manifold absolute pressure sensor, but the end result is the same. The computer can detect if the engine is drawing in less air, and adjusts the air/fuel ratio to compensate.

Second off my father and three of his friends own six car shops around the U.S. and every one of them have a dynamometer (which is a dyno just so you know)....

...However i'm here to tell the people that said they didn't work like yourself that they were wrong, way wrong. The suv's had the lowest stats due to weight and the tunning of the motor. On average the suv's gained 8-12 bhp, and an increase of 20-30 mpg per tank. The sports car's had the best increase, the bhp on average was 28-33 gain, and had a 60-85 mpg increase. The ss silverado had 27 bhp increase and a 50 mpg increase per tank and the srt-10 had a 24 bhp increase and a 35 mpg increase per tank

Call me skeptical. Very skeptical. You are claiming that a sports car gained more than 85 mpg? That they managed to get an SUV to get well in excess of 40 miles to the gallon? That a part which retails for $69.95 boosted a car's mileage by more than the total mpg of a Honda Insight? Reality check: Look at how much attention the hybrid cars have gathered. If a part like this could bring the mpg on a normal car into that level, believe me, it would be standard equipment on every car today.

I challenge you to prove this claim. It is patently absurd. There is one very easy way you can demonstrate that this is real: Post the address and phone number of all six of the dyno shops who have conducted these tests. This way, any member of the forum who is reading this thread can call these shops, inquire about their credentials, and ask these shops for themselves. Remember, you stated there are six of these shops, so I would prefer you the contact information for all of them. If you cannot post these, it is plain that you are a liar.

now they have an electric turbo which adds 2 psi and 20-40 bhp and it also helps the turbonator. just so you know i have a civic si with everything i said plus a greddy turbo and an exhaust turbo which is new plus it is all built and has a little over 430 bhp but i haven't got my turbo upgrade yet so there is still some more power coming.just let me know what you think and hit back.

I do not believe in your 430 hp Civic, either. Let's see you prove this one, too. Post a picture of your Civic's engine compartment, with the electric turbo, Greddy turbo, and the "exhaust turbo" all installed.

I do not believe that you can prove anything you have said. I will go over your claims about 20 hp from splicing a resistor into your IAT sensor circuit and the other ebay products you are promoting later. But I thought I would give you a sporting chance first.

[civic2000]

what up blueskip this is uneed2know, i just want to say don't linsten to slanter until he has some credible information like what i have supplied to him in another reply. the turbonator is a good investment but ill give you a couple more that are cheap and will increase your bhp a lot. first if you have stock intake you should get short ram air intake which adds 8-12 bhp (this will also increase the effectiveness of the turbonator), then you get a sportchip which fools your motor into thinking it has cold air intake and it adds up to 20+ bhp (and it has no harmful effects), and you can get it on ebay real cheap. now they have an electric turbo which adds 2 psi and 20-40 bhp and it also helps the turbonator. just so you know i have a civic si with everything i said plus a greddy turbo and an exhaust turbo which is new plus it is all built and has a little over 430 bhp but i haven't got my turbo upgrade yet so there is still some more power coming.just let me know what you think and hit back.

I really can't believe what I'm reading. Is this a joke uneed2know or you are serious? 12hp increase on a civic with a short ram intake? 20hp with the little radioshack resistance, sold as a "chip"? And the electric fan crap thing inside the intake tubing will give 20-40hp? Man, if it's a joke, that's ok, it's a good one. But if you're serious, please buy a good review (like SCC) with some real dyno test. Ebay sellers put incredibly high hp gain on basic mods, don't believe that crap.
Want to save on gas? Do good tuneup, check gas filter, air filter, spark plugs, timing, tire pressure, don't carry heavy things you don't need.
If you don't have the money for a good tuneup, it's because you don't have money to spend on a turbonator, funny fuel magnet or anything like that. Keep your money away from those things.

[Hattaresguy]

uneed2know your kidding right? With a properly designed airbox and a clean stock filter your engine should be getting more then enough air. Usually all a K&N does is blow your MAF sensor. I wouldn't be surprised if the turbonator has a lawsuit against it as well, hmm maybe I need to dig a bit.

If it really worked well the OE's that spend billions in R&D would be all over it. Come on Honda probably spent over a million dollars and thousands of hours worth of testing to get the air filter set up affective on the Civic. If they could gain 3mpg's by putting a stupid peace of sheet metal in the intake don't you think they would have done that? These days with the Civic mpg's are a selling point an extra 3mpg's could mean millions in profits to Honda Motor corp.

[MaV]

Hi Uneed2know.. thanks for the update.. but what product should I then choose..? There is eg. turbonator, spiralmax and allot of others too.. but what product?
What was used in the tests of the cars, using a turbo thingy, at the 6 car shops.. (they obviesley gave results..)

mav

[PantySniffer]

Lol you guys, it's pretty obvious that "uneed2know", "MaV" and "Gsr2000" are the same person and/or work for the same company, and you can guess what company that is. They all have the same weak grammar, all joined at the same time, etc.

As if slanter's arguments weren't damning enough already, the company is astroturfing in chat boards to try to sell its product. This is the evidence I need to know not only that the product doesn't work AT ALL but that the company is fully aware of it. That's just sad.

[Misfit]

all we need is a moderator to turn on IP logging and we would know right away if they were from the same company (or network)

I to had consider these items for my Jetta but after a short 10 minute search of forums found on Google I found it to be a likely to really bad investment.

[CT!!]

all we need is a moderator to turn on IP logging and we would know right away if they were from the same company (or network)

They don't appear from the same IP range. But that doesn't mean much these days. ;)

[civic2000]

Want to look for an electric supercharger test? Look at this guy from homemadeturbo.com, I was rolling on the floor, too funny when he swing the baseball bat in it. I wish you'll have fun!
http://www.homemadeturbo.com/tech_projects/el_blower/

[MaV]

DAMN..! I'm from denmark( therefore the week grammer) and I was look'n for cheep was to boost my peugeot 306 xsi 2,0 1995. I was checking a danish race site, www.gaderace.dk and saw a ad for www.turbonator.com. I ask all over the net about it, and nobody knew ****, so I searched worldwide and car review popped up. So I sign up and join the disscusion.. know I'm not a mecanic or got experience with engines, so thats wy I seek help else where.. But I dont know any of you rats and just wanna f*ck'n modify my car!!


MaV

[Gsr2000]

Pantysniffer, hopefully you know more about cars than you do about astroturfing. Go ahead, check my IP adress, I bet you my car I have no idea who anyone in this forum is, and I sure as hell would not work for a company like that. I have heard these claims that the turbonatur makes, and wanted some feedback, that's why I joined the boards. Odds are everyone in here that has doubted the turbonatur has never tried it. I admit the claims do sound outrageuos, and I would never expect to get 30 horses for $70, but even if it gave me 2 HP it would be worth it. I spent $300 to get 2HP from headers, so i would hardly call that a waste for $70. And if it doesn't work, I send the **** back and get my money refunded. Sometimes you just have to try things out for yourself instead of assuming things, which you have proven to be good at. Thanks for showing how intelligent you are.