Turbonator?

[ffpmlex]

Has anyone added a Turbonator to the intake of their Tacoma? Have you noticed increased power and MPG? I'm thinking of adding one on but want to see if anyone else has actually used it on their vehicle.

[humanoid]

You're kidding me, right? You're actually thinking about putting that thing in your rig? Big waste of $$$ as well as that piece of crap Tornado fuel saver. Google both and you'll see what I mean.

[HoboJoe]

Spending 70 bucks on something that will restrict your airflow is madness!!!

[rogerman]

B what?! B.S.

[ffpmlex]

Thanks for the input guys. I did some googling, and it seems to be 50/50 on this thing doing what it actually claims. Needless to say I think I'll save my money!

[Bernd]

for my 3S-FE 2liter Caldina engine. Did not want to spend the bucks on just a manufacturer's claim without independent verification. Just a few pennies worth of thick copper foil and an hour .

I measured the inner diameter of the induction pipe close to the throttle body , made a paper template forthe ring with the triangular fins , cut the foil, soldered the ring closed and bent the fins to the desired vortex shape.

Result: a bit more pull in mid-range, nothing fancy, just about as much as changing from stock spark plugs to Directhits. certainly not 35HP (the stock engine has 140 HP) Change in fuel consumption a very few % if any, masked by the different fuel consumption between my wife driving and myself and city vs. hiway mix..

I thought about how these vortex devices might work, and came up with following model. If the airflow were steady, the vortex device would in a first approximation add only unwanted flow resistance. However, the air intake has a pulsed flow (as you can hear when opening up the air filter) and during some part of the cycle air may actually flow back from the throttle body towards the filter. The vortex device reduces this back flow, thus adding a tiny net pressure increase to the throttle side, like a mild charging effect. This would be greatest when the air column has the most resonance at the place the vortex device sits, usually below or near the RPM of max torque.

This is how I feel the device works and on my engine I got my investment worth. I just wonder why I have not noticed the makers (Turbonator and Swirlmax) explaining it this way. If there is a money back guarantee on a commercial device, try it out and let us now. If not...