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Does the "Tornado" work?

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Old Feb 4, 2004 | 12:59 PM
  #1  
FirebirdRacer89's Avatar
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From: San Antonio, Texas
Car: 1989 Firebird
Engine: 350 Corvette Engine
Transmission: 700R4 w/ corvette servo
Does the "Tornado" work?

I had a question, I got an '89 Firebird with a 305 TBI and my wallet is hurting from the rape it is getting due to low gas mileage. My dad told my about this product called "The Tornado" which supposedly boasts like a 25% increase in torque and horsepower and around 10-15% better gas mileage. My question has anyone else heard of this product and have they ever used it, does it really work? They say it is advertised on T.V. and it is available at many auto parts stores.
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Old Feb 4, 2004 | 01:51 PM
  #2  
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Car: Camaro
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I think its BS my friend bought one for his 300ZX and it didnt do SH**! If you think about what they say "25% increase in torque and HP" If you have 200 horse power then putting in that little peice of sheetmetal will give you 50 horse power??? BS all the way! I just want to know how putting something in the way of airflow is gonna help, I understand their theory of spinning the air but it is still gonna restrict airflow by being additional material in the way!
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Old Feb 4, 2004 | 02:57 PM
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From: Tempe, Arizona
Car: 96 Silverado/99 Suburban
Engine: 700 cubic inches of 'Muican Awesome
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Axle/Gears: Chunky/Clunky
I know the product you are talking about. It actually only boasts a 5% increase in power. And it does increase your gas milege........as long as you don't live a 1/4mile at a time.....

Here's the link to it: http://www.tornadofuelsaver.com/tfs/index.php

Bruce (90RS305)
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Old Feb 4, 2004 | 03:06 PM
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Save you money on another mod. Since an engine does not suck in air at supersonic speeds it is pointless to put a restriction in the way that will only swirl the air. An engine will suck in air no matter how it is moving.
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Old Feb 4, 2004 | 03:34 PM
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From: Chicago, IL
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Do a search for that product on this board, you'll see a big long post of a lot of people ripping it apart.
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Old Feb 4, 2004 | 03:46 PM
  #6  
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actually it will allow you to get better gas mileage. I've seen it happen before. here's how it works....

by removing $40 from your wallet you are lightening your car.....by lightening your car it takes less gas to move from point A to point B......what a great invention.
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Old Feb 4, 2004 | 03:48 PM
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Old Feb 4, 2004 | 04:01 PM
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Car: 1986 Pontiac Trans Am
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i was wondering if this was true? sounds like a good idea...
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Old Feb 4, 2004 | 04:10 PM
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Car: Z/28..39 Plymouth truck in progress
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Originally posted by xpndbl3
actually it will allow you to get better gas mileage. I've seen it happen before. here's how it works....

by removing $40 from your wallet you are lightening your car.....by lightening your car it takes less gas to move from point A to point B......what a great invention.
Hey xpndbl3 thats great I needed a good laugh today
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Old Feb 4, 2004 | 04:18 PM
  #10  
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Car: Camaro
Engine: 305
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That was funny as hell, as broke as I am I should have a 12 second car now!

It probably only makes your car faster the more worthless the car is or if it has some crappy TV commercial!
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Old Feb 4, 2004 | 05:19 PM
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Originally posted by xpndbl3
actually it will allow you to get better gas mileage. I've seen it happen before. here's how it works....

by removing $40 from your wallet you are lightening your car.....by lightening your car it takes less gas to move from point A to point B......what a great invention.
Yea this is pretty funny. I was about ready to rip into it at first but I read a little more.
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Old Feb 4, 2004 | 09:12 PM
  #12  
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From: Tuckerton, NJ
Car: 89 T/A
Engine: 305 TBI (Hopefully LS1 someday)
Transmission: 700 R4 (T-56 is planned too)
I bought the tornado Type-R sticker and put it on my bumper. Now my car is really fast!
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Old Feb 4, 2004 | 09:54 PM
  #13  
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From: Ontario, Canada
Car: 1988 Pontiac Trans Am
Engine: 5.0L Fuel Injection
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All that tornado does is make the air spin as it enters the intake. Thing is...the intake manifold does that already on most cars. So basically..your wasting your coin.

The 300ZX has a High Swirl intake which does exactly what the tornado was supposed to do.
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Old Feb 4, 2004 | 10:47 PM
  #14  
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From: Orland Park, IL
Car: 1984 Z28
Engine: SLOW carbed ls
Transmission: TH400 with brake, 8" PTC converter
Axle/Gears: moser 9" 4.11
Originally posted by flrtin1
Hey xpndbl3 thats great I needed a good laugh today
nah no problem. i believe that you have the tornado installed on your camaro right? i mean it's called something else for your car but oh well. Something about a blower instead of a tornado not really sure. Also, since you're kinda in the area I would love to see the blower sometime come spring when my beast comes out as well.
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Old Feb 5, 2004 | 01:02 AM
  #15  
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From: Tucson, AZ, USA
Car: '99 Trans Am, '86 Camaro
Engine: LS1, Scrap
Transmission: T56, T5
Axle/Gears: 3.42 Stock ZT, 3.42 Open
Wait, don't us TBI guys have swirl-port heads anyway?

Wouldn't vortec heads with swirl-promoting combustion chambers be far more effective than the tornado, too?

Heck, even my V6 has a swirl-promoting device in its intake path... and it'll swirl WAY more than the tornado.
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Old Feb 5, 2004 | 01:31 AM
  #16  
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Axle/Gears: 9-bolt w/ 3.23's
IMHO its completly worthless. Its nothing more then a restriction in the intake ducting.
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Old Feb 5, 2004 | 02:27 AM
  #17  
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Originally posted by dimented24x7
IMHO its completly worthless. Its nothing more then a restriction in the intake ducting.
I agree. Maybe if you only had a 1 cylinder lawn mower engine it could help, but if you have 8 cylinders like us what good is swirling the intake air? It just has to break up again and divide to the other cylinders. I can only see it slowing down the incoming air and giving uneven distribution.
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Old Feb 5, 2004 | 09:50 AM
  #18  
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From: Western Ky
Car: Z/28..39 Plymouth truck in progress
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Originally posted by xpndbl3
Also, since you're kinda in the area I would love to see the blower sometime come spring when my beast comes out as well.
Planning on be at third gen fest, going to try to catch the caravan at Bennigan's, looks like a good time and I hope to meet everyone
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Old Feb 5, 2004 | 09:34 PM
  #19  
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From: Orland Park, IL
Car: 1984 Z28
Engine: SLOW carbed ls
Transmission: TH400 with brake, 8" PTC converter
Axle/Gears: moser 9" 4.11
Originally posted by flrtin1
Planning on be at third gen fest, going to try to catch the caravan at Bennigan's, looks like a good time and I hope to meet everyone
i hope to see you there, or possibly come april or so we can cruise out somewhere.
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Old Feb 6, 2004 | 11:22 AM
  #20  
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Yeah, I can see it swirling the air in the air cleaner and intake tubing, but once it hits our throttle blades I have a feeling that any "swirling effect" that was once introduced will be completely killed. Even at WOT, it seems it'll still hit the blades. Something's gotta stop the swirling! No!!!!
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Old Feb 7, 2004 | 06:07 PM
  #21  
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From: Southern Maryland
Car: 91 Z28
Engine: L98
Transmission: built 700R4
Axle/Gears: 3.42
I have one. The guy I bough my 92 rs from put one in there. I took it out when I put my open element air cleaner on.
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Old Feb 7, 2004 | 06:44 PM
  #22  
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From: olmsted falls ohio
Car: 91 RS
Engine: Carb 350
Transmission: 700R4
theoretically...it works...when i used to work at stylin i sold about 25 of those in a month cause they were doin a special..i never had any complaints...and the tornado rep in a nutshell told us you really wont notice a hp increase...better gas mileage with regular driving habits..so i dunno..its one of those buy and find out for yourself..they're cheap so.
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Old Feb 8, 2004 | 02:54 AM
  #23  
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Car: currently thirdgenless!!!
Does it work...about as good as swirl port heads.

(All people with LO3's are on the floor laughing)
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Old Feb 8, 2004 | 09:57 AM
  #24  
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From: Kelowna, B.C.
Car: 89 Camaro RS
Engine: 305 TBI
Transmission: 700r4
Axle/Gears: 2.73
My only thought on improving gas milage .. drive it better.. keep your rps low..From regular in & out of the city driving.. I can get about 211 miles to about 7/8th of a tank. Which is pretty good.. But if I don't drive it nice I only get about 170 miles to the same volume of gas.. perhaps even less.. but thats depending on what I'm doing..

As for the tornado thing.. what would be the point installing that thing anyways.. ok, say you put it in just before your air cleaner.. once it hits the flapper for the Thermac the fancy swirl of air is disrupted anyways.. plus the tube doesn't stay round, it goes oval.. that changes the air flow too..

So Like I always read, the best way to cheaply improve gas milage, is to improve your driving habits.. otherwise, check for fuel leaks. or any malfunctioning sensors..
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