Anyone tried a "FUEL SMART"?

Since I am one of the V6 Tacoma owners that wish it got better gas milage. I just saw on TV's "Stacy's Garage". Would this really do what Stacy says?

Look here:

http://staceydavid.com/black-book/fuel-smart

http://www.fuelsmart.info/

 

Cadillac did that tears ago- epic fail.

 

Did not watch the video, but I know GM has been doing this for a few years now. Of course, in a perfect world, any time you cut down the displacement of any motor, it will take less fuel to keep it running, which in turn translates to savings in gas. IIRC the new Camaro offers this feature at highway speeds.

But there are tradeoffs. Less displacement = less hp = offset hp/weight ratio. A 3cyl trying to push a 5000lb truck will be working much harder than a V6 pushing the same truck. I'm not sure how it works out really though...take the Camaro for example. 4 cylinders firing at the same RPM as 8 cylinders firing will NOT produce the same rotating mechanical energy output. Otherwise we'd all drive 1 cylinders. So by shutting off half the motor, you'll need to compensate for the lack of power by holding the cruising RPM higher, and doing so by keeping the throttle at a more open position. Therefore, you're using more resources to get very little gains in efficiency. Let alone having 4 free flowing pistons in under your hood.

Another point to consider...Chevy builds their new motors with this feature in mind. They are balanced and engineered to work on 4 and 8 cylinders. Who knows how our motors will react to shutting off 1 of the 2 cylinder banks completely.

 

I saw that on Gearz. My issue with it is why don't more manufacturers use this idea? Also figure it will void the warranty. And that's if it really works in the first place.

My wife's Accord has the same thing (factory) and does seem to help.

 

watch the video in the link. they address what you are talking about..

it's not just turning it into a 3cyl haha

 

Here is the thread I started about it. http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/general-automotive/212040-aftermarket-cylinder-management-system.html

 

Never trust a mullet with two first names.

 

Interesting. Somebody buy it and test it.

 

Get a car if you want fuel economy. Or a 4cyl, 2wd, 5spd Tacoma.

Judging by some of the things on the Tacoma, Toyota wasn't really concerned with fuel economy. The big wind catching bowls in front bumper where the foglamps should be are one thing, the giant wind catching mud flaps are another, worse would be the the front differential/drive shaft constantly in motion in 2wd or the fact that they have a giant V6 instead of a turbo diesel.

 

Oh shit! John Ritter is still alive!

 

I'm curious about this gadget

 

It's effectiveness is probably going to depend on how many freeway miles you drive when the power demand is not as great as stop and go.

FWIW:
BBB gives them an "F" because they don't seem to be able to substantiate their advertising claim of 20%. http://www.bbb.org/cleveland/busine...mart-corp-in-mentor-oh-92007592/#reasonrating

It doesn't mean it can't do it. Just that when they requested info from the company, they got documentation that proved nothing.

Plus they seem to be heavy into franchising their work out. That's always sketchy with me for something that's unproven.

 

A few manufacturers use this method on various vehicles (for example, Dodge & the Ram), but, if it's so great, one has to wonder why these manufacturers don't use it on all of their vehicles or why other manufacturers don't use it at all.

Actually, are there valves or some other mechanism to shut off fuel to individual cylinders? If not, I don't see how the fuel savings could be gained.

 

That is a very good question.

 

I was reading another MPG thread, and a few members were discussing the difference in fuel economy between coasting in neutral and simply letting off the gas while in gear. A few members were also discussing that when in gear and coasting without using the throttle, the injectors shut down.

If that is true, then we already have something similar to this product in our trucks. I doubt anything like this can save you any money worth mentioning.

 

From what I've been able to gather, the system is wired between your existing injectors and the computer that sends the fire signal. The install requires you to cut the injector wire in half and splice the box in. The box intercepts the signal and doesn't pass it on to some of the cylinders, effectively preventing fuel from being injected into the cylinder.

One other sketchy thing I've seen is there is a user who has posted the exact same "works good for me. I've had it for 2 weeks but don't contact them by email. use this phone number xxx-xxx-xxxx." One was on a Hummer forum (username was hummer related) and another was on a Ford F150 forum (different username). Each poster had only the one post.

 

Isn't the idea behind this product too shut off unneeded cylinders while driving? So you use only 2 instead of 6? So it could still save you money because currently they only shut off while coasting, or idling. Not while driving.

 

Some say our truck does have it but it doesn't appear to do that in my 2007 Tacoma (V6 manual). I have an Aeroforce gauge which can monitor the Injector Pulse Width which is a measure of the amount of time in a 20ms period that the injectors are actively pumping.

When I coast in gear, it indicates 1.9-2.0ms or that the injectors are firing (pumping gas) about 9.5% of the cycle (20ms being the complete cycle). When I coast in neutral, it is about 2.0-2.1ms. The lowest I've seen is when shifting gears it will drop to 1.6ms.

 

If that were true, then you're forgetting the basic principle of hp/weight ratio. Read my example above in post #2 ^^^

 

Don't buy this it is a rip off and the owner of the company took in esters money and didn't supply product or working products