Has anyone ever tried this product? And does anybody think that it is worth it?
http://www.tornadoair.com/

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91 RS Camaro
3.1L
Cat Back System, K&N filter,modified air box, Fastchip Stage 2, 160 thermo, Rapidfires and Bosch Wires, soon to come: Homemade Ram Air,and maybe power pulleys, 5 Air Horns

 

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Mike

'90 IROC-Z, 5-speed, ZZ4, Trick Flows
Moderator SEThirdgen

 

Dude, that mod is a joke. Trust me. Everyone on camaroz28.com dogs it big time. It must be horriable.

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Eric Natzke
91 Firebird 305 TBI (ZZ4 summer of "01")
ASCD Ram Air Hood-3" custom exaust-Flowmaster 80 Series-No Cat-Edelbrock TES Headers (coated)-March Pulleys-TBI Spacer-K&N Open ELement-TransGo Shift Kit-B&M Supercooler 28,000 GVW-Hypertech Thermomaster-160 Stat-3:42 GM Gears-Auburn Posi Unit-Edlebrock Strut Tower Brace-MSD Superconducters-Accel Cap & Rotor-Rapidfire Plugs-265/50/R15 Tires-Emmison's all Gone
http://members.aol.com/j007golden/91firebird.html

 

This has been posted before...and it is the best mod you can make to 1) lighten your wallet and 2) decrease performance with another restriction.

If you don't believe us, purchase on and time yourself at the track with and without the "Tornado" on. Remember, tornados only bring disasters to people.

 

Personally I dont know about it, but CHP (Chevy High Performance), did this mod on a 00 4.3 S10 and it lost .2 in the 1/4!!!! When they took it off they gained .2, then put it back on and lost the .2, so it must work, right!?!?!?!?

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91 RS Camaro
3.1L
Cat Back System, K&N filter,modified air box, Fastchip Stage 2, 160 thermo, Rapidfires and Bosch Wires, soon to come: Homemade Ram Air,and maybe power pulleys, 5 Air Horns

[This message has been edited by Garmer (edited November 08, 2000).]

 

Having just completed a class in fluid and flow dynamics, there is some validity in this product. It takes the normally randomly turbulant flow of air and directs it in a controlled laminar fassion. I just think once the swirling air reaches the runners of the manifold that it will no linger be a laminar flow. The only thing that I can see that it does is help to cut some of the turbulence of the air flow entering the carb or throttle body. Kind of the same theory as polishing an intake and heads. An attempt to increase the velocity of the air by reducing the turbulence I don't know the price but it could be worth a couple of hp on a good day.

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1983 Camaro Z28
Goodwrench 350ci V8, Edelbrock Tes Headers, Flowmaster Catback, MSD 6al and Blaster 2 coil, Edelbrock Performer intake, T5, 373 rear, Eibach springs, Cervin Vega speakers, Rock. Fos. Sub, Pioneer CD,
email-chris4421@hotmail.com

 

yah, I just saw the infomercial on this the other day and was about to ask about it, its got a $ back gaurantee, but for $86, i dont know, it looks like its made out of recycled cans or something, but hey i might try it if they'll pay for me to send it back if i dont like it

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90 IROC 5.7l (L98)
ram air, K&N's, air foil,Flows

 

Spend that 86 bucks somewhere else man. Don't waste ur money.

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Eric Natzke
91 Firebird 305 TBI (ZZ4 summer of "01")
ASCD Ram Air Hood-3" custom exaust-Flowmaster 80 Series-No Cat-Edelbrock TES Headers (coated)-March Pulleys-TBI Spacer-K&N Open ELement-TransGo Shift Kit-B&M Supercooler 28,000 GVW-Hypertech Thermomaster-160 Stat-3:42 GM Gears-Auburn Posi Unit-Edlebrock Strut Tower Brace-MSD Superconducters-Accel Cap & Rotor-Rapidfire Plugs-265/50/R15 Tires-Emmison's all Gone
http://members.aol.com/j007golden/91firebird.html

 

I've seen swirly-things like that on 1980's Chrysler Lean Burn V8s, but for a different purpose. It was mounted on the intake hose with some kind of sensor tube upstream. Knock out the sensor tube and you'd have something almost identical to the Tornado.

I s'pose in THEORY, inducing a swirl would help air move around corners better, but it still represents a restriction. What little extra off-idle snap you'd get isn't worth the loss of power at higher RPMs caused by that thing interfering with intake flow.

Save your money and pass it up.

 

The product seems to hold some validity- for carbureted motors. The air and fuel are introduced directly into the carb, and mixed right away. Here, some intake-air-swirl would seem beneficial.

However, on a port-injected motor, I don't see any benefits. The air is introduced to the throttle body, plenum, and runners way before the fuel is. I'd imagine any swirl introduced would be negated by the "long trip" through the intake.

The makers of the SpiralMax (a Tornado-similar product) loved to compare their unit to the Vortec heads on the 4.3L truck motors. On those heads, a swirl is induced to mix the air and fuel. However, that happens in the HEADS, right at the combustion chamber! The Spiralmax (and Tornado) induce a swirl way before the heads.

We investigated that Tornado at the website listed in my signature, for a 4th-gen V6. Little or No improvements were noticed.


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

 

thanx guys for clearing that air swirler crap up. i was thinking of buying a spiralmax but i think i'll pass. how can the swirl effect possibly last through the VERY long intake tract of a TPI engine anyway?
buy the way, spiralmax is cheaper if you order on line, somethng like $65.
if it works tell me.

i have a mustang friend who got one, i hope it makes him slower.

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88 CAMARO RS
87 IROC-Z DRIVETRAIN
305 TPI, 700R4, 3.73s
ported plenum, performance resource chip,edelbrock TES Headers and cat-back, K&Ns, AFPR, rest is stock.
15.0 @ 92.5 (bald tires)