Tornado?

[duffus]

I was talking to the local napa auto parts manager-- I order a lot of bearings through him and we got on the subject of trucks, again, naturally. He said a K&N filter with a "Tornado" unit installed in the stock air intake would give me 2-3mpg easily.

 

Has anyone installed one of these in any vehicle they have owned?

[asepgrad98]

Yeah GM could get 2 more mpg out of their trucks but choose not to because they dont want to sell more trucks

 

Oh and dont forget to get the magnets that go on the fuel line. That gives 1 mpg

[willscary]

Never used a tornado, but for what it is worth...after seeing one in a truck parts store while looking at tonneau covers, I asked the sales guy what it was. He said that everyone in their shop has one and it gave them each about 10% better mileage. I asked if he had one and he said "yes". I went home and researched it and found that most people who bought one (on other forums) were very unhappy. Said the tornado did nothing for them. Next time in the truck place I asked the sales guy about it again, and told him after thinking about it that I figured it was a dam that would inhibit decent air flow because it takes up precious space at the air intake. He said it works great, so I asked if I could see the one in his truck. He turned a little red, stammered, and told me his truck was not here and that his girlfriend dropped him off. It was right after opening, and there was one other vehicle on the store property and no other customers. My guess is it was the sales guy's truck, and that he did NOT actually use a tornado.

 

Take it for what it's worth, but I doubt he uses one, but that he was looking to sell a sucker a $70 piece of crap.

[silversport]

The "screen" in our MAF is an AIR STRAIGHTENER...it seems to me that to cause the air to swirl would be counterproductive to having something in our air path that straightens the air if "swirling" it was better...snake oil!

Bill

[duffus]

i wonder if it really changes the flow from laminar to turbulent flow? seems like it would mess up the MAF.

 

hmm

[chevy-guy]

I HAD a Tornado in my truck along with a K/N Filter and to be honest the Tornado was a complete joke. My advice is to save your money and spend it on something else! Just my thought.

[duffus]

do u still have the k&n? is it any better or does it just clogg the sensor? thats my only concern with purchasing one right now.

[silversport]

K&N WILL NOT clog or dirty your sensor if you read and follow the instructions. OVERLY oiled filters will transfer that oil onto the sensor causing problems...properly oiled filters will arguably get you some better breathing and maybe some ponies.

Just my .02

Bill

 

[99-2door]

The Tornado is total BS.

(yes that is period at the end of that statement)

[Charlie in TX]

Think about it for a second. The auto makers will do anything to improve their CAFE number so they don't have to loose money selling Cavaliers. They go to extreems to get fractions of a MPG. Cylinder shutoff, VVT, hybrid battery system, ect. If all they had to do is put a swirl in the incoming air to improve economy wouldn't they do it? Instead of one swirl 2 ft from the cylinder they could cast (or mold in plastic) in a swirl at each cylinder.

 

Same thing for the fuel line magnets.

 

Snake oil.

[DEV1ST8R]

Spend $.50 and jam a Coke can in the air intake tube. . .it'll save you a load of money and match the performance of the super piece of aluminum foil known as the air tornado.

 

. . . Don't waste your money! If they need hour long infomercials and cool demonstrations and paid out "personal accounts" of how great it is. . .it's probably to good to be true. Just my opinion though. If you're bored and have money getting dusty somewhere - have at it. But I like to spend my money responsibly. . .just me though.

 

[superman1]

 

save your money for gas at the pump

[duffus]

i'm pretty much agreeing now that this thing is just a pile of BS... but howcome chevrolet hasn't gone to the efforts of having one or two cylinders shut off on these trucks to conserve gas -- like during highway cruising? I know there are times that mine could kick a couple cylinders-- is this hard to program or something?

[Charlie in TX]

Turning cylinders off. Cylinder Cancelation

 

GM is working on it. They don't want another v8-6-4 nightmare.

 

Dodge has produced it in there Magnum and 300?. I know Dodge is selling them in two cars but can't recall the second.

 

There are some technical problems. I don't know them all but a couple are, temp and wasted energy.

 

Expect to see it in all future motors, even 4 cylinders.

[gave20]

The 2005 chevy 1500 hybrid will have the deplacement on demand engine, V-8 under load four cylinder when cruising.

 

I'm not a proponent of the tornado but didn't the vortec engine line get it's name from the swirling vortex action of the air intake? By the way if your not sure if the tornado works watch the infomercial, I've seen better acting from middle school plays.