DarrellBuddy321

Does that even work? The Ad on top of the forum

Heat Rave R

Assuming it's one of those metal things you stick in your intake to "spin" air into the manifold, I was thinking of getting one from Pepboys for when I dyno my car, to definitively prove whether it does/doesn't work. If it doesn't, I can simply return it.

newb81280zx

Yea let us know. I also am interested if these things actually work...at all.

Dorifto

This is hilarious. The fact that they sucker so many people into thinking their vehicle is ACTUALLY supercharged is down right idiotic. I was talking to this kid the other night, and he was showing off his Accord (which I must say, was very well executed). We were engaged in a conversation about power-adders (turbos, sc, nitrous, etc.) and he told me his Accord had a belt-free supercharger. Looking at the outside of the car and it's general rice-free appearance, I figured he had a Jackson Racing charger or something, but when he said belt-less, I thought he meant turbo.
Nope.
Cone air filter, and a "Tornado" intake thingy, sitting right there on his throttle body. It completely caught me off guard, because the kid knew what he was talking about with everything else, but he truly believed that this intake add-on was actually a belt-less supercharger. I almost cried in laughter.

I would assume the power gains are negligible, hardly even seen by the dyno. Just my thought though, who knows how much they really do add. But for $70, I'd rather be refilling a nitrous bottle, or running 115-octane race fuel.

apollo

My thoughts exactly. I would rather spend that 70 on something a little more substantial than that.

91zxtt

We had this discussion in the Z32 section.

https://www.zdriver.com/forums/showt...hlight=Tornado

Another gimic
https://www.zdriver.com/showthread.p...c+Supercharger

And another
https://www.zdriver.com/showthread.p...ght=turbonator
There's a link to 300zc that elaborates a bit more. I never saw this before, but they talk a bit of trash about zdriver on there. A-holes. :badpc: They kiss my hairy beanbag.

Bleach

I wonder if it would help carbureted engines more? Fuel injectors mist the fuel out very well, but the carb needles could use some more air circulation to atomize the fuel better. Intake manifolds are cast rough for a reason. To keep the air from being too stagnant.
I've seen those commercials for the Tornado. They put it in a late model Suburban and claimed that right there on the dyno they got 12hp increase at the wheels.

To say it is like forced induction is rediculous. All it could possibly do is help with the fuel mixture in the air for a more clean burn.

bigjoe

People an aussie company make a hiclone filter. It sits on top of the carbbie and alters the air pattern to maximise its movement throught the carbie.

Don't know about the benefits with efi motors but if it does work you can add it into a turbo motor.

theramz

I've seen this sort of crap on ebay. The key to the BS is they are made out of abs plastic. Most of them don't mention the cfm. The ones that do boast 250 cfm, not enough to blow a lawn mower. Non of them mention boost. Non of them show dyno results. Turbulence in the intake actually slows the flow. Another key to the SCAM is they keep their feedback private.

Bleach

We're not even talking about the electric superchargers, its the fins that just set in the intake pipe to spin the air as it is sucked past.

Skully

lol i love this
"The Turbonator is much less expensive and more efficient than any turbocharger, supercharger, blower, or intercooler"

right....lol....i mean how do they have a nerve bullshitting, honestly...how the HELL is it more efficient when it does nothing...sombody should sue for false advertising.!!!

yes why spend 500 ona turbo when you can get something more efficient for 70 dollars....now that i think of it why are turbo's even so expencive when this is more efficient...hmmm.....i should sell my t04 and buy this ....

Las VegaZ

I'll wait for the true dyno numbers before I say it does or doesn't work. Sometimes the wierdest things do work. Take aftermarket intakes for example, a local shop dynod a couple intakes and the difference was amazing. The K&N even though it is thinner than any other intake still made more power than some leading brands, and the one they made from the ones that Autozone sells still made more power than the AEM. If all it does is make as little as a 1/2 hp then it works. IMO I have seen tuners try everything from smaller injectors to actually blocking half the intake just to find that little extra edge. Look at race teams, they spend hours to days looking for something, anything to shave less than a 10th off there times

theramz

All good theories, I'll wait for some real feedback with actual dyno tests.
I'm betting on hell freezing over first.

e_racer1999

turbulence may slow the flow of incoming air, but for those of us with SU carbs, turbulence is a good thing. with carbs, we don't have the fuel atomization that FI cars have, we have to rely on turbulence to get the proper mixture. as a matter of fact, the SU carbs create turbulence on purpose.

as for the tornado, it straightens the flow and puts a spin on the air. it is actually a good idea with a valid point, but not for $70. make my own out of beer cans for that much... AND have beer to go with it! :chug:

theramz

The difference between our SUs and FI is it is almost a straight shot to the intake valve with carbs, the venturis increase the velocity and atomizes the gas there. FI has to make a 90 degree turn but the gas is atomized just before the intake valve. Turbulence is when the outer edge of the flow can stall and even reverse flow. The suggestion that it is a tornado spinning tells you that the middle of the flow is stalled just like the eye of the storm.
I see that a lot of members were not yet born when they tried this in an adaptor that went under the 4 bbl carb in the 70's. It didn't work then either! $70 buys a lot of beer!

91zxtt

That's a safe bet.

Heat Rave R

Welp, I had a dyno session with my NA '82 Z this weekend. For one of my runs, I thought I'd try out one of these "Tornado" things you stick in the intake to see once and for all whether it does anything. On my first 2 runs, I ran without it and discovered I've got a bad lean condition. On the last and 3rd run, I put the Tornado in my MSA intake. It sure did something alright! It caused an even more severe lean condition! Whatever it was doing, it caused a greater ratio of air vs. fuel to happen, which implies it is indeed getting more air in somehow. However, the greater lean condition also meant I lost more power. Still, I think that once I get my fuel issue addressed, I would try it again and see what happens.

Bleach

...Just like a TURBOCHARGER! Wow!!!

theramz

Maybe instead of more air you got less gas. A vacuum gauge will tell if your getting more air. Less vacuum means more air. If it does indeed increase the amount of air then I think you will need a tuneable engine management system to keep from frying your engine which by itself would give you more HP over the entire rpm range than the wannabe Turbo. Go tuners!

s/cL3.0

Every one look at boosthead.com what do you think about that???

theramz

These are the only electric turbos that produce any boost. They have real turbos driven by very powerful motors. They also require big auxilary batteries that are good for about 15 seconds and then need to be recharged. The other drawback I see is that you cannot control the boost with any engine management system I've heard of. Your engine will not last long without controls. By the time your done it will cost you as much as a real turbo.

s/cL3.0

yeah definetly, There like 1295.00 too. For 2800.00 I can get the s/charger kit from jim cook racing, but I am still holding out til there finished with the multi-port setup.. :hpydance:

Bleach

For less than that supercharger you can rebuild a stock L28 trubo and buy a brand new T3/04!
Or buy the Tornado thing for $60 or so and it'll add about 175hp!!!!

assimilated420

i hope youre seriously not implying the tornado deal is going to add 175hp..

91zxtt

Um, no,...he's not.

Sarcasm 101, class is in session,...please take your seats.