MadDawg

i see that you installed this on the S/C? do you know thats the supercharged version of the xterra? theres no need for a tornado when you have something that blows the air into the engine. and another thing, when you say why dont the manufacturers dont install these on their cars? good question, same thing goes for short ram/cold air intakes and k&n air filters, not one auto maker puts those in there, they put stock filters in big black square boxes that rob the air that goes into your engine. (i guess to save money?) and ya, why would tornado fuel saver company still be in business today? they've been doing it for a few years now. Also, ive found the tornado to work more on smaller engines, and especially german made, BMW's, mercedes benz's alike.

C280Sportster

Without adding "fuel to the fire" (pardon the pun, lol) aren't many cars already designed to swirl the air as it goes in (or whatever the tornado does).

I think MB are designed to do something like that. What someone should do is test it in an old a$$ car and see what happens. But then again I know nothing about this product and it's uses (I've seen parts of the TV ads), I don't know if it would work better in a fuel injected car, or a 4 barrel carb, or what?

Why don't we try in a few cars and see what happens. To most of us here $50 bucks or so, isn't much to spend on something for our cars; but of course, no one likes getting ripped off!

If our advanced engines already do what the tornado does, let's try it in some other (older) cars.

saturnstyl

In regards to that "big black air box designed to rob air", its designed to do several things. Anything that has several jobs instead of just one is almost always a compromise.
We have to keep water out of the intake
We have to filter the air to the engine
We have to make that filter last as long as possible
It HAS to be silent. There are regulations about the amount of noise a stock vehicle can make, and intake noise can be quite loud.
Ever look at the intake on say, an impala SS? I mean like a '96 model. Its got resonators and a very restrictive looking intake tube. Just replacing the intake tube with aftermarket parts nets a large gain. Its one of the few vehicles I know of that gets any real benefit from an aftermarket system.
I don't consider 1-2 HP a real benefit. Especially for the price of some systems.
Its another example of compromise.... they need the car to be quiet, so they baffle the intake to reduce noise. Any restriction in airflow will result in a loss of power. I don't see a real benefit in putting an air intake box on any 112 or 113 motor benz, check out the curve the air goes through before entering the throttle body!
How is that tornado thingy going to cause a swirling motion when:
There are vanes to straighten airflow in the mass air sensor,
There are vanes in the intake tube where it attaches to the throttle body to straighten airflow.
We are also dealing with a dual resonance intake manifold with switchover flaps, which will act as vanes to straighten airflow.
I guess it could induce SOME swirl, but again if the engineers felt it needed it, wouldn't it be there? 1-2 MPG is HUGE for CAFE standards, and well worth the cost to the bean counters. Perhaps its just a restriction in airflow that causes a leaner A/F mix? Perhaps its just in the mind of the user?
In at least one case I have read about regarding "tumble" of the air fuel mix, the engineers found that too much was actually causing the combustion to get snuffed out, which reduced power and economy.

C280Sportster

Read this stuff:

From:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/cains1/...turbulence.htm

"As an example, the new 3.5-litre Mercedes V6 (in the SLK 350) contains a variable turbulence system. "The intake ducts are equipped with newly developed tumble flaps which improve the intake process and combustion of the fuel-air mixture. These pivot open under partial load, increasing the turbulence of the gas flow in the combustion chambers. Under higher engine loads the tumble flaps are completely recessed into the intake manifold. Thanks to the use of these innovative tumble flaps, the fuel consumption of the V6 engine is reduced by up to 0.2 litres per 100 kilometres depending on engine speed." Obviously any fuel saving is welcome, and in conjunction with other technologies makes this a relatively "green" engine. But 0.2 litres per 100 km is less than a 2% gain - and this on a system specifically designed and optimised for this particular engine, where the fuel and ignition can be adjusted to suit, and where the turbulence can be switched on or off as required. Equally, this is a system designed by Mercedes, a company with vast resources and a reputation for quaility engineering almost regardless of cost. If the very best fuel economy improvement Mercedes can get through turbulence is less than 2%, then you should be suspicious when a small company claims 5 - 10 times that benefit on pretty much any engine through their "bolt-on" device."


More on the V6:

http://www.carpages.co.uk/mercedes_b...1_23_12_03.asp

"The intake ducts are equipped with newly developed tumble flaps which improve the intake process and combustion of the fuel-air mixture. These pivot open under partial load, increasing the turbulence of the gas flow in the combustion chambers. Under higher engine loads the tumble flaps are completely recessed into the intake manifold."

LOCHS 2

I had no idea it was supercharged...REALLY?!?! AWESOME!! Do you know that I actually have a supercharged ML430? I guess I did not know that Someone said my 1992 GMC Typhoon was supercharged...WOW I had no idea. I guess that is why it was so fast!!


There's air blowing into the engine? OMG I had no idea. How fast does this supposed air blow in? Probably too slowly???

I suppose they are saving a lot of money!!! I would do it too!!! Kewl. Not one automaker? That is why I'm suspect of the quality. They're all theives when they steal the air from my engine. HOW DARE THEY!!! *******s.

REALLY? how many German made BMWs [not to mention U.S. made ones] have you tested the tornado on? Smaller engines are great because they are small. Bigger engines are great because they are big. I wish ALL vehicles made in Germany had tornados. Then we could drive oil from $50 a barrel down to $30... YESSSSSS!!!!!

LOCHS 2

Very nice statement... and to add {edit} I would trust the stock OEM MB set up black air box intake all day. Mine was left alone when I added the Kleemann kompressor....hmmm

skyfreedom

What I can gather from everyone's input and articles is that the Tornado Air does work*.

* but only on older cars that run richer.

Newer cars I dont think can benefit from it due to the already built in technology.

MadDawg

as in how new? it worked pretty good on my 02 ml320. it really depends on the viechle if you ask me, when they say up to 24% increase in gas mileage, they are saying you will notice a difference, it may not be 24%, that 24% prolly was in something that had alot of air restriction in it or something.

skyfreedom

Did u get 1 to 2 mpg more? I am glad that someone tried it and saw some results. How long have u had it?

LOCHS 2

vehicle, probably, had, air, restriction, twos saye the leest, 24% is amasinhg considring itz not pozzibly allot of chance to have that amount of inmcreas with just a small pieces of tornado in the inztakers we have to hope very much these can oiccure.kewl!!

Pottie

Hello everyone...
I m currently have Tornado air in my 2000 ML430 and I found out after couple days after installation my check engine is ON and I checked and I found there are couple errors...in fuel system..
I ll take it off and will return it cz it seems like Tornado just brought me trouble...
Btw is there anyone there ever install the Air Intake for ML430, how is it and what kind of brand is good for ML430...
Thanks guys....