iyalla Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 Snake oil sells by the barrel High gas prices create a market for additives that claim — falsely — to increase fuel efficiency. By TOMOEH MURAKAMI TSE The Washington Post Rob Durham had a secret — or at least he thought he did. Even as the prices on gasoline station signs had begun to rise, Durham, a real estate agent and budding entrepreneur in suburban Chicago, received an e-mail from a friend telling him about a “top-secret gas pill” that could significantly boost fuel efficiency while cutting emissions. “The more I saw, the more I believed in it,” said Durham, 39. He joined his friend and became a distributor. He still says that the product works. Authorities say the pill wasn’t just “top secret.” It was also bogus. The additive is the equivalent of a mothball, according to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. Federal authorities say it is one of scores of products pushed by a cottage industry preying on consumer angst over $3-a-gallon gas prices. With drivers yearning for alternatives, manufacturers of products claiming to boost mileage are offering up solutions — in the form of pills, powders, liquid additives and mechanical devices. Among them are magnets attached to the fuel line that “realign” fuel molecules, and “vortex generators” that create mini-tornadoes inside the combustion chamber of the engine. Some businesses marketing the products have cited rising sales in recent months, but federal authorities, consumer groups and auto experts say that most of the items are unreliable. Over the past 30 years, the Environmental Protection Agency has tested more than 100 products that claimed to boost fuel efficiency. Many were sent to labs at the manufacturers’ request, but all failed to show significant gains in mileage. Eight showed small increases, although three of them also increased emissions as well, which could make the products illegal. “A lot of these claims tend to rely on magical thinking,” said John Millett, an EPA spokesman. “If it really were a magic bullet, we would know about it.” That hasn’t stopped manufacturers from coming up with products like the “top-secret gas pill” sold by Durham. The additive, called BioPerformance, which also comes in powder form, is manufactured by an Irving, Texas, company of the same name. Last month, Abbott filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging that it had recruited thousands of paying members such as Durham in an apparent pyramid scheme. Consumers were encouraged to become “dealers” at seminars held across the country. “The company’s ads claim the gasoline pills and powders they offer have a nontoxic ‘top secret gas pill’ that can increase fuel efficiency by 30 percent or more and cut harmful emissions by up to 50 percent,” according to a news release from the attorney general’s office. “In fact, the additive is basically the chemical equivalent of mothballs, which are toxic.” Messages left for Lowell Mims, a co-owner of BioPerformance Inc., were not returned, and the company’s voice message mailbox was full Friday. In a letter dated May 26 posted on the corporate Web site, Mims told distributors that he was confident the additive would be proved effective. Despite the official complaint, Durham, who has not been sued, defended BioPerformance. “I’m in the business because the product works, and there’s never a better time to be out there,” said Durham, who had to stop selling the additives after a few months when the company’s assets were frozen. The Federal Trade Commission has filed a dozen lawsuits since the mid-1990s against makers and marketers of gas-saving products, halting the sales of the products by the defendants. But many remain available for purchase through online auction sites or other resellers. “These are scams of opportunity,” said Laura DeMartino, an attorney with the FTC, which put out a booklet for consumers, “Gas-Saving” Products: Fact or Fuelishness? Such warnings by federal regulators apparently have not stopped consumers from buying these products. With the summer driving season under way and no short-term relief from high gas prices in sight, some consumer groups and auto shop managers say they have received more inquiries about the products. “When the gas price goes up, this stuff comes out of the woodwork,” said Ed Kriston, a Towson, Md.-based auto repair specialist approved by AAA Mid-Atlantic. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What really works The best “gas-saving device” that consumers can get for their cars is a tire gauge, auto specialists say. “Keep the air in the tires up ... and make sure the vehicle is serviced,” advises Ed Kriston, a Towson, Md.-based auto repair specialist. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Meg Smith of The Washington Post contributed to this report. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euclid Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 shocking! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deneb Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Add this snake oil to the slick 50's, duralubes, etc, of the world... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iyalla Posted June 29, 2006 Author Share Posted June 29, 2006 Add this snake oil to the slick 50's, duralubes, etc, of the world... ? WTF ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lagacy GT Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 so the vortex doesn't work? Damn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gfxdave99 Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Add this snake oil to the slick 50's, duralubes, etc, of the world... Slick 50 / Duralube is okay stuff, it doesnt claim to give you huge gains in MPG, but it does claim to give you a smoother running engine and if your engine has north of 50-60k on it, it does work. The other stuff that does work well are Lucas Oil products especially their transmission fix. The other product I do like is Restore, I just added a can of that to my moms 1990 Devillle with 99,000 miles on it and it was night and day difference in engine smoothness. You could tell after a few good thottle down runs that it had restored some compression to the cyl's. However I dont expect it to improve MPG by a noticable margin. The only thing that will give you better gas milage is... YOU.. Little things like, not having the A/C on when you dont really need it, having properly inflated tires, reguarly servicing your car etc do far more then any moth ball can. I dont know if you saw a recent episiode of mythbusters but they tried just about every milage increasing additive / trick they could find online / in stores and NONE of them worked. Some of them actually showed worse milage however the differences were within the tolerences of statistical averages. The one thing that was cool they had that did work was using fryer oil, straining it and running an old mercedes 300D on it with no modifications. If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough. - Mario Andretti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deneb Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 'Slick 50 / Duralube is okay stuff, it doesnt claim to give you huge gains in MPG, but it does claim to give you a smoother running engine and if your engine has north of 50-60k on it, it does work.' Define 'it does work'. What does it do exactly? How does it do it? Why were they sued? Based on what I've read about those, I'm skeptical to say the least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gfxdave99 Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 'Slick 50 / Duralube is okay stuff, it doesnt claim to give you huge gains in MPG, but it does claim to give you a smoother running engine and if your engine has north of 50-60k on it, it does work.' Define 'it does work'. What does it do exactly? How does it do it? Why were they sued? Based on what I've read about those, I'm skeptical to say the least. They were sued because they overstept their bounds of stating wthat their product will do, I honestly havent had any recent expereince with duralube / slick 50. However the law suits were not saying the product was a complete scam, but that their advertising was out of bounds. See The Engine Oil Bible : Additives You will not see Restore on the challeneged list there because I know for a fact that stuff works and there is an additional testimonial about it on that page. However I will concur with you that it looks like slick50 and duralube specifically are crap. Interesting note i saw about turbo engines and additives on the article.. anyone heard of this? There are certain brands of additives that make the claim that they'll "stop engine smoking" amongst other things. Now the way these work as I understand it, is by having some form of resin in solution form in the oil. The idea is that where the cylinder bores have become scored over years of use, oil is squirting past the piston rings and into the combustion chamber where it is being burned, hence the smokey engine. This resin makes the oil slightly thicker which helps it to seal those tiny scores whilst still lubricating the cylinder bores. The problem comes when this resin solution gets extremely hot - it turns hard. With most turbo systems, the bearings on the turbo get extremely hot, and the way around this is to use the engine oil to lube the bearings whilst at the same time transporting the heat away from them. When the additive finds its way into the turbo bearings, it can solidify and seize the turbo. Now feel free to correct me if I'm wrong there. I've heard this from five different people now although I've not experienced it myself (I don't use additives, period). It seems that none of the additive manufacturers put any warnings about this on their products which leads me to believe that either (a) I'm wrong, or (b) they don't want you to know about this problem. I'd appreciate any further info or corrections on this subject from any of my readers if they have any. If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough. - Mario Andretti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iyalla Posted July 1, 2006 Author Share Posted July 1, 2006 Slick 50 and Duralube are included as the worst of the bunch. Add Prolong to that also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
05SubFXT Posted July 2, 2006 Share Posted July 2, 2006 Slick 50 / Duralube is okay stuff, it doesnt claim to give you huge gains in MPG, but it does claim to give you a smoother running engine and if your engine has north of 50-60k on it, it does work. The other stuff that does work well are Lucas Oil products especially their transmission fix. " Here's a link about Lucas Oil transmission and engine additives. Check it out before using them. It's from Bob is the Oil guy. What about Additives? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebpda9 Posted July 2, 2006 Share Posted July 2, 2006 i like the restore. i used it on all my cars and definitely i noticed an increase in smoothness and power. also the engines used on were honda engines with over 140k miles and the old engine in my loyale. the thing ran strong up to 220k miles when i traded it in for my dads legacy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deneb Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 I've had cars last well over 200k with no smoke and little consumption, just with regular oil changes, no additives necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustangendsley Posted July 4, 2006 Share Posted July 4, 2006 I use BG oil additive every oil change, a little price but it works. The gas clenser really cleans the injectors the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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