I just got an 07 FEH and the dealer installed a fuel saver on it. It's supposed to give me up to 10% (between 1-8mpg) increase in mileage. I'm not really sure if it has increased my mileage, or not yet, I haven't used a full tank yet, I've only had the FEH for 6 days. But according to the dealer this (the fuel saver) is going to be on every lot by the end of next year. At my dealer they were charging $595 for it-that is on top of the the cost of the car, I talked the car saleman into giving it to me for free. I'm not really sure how it works, other than the gas goes through this contraption in a circular manner(swirls) which is somehow supposed to save gas. Does anyone know anything about this?

 

total snakeoil

 

You should keep track of your mileage very closely. Also keep looking at the Hybrid Mileage Database on this website.

If after 6 months you are not in the top 10 percent of high mileage drivers on this site, print out a listing of the FEH database and take it to the dealer and demand the device be removed and that you receive a full refund for the device not working.

I guarantee you I would do this were I in your place.

 

For just $295, come by my garage and I will install gas saver in four locations on your car and I absolutely guarantee it will increase your mileage. Or, you can get a compressor and do it yourself.

Pump up your tires to 40 psi or more if you want (44 max) and your gas mileage will certainly increase. Then, another free way to improve your mileage is to read every post on this site and use as many of them as you can based on your driving situation.

Another thing, if this dealer is selling what sounds like the Vornado for $600 (or $6 for that matter), he needs to be reported. If these items were required, they would be installed at the factory. I'd love to see what he actually did to your car and what Ford (the manufacturer, not the dealer) would think of this modification and any warranty implications.

It's worth repeating....total snake oil. But at least you got what you paid for......

 

First of all I didn't pay for it, it was free--whether it worked or not I was not going to pay an extra $595 to find out. Secondly it doesn't void the warranty, because it was Ford approved(the Literature they had on it was from Ford), apparently they are even installing them on regular cars and trucks in an effort to increase sales. I shopped around a while for my FEH and of the 10 or so Ford Dealership I went to 4 of them had this "fuel saver" installed on all of their cars. I asked about it at a dealership that didn't have it yet and they said they were getting them soon. I don't know if these things work or not, but I will certainly keep you updated. A friend of my husbands has one installed on his 1964 valiant, and his 2004 maxed out f150 and he swears that his mileage has increased on the average of 4-6mpg. So who knows. I was hoping that one of you engineers could explain this to us all.

 

Toya-
You may never know if you increased your mpg because you have no measurement prior to installing the device. Several tests (including one by Consumer Reports) all concluded that bolt-on fuel savers did not increase mpg. Getting the fuel saver for "free" might just mean that you overpaid for the truck by the $60-or-so that is the real cost of the fuel saver. I'm not 100% sure, but I'm leaning towards........snake oil.

 

That was a joke - you got what you paid for. You paid nothing and got nothing.

I did a google search for these type of add ons and found one for as little as about $9. They make some great claims and have a really bizarre theory as to why they work -creating a vortex of iar in the combustion chamber or some such garbage. But, even assuming the air does form a vortex in the air intake, once it goes throught the throttle body, the intake manifold and finally the intake valve, I'd be willing to bet a large amount of money that the vortex is history. Too many obstructions and direction changes. Besides, even if the air did still flow in vortices, would this increase the efficiency of the engine? Doubt it.

My google search failed to reveal anything that mentioned Ford other than mentioning a fuel saver that fit a 1979 Ford Granada. If they will be mandatory on new cars, someone would have an article about it on line somewhere. And if these things were any good, someone on thissite more than likely would have one by now.

As always, just my opinion for what it is worth.

I bet someone with a scangauge and some free time would be able to tell very quickly whether one of these devices made a bit of difference in the mileage. Even using the MPG gauge on the message center or the nav could give a good idea.

 

Glenn,

Thanks for the advice, especially the info on Consumer Reports, but I had an X-plan when I bought my car, the cost of the car (before taxes)(with the premium package--nav, heated seats ect...) was 31,415(that is the sticker price here in CA). With my X-plan it was 29 thousand something(The X-plan is the dealer invoice price minus about $50). With tax, title and license it was $32,311. I talked my dealer into taking off the $311, and I paid $32,000 out the door--that is $350 less than what the Dealer paid to get it. And I got free oil changes for the lifetime of the car. So I guess for someone else they could add that to the cost of the car on the back end, but it didn't happen to me. I made sure of it. I think the dealerships get reimbursed by Ford if they sell a car at the X-plan price, so in this case Ford maybe paying for the cost of the "gas saver"

 

Ray,

Thank you for the info, just FYI, I don't think it's working for me anyway, At this point(keeping in mind I've only had the car for 6 days) I seem to be averaging about 30mpg(I'm guessing because I have about half a tank of gas left) If the "gas saver" actually is working it would seem that I would get much more than that. I've not yet started doing some of the things suggested on here like the fake shift, I'm not comfortable enough with that just yet, but give me a few months, and I'll let you guys know.

 

Hi all

Take a look at this article I found. If the big three need a little edge on import competition, they may have been given a bone. Big oil has made a ton of money on us in the past few years and it's election time for all those US unemployed autoworkers. http://www.eagle-research.com/newsle...0/2000_04.html

Snake oil? We have put people on the moon and just installed panels on the Space Station to produce at least enough energy to power five large homes with A/C.

GaryG