Here are the traditional fuel saving products that we have seen in the market for years.
- Fuel saver magnets - works on the principle of ionizing the fuel particles in the fuel line to improve combustion. I have experimented with many of these devices before and all with different levels of magnetic strength. The idea is to have two pieces of opposing magnets attached to the rubber fuel hose where the fuel is entering the engine after the fuel pump and fuel filter. Some of these magnets do work if the magnetic strength is high enough but some will lose its effectiveness as the engine becomes hotter. Some brands require multiple sets to be installed together to get any kind of effect. From the cars that I have tested on, the results are better on older cars where the fuel efficiency isn't as good. The cars that we saw reasonable (meaning 10% saving or more) results were Nissan X-trail, Nissan Sentra, older Honda Civic ES, BMW 320i (E36), Toyota Corolla (old model), Toyota Camry (old model), Proton Wira, Proton Waja and Perodua Kelisa. I would not believe crazy claims that this device could save more than 12%.
- Broquet fuel catalyst - works to refresh the fuel with tin like pellets and has a chemical reaction with the fuel to boost combustion efficiency. I saw good results on stationery industrial equipment such as generator sets and heavy machinery that uses diesel. For such equipment where the RPM is constant the fuel savings were up to 25%!! but for cars and trucks where the RPM is always fluctuating due to different driving speed, the savings were at most 15%. The strange thing about this product is that it is able to reduce (almost eliminate) black exhaust smoke from diesel engines. I personally had this fitted into my Turbo diesel SUV many years ago and what used to be black (not very thick) exhaust smoke when I accelerated hard became light grey and was significantly cleaner. The engine was also quieter and smoother. The chemical composition of the pellets is a trade secret but when a pellet is placed into a clear glass with gasoline, you can see bubbles emerge indicating the reaction with the fuel.
- Cyclone air diverters - this concept was originally developed in Korea. Sold relatively well in South East Asia despite being such a simple product. The principle was to create a spiraling effect for the incoming air. Spiraling air spins faster than air moving straight hence the driver would experience a bit more power and response from the engine. The down side of this item is that you may need more than 1 piece to really feel a significant difference and at high speed the in coming air is moving very fast and the Cyclone air diverters may cause some interference. Despite claims that it will save up to 25% on fuel, I have never seen or heard any users of this product confirm this claim. Most of the users say that they feel better acceleration and maybe save at most 5%. Some installation centres will push the customers to add up to 4 pieces which may help in acceleration but the fuel consumption also suffers.
- micro compressor - This device is attached to the brake booster vacuum hose. It allows small amounts of pressurized air to enter the engine via the vacuum valve at the back of the engine. This actually leans the air fuel mixture to allow the fuel to be burnt more efficiently. This device has to be tuned to control the right amount of extra air entering the engine. If too much air enters the engine, the engine will be too lean and will start to vibrate due to insufficient air, too little air enters the engine, there is not difference to the performance or fuel saving. The danger of using this device is that if the air is not properly filtered a lot of extra dirt particles will enter the engine and potentially damage the engine. The other problem is the unit uses a spring valve to control the opening and closing of the air valve, with the engine vibrating the spring valve will move and the amount of air entering the engine will change. Fuel saving wise, I have heard claims from car owners that they managed to save about 8% to 10%.
- voltage stabilizers - Voltage stabilizers in principle does not save fuel at all despite all the claims by the companies selling this product. The product was originally by the Japanese company Pivot which are famous for many automotive electronic meters, push start buttons and other gadgets. with their transparent design this led to numerous copy cats developing their own version of voltage stabilizers. The device is attached to the car battery and while the car is moving there will alternating voltages due to different engine speeds driving the alternator to produce electricity at different speeds. Voltage stabilizers has an effect on electronic components of the car especially car audio, head lights and other electronic components. The effect is more pronounced when used together with a good grounding kit especially on older cars where the grounding points have oxidized. In terms of performance, the voltage stabilizer may help to improve performance by 1hp at most and possibly save 1% to 2% on fuel. Nothing significant by any means.
For those who do not wish to buy any gadgets to save fuel here are some tips to help you save fuel:
- make sure your tyres are properly inflated, adding an extra 2 to 3 psi will help
- take out all unnecessary items from your trunk such as golf bags, boxes and other stuff you don't need, this will help reduce the weight
- in colder climate locations, try not to use the air conditioner as this will reduce the burden on the engine
- do not install crazy wide body kits or spoilers, these add aerodynamic drag and will take a toll on your fuel consumption
- remove your roof rack if you have one
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