[DRTYFN]

Originally Posted by johndjmix1

*crickets*

From Popular Mechanics

WATER INJECTION
This technology was developed during World War II to provide emergency sprint power for turbosupercharged fighter planes. At altitude, there is less air for cooling engines. The turbos, however, cram air into the inlet at manifold pressures nearly the same as those at sea level. The compressed intake air, heated as it goes through the turbos, makes the engine even hotter. Spraying water, or a water-alcohol mixture, directly into the intake lowers the combustion-chamber temperatures. This permits substantially more power for brief periods. Several manufacturers have attempted to apply this technology to automotive use. We ordered an AquaTune from a classified ad in the back pages of PM. "AquaTune is like no other water injection system in that it is, in actuality, a fuel cell hydrogen processor. It produces hydrogen-rich bubbles before being introduced into the engine draft." An "ultra-sonic barometric pressure chamber giving off ultra-sonic frequencies" apparently splits water molecules to create hydrogen bubbles. Anyone who can explain that, please call me--I'd like to make some hydrogen ultrasonically from water and solve the energy crisis while simultaneously eliminating global warming.

It was relatively easy to install the AquaTune, although we did need a few feet of our own vacuum line. (What do you want for $399?) Unlike the pump-fed water-injection systems on P-38 fighters, the AquaTune relies on intake manifold vacuum to pull distilled water from a plastic bottle and into the manifold. So, at periods of wide-open throttle, virtually no water should enter the engine.

THE DYNO SAYS: With the AquaTune adjusted according to the instructions, the test truck gave us 20 fewer horsepower and about a 20 percent poorer fuel economy.

THE MORAL OF THE STORY
We've tested nowhere near all of the fuel-saver gadgets on the market, and I'm sure purveyors of others will be waiting in our lobby soon. But not one of the items we tested worked. At all. There's no ignoring the laws of physics, people. Your vehicle already burns over 99 percent of the fuel you pay for. Less than 1 percent is squandered as partially burned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide before the exhaust hits the catalytic converter for the last laundering. Even if one of these miracle gadgets could make the combustion process 100 percent complete, the improvement in mileage resulting would be 1 percent. Any device that claims quantum-level increases needs to be examined with considerable skepticism.

We say caveat emptor (let the buyer beware). But there are plenty of people out there who say: "There's one born every minute." Prediction: Within a few weeks after the appearance of this article, there will be gas-saving gadgets on the market that tout themselves as "Featured in Popular Mechanics." Someone will buy them. Probably not you.