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Tornado Air Management |
| Cost |
$80 |
| Application |
1991 - 1995 coupe
1991 - 1995 sedan |
| Web Page |
www.tornadoair.com |
| Summary |
"The Tornado is an automotive air channeling tool that creates a swirling air
motion, allowing the air to move faster and more efficiently by continuously
whirling air around corners and bends - imagine a mini-tornado on its side moving
through the intakes of your automobile. It causes better fuel atomization,
resulting in an increase of gas mileage anywhere from 7 - 24%. These figures are
confirmed by road testing performed at an emission lab licensed by the EPA. Dyno
testing shows 4-13 added horsepower as well! The Tornado is easy to install: 2-5
minutes usually, requires no maintenance and is an affordable addition to most
passenger cars, light trucks and RVs on the road." |
Anderson [Unknown]
"To those who don't know, The Tornado is some aluminum or tin circular doo dad wth angled fins that is placed in the
air intake tube. It's supposed to make the passing air swirl to better mix with the fuel for more power and
efficiency. They cost something ridiculous like $70+, and here is my experience.
First of all, it was given to me, I wouldn't pay that for something claiming 10%+ or something in power (too good to
be true). I put it in my car, just behind the K&N filter. All it did was made a really neat sound. Next time I
checked on it, it had slid all the way to the throttle body and was sideways, so I got some tin and extended it, plus
added a fin (yep, you can make your own). I put it back in, I think in front of the TB, and went on a long trip. I
matched my previously best milage. I had even wasted some gas on that trip racing a VR6. Since then, there were no
noticable gains, so I took it out and put it in my brother's Civic and he didn't notice a thing. I think it's still
there, probably sitting sideways."
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Jim Trinh [1991 sedan]
"The one thing I can say about the Tornado was that it was pretty expensive. At almost $80 for this "cookie cutter" (as
some would describe it) you'd expect it to have 24k gold plating or something. Installation time was around 10 minutes,
depending on how strong you are. Simply detach the intake hose from the air box (or intake pipe in my case) and shove this
thing into the rubber hose like there's no tomorrow. Be very careful because the metal is thin and will slice off your
fingers off. It was a very tight fit, so the most I could shove it in the rubber tube was 2 inches. Fortunately that was
enough to re-attach the connections.
After the installation of the Tornado, I did notice a slight difference in torque and horsepower. But after a re-fill in
gas, the power went away. I finally determined that power increase was due to the gas I was using (I dumped in some octane
boosters and forgot I did so) or just my vivid imagination. Otherwise there was hardly any performance increases. Though I
did notice smoother acceleration, but that could've all been inside my head too. It didn't increase or decrease the noise
level (a good thing), and it did not change my fuel consumption, as miles per gallon stayed relatively the same. But it
could have been my setup. The tests Tornado did were all on stock vehicles. My results may have been tainted due to all my
modifications.
Essentially, save your money and do not get this. The Tornado does nothing for power. I have no idea where the horsepower
increase they were claiming came from (maybe from a beat up '78 Ford Pinto?) but I certainly felt none."
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The incoming air entering the combustion chamber is generally very violent, which means a broken flow of oxygen. If one
were to unruffle this incoming air, so that it is smooth and consistant, it should, theorically, create better combustion.
Certain cone filters like Weapon R or RS Akimoto will have an internal velocity stack, which is a smooth convexing wider hole
which swirls air as it enters the filter and travels to the engine.
