Just put 1 in my RL. I know...I thought it was a gimmick and kind of hokey too. Anyway, if what they say is true, the unit will pay for itself in short order and for 50 buck I figured what the hay. My results: When I went up to So Carolina last month I tried to see how good I could get for MPG's. This was prior to installing the Turbonator. At 60mph with the ac off the best I could get was 35mpg on level ground using the cruise control. This speed was sustained for at least 100 miles. After I installed the turbonator I took a trip to Cape Canaveral to see if I could catch the space shuttle on the first day it was to launch. It was scrubbed. Bummer...So, using the exact same scenerio, the 05 RL was getting 39.3. After setting the cruise I re-set the tripometer. This inturn re-sets the avg mpg. This is as "controlled" as I could make it. Also, I couldn't keep the test going for 100 miles as the was a toll aboult every 30 miles or so. Maybe I can do better? The RL also seems to have just a bit more pep too. It certainly doesn't resemble a turbo charger by any stretch. Bottom line is, car runs better, and gets better mpg, and although I haven't checked this out competely, I think the black crap spewed out by the 2 exhausts onto the shiny stainless steel exhaust tips has lessened. Evidently this is common when I mentioned it to the Acura dealer. He kind of rolled his eyes. The way I see it is: If the Turbonator is supposed to increase the air flow then it would make sense that the RL is running too rich which is causing the black crap. Give the motor more air, and the fuel will burn more complete making the car run better thus better gas mileage. I am heading up to Vermont tomorrow and will play around with it a bit more. Is Florida to Vermont all up hill??....of course not, the world is flat

 

snake oil. How can it be that cutting the air flow to the engine, which by the way is something that is mathematically controlled through the ECU and CPU, is it possible to increase gas mileage? Well, given the sophisticated engine structure, I believe what ends up happening is that since the ECU is reading less Oxygen into the Engine itself, it limits the amounts gas that reaches the engine needed for combustion. You use less gas/air as the engine would under optimal combustion so therefore you're seeming cutting short the life of the car that is built to run under optimal conditions.

Not to mention you run a HUGE risk by using such a tool on your extremely expensive car. That is put into the intake which is pretty much a constant vacuum while the car is running. Any loose metal, any material on the metal is inevitably sucked into the engine. As well as the fact that you're disrupting the cylindrical air flow pattern of the engine.

Sure you're getting more MPG, but whats really happening is that your car cannot breath. I suggest you remove the snake oil and replace it with a CAI or something of that nature that actually allows the engine to breath better. You're probably definitely getting better MPG but I bet you have less HP and TQ across the board....you should run it on a dyno

 

They say a sucker is born every minute...

 

Snake oil, indeed. I would imagine that with the AC off (and why in dog's name would you drive in the Southeast in July without air conditioning? Mileage be damned...) on a straight road, at a constant speed of 65 mph in cruise, you'd get around 35 MPG with ANY RL.

Less black stuff on the exhaust? That's simple to explain -- you're driving to save fuel, so you're not hammering the pedal. The soot comes about when the VTEC kicks in and the engine management system dumps fuel in the cylinders to wring 300 ponies out of a 3.5 L V6. If you're not reving the engine over 4000 RPM or so then you're not putting out much in the way of soot.

Yeah, i cringe every time I pay $52 to tank up my RL with premium, but since I'm already paying well north of $600 a month for the car, it doesn't really matter, does it? If I wanted gas mileage I'd have bought a Honda Civic.

 

Where in my msg does it say that I am restricting air flow. Do any of you know what this device is? It is designed to make the air flow BETTER, not restrict it. There are no moving parts and no way any metal will get sucked into the motor. Folks put in aftermarket air filters to make the air flow better. Are K&N air filters snake oil too?? I own the car outright and don't give a rats-ass about mpg's, I was merely giving that scenerio as an example.

FYI...The RSX With a 2.0 liter gets 34mpg and weighs considerably less. You have a very special RL if it is getting 35 MPG...Not going to happen. The RL is rated by the EPA @ 18/26. Camry's and Accords with 4 bangers don't get 35mpg's. You pay $600+ and cringe @ $52???? Maybe YOU should have bought the Civic.

If I sound a little erked, it is because it doesn't appear that any of you even know what this product is, yet you are right up my butt.

Today I put over 600 miles on my RL. In Georgia the outside temp was 103. The ac was on and my speed was 80+/- which equates to about 480 mile per fill-up. MPG's were averaging about 28. No Black stuff on the exhaust.

Please do your homework before you reply. Thank-you

 

I know exactly what it is -- it's one of those vortex generators. And like the rest of them, they're utter crap. You're putting something inside your intake pipe. It takes up volume. Therefore, it's restricting airflow. It may be "designed" to make it better, but really -- it doesn't.

Don't you think if these massive performance and MPG gains were as simple as putting vanes inside your air intake, that some automaker would have either (a) figured it out a long time ago or (b) bought the patent and used it themselves? The fact that some yahoo's selling these on the internet is, to me, proof that it's useless.

But don't just take my word for it.... just do a quick google search and see how many non-advertising sites actually claim these devices work.

An aftermarket air filter is something that is LESS restrictive -- and it's ahead of the MAF sensor. That allows the engine managment system to maintain the proper stoichiometric ratio. Cold air intakes are usually fairly useless without a performance exhaust system, too -- because flow in = flow out. And while power goes up with such a setup, gas mileage usually does NOT go up -- because more air requires more fuel to burn, which is what gives you more power.

However, putting a little windmill thingy inside your air pipe is MORE restrictive. Why? Because it takes up space in there. And if it's taking up space, it's restricting airflow. Period.

Rest assured that Honda engineers did their homework on laminar airflow, valve geometry, intake runner length, and combustion chamber shape, to ensure that the car performed as they wanted it to. Sticking a $0.50 piece of tin (that you paid $50 for) in your intake pipe isn't going to make it any better.... but spending $50 on a piece of junk might make you feel better about your car's performance, right?

In all honesty, I think you might actually get more performance gains out of putting a "Type-R" sticker on the car, than you will by using the Turbonator.

If you see mileage gains, it's because less air's getting in the engine -- which means that the engine managment system is allowing LESS fuel into the engine, because it has to maintain the stoichiometric ratio of fuel to air to maintain combustion. And as an earlier poster pointed out, you're leaning out your engine, which runs it hotter, and that's not good for it.

So. Maybe you should have done your homework before opening your wallet, rather than lambasting those of us who know the score, huh?

 

This is timely...

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=2188905&page=1

 

I'm really sorry but it's a useless (at best) piece of junk. I'm sorry. But it's true.

 

All it does is get in the way of airflow.

 

which is exactly why when people say to open the air flow to the engine they upgrade to devices like K&N which allow more air to be forced into the intake. Its impossible in the name of physics for the turbonator to flow as promised. Thats like opening a door and putting a fan in front of it to cool the room, then somebody just comes in and blocks the door, you cannot circulate more air by blocking the route inthrough which the air passes... SNAKE OIL plain and simple.

The gains you were experiencing (if in fact there were any) are greatly due to the cars management system. The car senses less air and compensate by using less gas, I'm sure mathematically the ends up with you getting more miles to a tank. The cost is lots and lots of HP and Torque. If your car can't breathe it can't accelerate properly, its like trying to run a marathon with one lung.