Posted on 05/22/2005 7:27:42 AM PDT by QwertyKPH
A MELBOURNE invention that claims to slash vehicle petrol bills by up to 20 per cent and reduce harmful engine emissions will go on sale tomorrow.
The Vaporate Fuel Saving System is the brainchild of Shaun Rigney, 44, of Doncaster.
Vaporate, which will retail for a recommended $289 and must be fitted by a mechanic, will be distributed by Repco.
Mr Rigney said it worked by enabling vehicles to use petrol that normally was spewed into the environment.
He said most cars wasted between 15 per cent and 20 per cent of petrol because they failed to turn it into vapour.
Vaporate added heat to a fuel system, ensuring all petrol was vapourised and used.
Mr Rigney, who spent more than seven years developing the device, said extensive testing had shown four in five family cars and four-wheel-drive vehicles fitted with the device used between 10 per cent and 20 per cent less fuel.
He claimed that in some vehicles fuel use dropped by more than a quarter.
The device also allowed motorists who ran cars on premium unleaded to swap to regular unleaded without losing power.
Mr Rigney said Vaporate was fitted to the fuel injector.
"It is a relatively simple principle that has been around for a long time and we have been able to adapt it to modern-day fuel injection," he said.
Mr Rigney said the device would not affect new car warranties.
He had patented it in Australia and the US and an international patent was pending.
Repco merchandise manager Stephen Bird said: "We are very excited. It has a very important place in the history of the motor car.
"We believe it is going to be pretty big."
Mr Bird said the company had thoroughly analysed the extensive testing on the device and was satisfied it worked.
He said Vaporate was less effective on commercial vehicles carrying heavy loads, vehicles driven on mostly country roads and those driven too fast.
Repco authorised service national manager Peter Webb added: "From the testing we have done with the product, it works."
I'm convinced!
Available? H*ll, I'm just hoping the CA or DC legislators don't mandate 2 in every car, LOL.
It sounds like something that reduces fuel to the engine. That must be why it doesn't help if you drive fast, or on country roads?
What's the speed limit "down under" anyway?
"Mr Rigney said Vaporate was fitted to the fuel injector."
So does this mean that since I have a fuel injected transam, with 8 fuel injectors, I an going to need 8 of these at a cost of $289 each?
289 x 8 = $2312
That's a heck of a lot to pay for a 10 to 20 percent savings.
I'm sure it will be. Maybe is now on late night TV.
People have made a fortunes offering this kind of stuff. One guaranteed a fair percentage of milage increase if installed according to manufacturer's instructions. Instructions included installation by an authorized dealer along with a "tune up" as recommended. When I asked how much increase was due to the tune up they replied "you're not going to buy one of these, are you."
Another guy popped off about being able to increase gas milage. Lawyers told him to put up or be sued. He put out a Xeroxed set of instructions of basic things to do to increase milage. Sold it for something like $5.95 and made over a quarter of a million dollars. He didn't even have the internet to help him.
yeah you would be lucky to break even at the gas station over the first year....
"It sounds like something that reduces fuel to the engine."
Actually, just the opposite.
The heated fuel atomizes better and there is less 'waste'.
If you ever look at your tailpipe when the engine is cold, or on a cold day, you will see what appears to be water.
Quite a bit of fuel is never burned and lost right through the tailpipe.
don't count on it. after a lifetime of listening to gas saving inventions:
1. it may be a sham.
2. if it's real, some oil or auto company will buy it up and you'll never see it again.
Not to mention the labor cost to install them.
Although I could do it myself.
well there it that...
I couldnt (probably), but that doesnt mean I wouldnt give it a shot, if I felt I would want to get one of these, which I dont....
Hogwash!
The "vapors" you see coming out of your tail pipe is water. Try burning it.
We keep the 400 mpg carburetor in a glass case in the lobby of our oil company.
When visitors come, we point at it and laugh.
My old bimmer would need 12. There's an oil derrick in Saudi Arabia with my name on it...
is that hydrogen?
They won't 'burn' because they are dilluted.
Try drinking it!
Jethro Bodine made the family truck run on water 40 years ago, too.
Diesels get better mileage, too.
If you like the extra $6,000 on the purchase price, 2 batteries to maintain instead of 1, the cost of additives to keep from fuel gelling in cold weather, repainting the inside of your garage every year(along with the soot on everything else).
There's always an unexpected cost to such things.
Mostly 100kph (approximately 60mph) however there are a few motorways around Sydney & Melbourne with 130kph limit.
Can any modern mechanic type clue me into how this device is any different than driving around on a hot day?
The gas is diluted with what? Water? :) Yeah...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.