Fuel Line Magnets (and stuff)

[SR Racing]

I bet you want to buy a Fuel Line Magnet to get more horsepower and better fuel economy? Sorry, we don't sell them. (Actually no one does.) But, if you are contemplating getting one, or many of the other slick devices (eg. Turbo Intake spinners, drop in mileage pills, etc.) you might want to read this.

Over the years we have been contacted by many reputable companies to do some form of testing on the dyno and/or flow bench for their aftermarket devices. Most of these companies are very reputable and are looking for real data to use internally in the development of their products. We have done or continue to do testing for Exxon Labs, Granatelli Motor Sports, Roxanne Headers, etc. When the company is paying for these tests for their internal use, you can be pretty sure that they doing something to improve or validate the product. However when you see the "Independent lab tests show ........" phrase, watch out!

This summer we were approached by "Energy Cell" (manufactured by FEG) and they wanted to pay us to do "Independent lab testing" on their "Energy Cell" Fuel Line Magnet. They wanted us to test a "normal" street vehicle (theirs) before and after installing the "Fuel Mizer". They also wanted to bring a a film crew to film both sets of tests. The film crew was from a local advertising agency for a local TV channel. We agreed.

Well they showed up with the full crew and a Dodge SUV for the test vehicle. We explained that simple dyno tests with RPM, HP, Torque and A/F ratios were not going to give them anything real meaningful regarding fuel economy, but that was all they wanted to pay for.

We did some loaded warm up runs on the SUV and then did about 5 back to back dyno runs. After that, they had their mechanic install the "EnergyCell". It took them about an hour. BTW, this thing was a nice stainless steel clam shell like device with about 6 bar magnets running longitudinally along the inside of the housing. I don't know the polarity (or even if they were real magnets). Part of the reason it took them so long to install the device is that they had some difficulty finding a long enough run of rubber fuel line on which to clamp the device. Please note, that a special "Licensed EnergyCell installer" has to install this thing, to make the guarantee valid. I can only imagine what would happen if you installed it backwards! (I found out that you have to pay $500 to get the 1 hour of training and "Installer" Certificate.... No.., we are not licensed installers.)

Anyways... The "before" dyno runs, showed HP, Torque and A/F readings that were very erratic. HP for example varied by about 10% and A/F varied on each run from 13:1 to 10:1. The Dodge obviously had some problems. We mentioned this to them. (No matter.)

After the install, we did about 5 more runs. The very first "after" run, in fact, gave about 5% more HP than the average of the first 5 runs. However the next 4 runs were the same average as the before runs, with them still being very erratic. Certainly no valid statistical gains.

Again no matter. All they needed was a jpg and printout of the worst of the "before" runs, and the best of the "after" runs. (It was their data, they paid for it.) The jpgs and printouts were given to the ad agency for use in the TV commercial.

So the commercial aired with validation by "Independant Lab testing".

Wait, one more thing.... Their check bounced... Thats' it. Now if you want to sell some Fuel Mileage tablets or air intake turbo devices give us a call. We will do an Independent Lab Test on it for you. Bring cash.

Jim
SR Racing / RaceCarSupply

[CBFryman]

"comming to a JC-Whittney like catalog near you"

[Moppie]

ROFLOL!!

Great story, its always nice to know how these people get away with what they do.