So where are all the Hiclone fans at? Before you criticise my test, send me an explanation of how you tested your gains, and let me know if you'll let me test your car? 😂
Lots of manufacturers use them to increase power with dramatic results. They use 2 in fact! One gets spun by the exhaust gas which in turn spins the intake side one...
An ECU tune can save you 20% (that's a safe max fuel trim) but you need a way to switch back to default settings, as you can't tow or do more than a full throttle run on the motorway, unless you allow cool down for several minute intervals.
It'd be interesting to see a "performance test" done on this. It's a restriction in the air intake, less air means less fuel and of course less power... but economy would likely go up as a result. I'm not familiar with those engines but if there's an airflow sensor (as opposed to an air pressure sensor) the restriction should be before it so as to not mess up the tune.
If manufacturers could save fuel by creating an air cyclone post air filter then I humbly suggest that they would have, from around 1970, when fuel economy became a strong buyer preference.
@@robertlawler1387 that might explain why in a lot of Mitsubishi’s they have this shape thing cast into the plastic of the inlet. Government made them do it.
@@THEROADSMITH the government makes us have catalytic converters and egr systems and they hurt our performance and fuel economy for emissions reduction. Both of which I removed from my sc400 gladly and would never go back.
now the ultimate test is go down to K-mart and Big W and try and find some cheap cooking implement that works just the same for 1/50th the price! no joking that thing looks like it was pulled from the cooking draw from my grandmothers place haha
I got an interesting story on these Hiclone's from years ago. When these things first came out a very good mate of mine had a 4WD mechanical repair shop in Melb & I remember him talking about them. The rep for these things visited & gave him some to try on his clients vehicles. Unbeknownst to me, he put 2 of them in my GU 4.5ltr petrol Patrol when he was servicing it, It also runs LPG ( I still have the vehicle} & after I had been running around in it for a couple of weeks to my surprise informed me of what he had done & if I noticed any difference. I told him I had not noticed any difference at all, as the patrol still guzzled fuel at its usual not insignificant rate & no performance gains that I could ascertain. At that point I think he wrote then off as a lost cause. Interestingly as far as I know they are still in the car as he never took them out. But after your little experiment I gonna check if they are still in there & take them out - might get some fuel gains. PS I always wondered what they actually looked like. From my experience do not buy.
Definitely some placebo effect going on. Like you say, if you didn't know they were in there you wouldn't notice any difference. I probably wouldn't have noticed the 0.5L/100km loss.
I too had a 4.5lt gu petrol had terrible fuel consumption i had a look in the intake to see if it restricted in some way and found to Hiclones i took them out and noticed better economy and a bit better throttle response i sold them on eBay and made a few dollars too win win.
Had a fair bit of crankcase pressure in my patrol which I was fairly sure was some bad blowby. Pulled my intake apart to find a Hiclone right in the way of the crankcase vent. Car runs mint now. What a POS.
Great video Shaun I wasn't at all surprised by the results of your test. You're correct in saying that anything that obstructs inlet air flow is going to interfere with both an engines performance characteristics and economy. Suzuki achieved exactly what the manufacturer of your product is claiming in 1981 on their GSX1100 motorcycle. They introduced TSCC (Twin Swirl Comustion Chamber). This swirls and atomises fuel particles coming into the combustion chamber by clever cylinder head design. This allows for far more efficfilling of the cylinder before ignition. Most beneficial improvements were torqu and economy. Keep up the great videos. Nick Australia
You installed it incorrectly… you were supposed to insert it up where the sun don’t shine, that way you won’t sit as firmly on the seat, and therefore your foot will be a lot more delicate on the throttle as you won’t get the full travel 😉
@@MotoringBoxTV Liberal application of Slick 50 may be required. Sadly the aptly named "Liquid Ring" (snake)oil additive doesn't seem to be made anymore.
Glad to see your upload. I recently pull one out of my son's vu v6. I didn't know what it was, but removed it. Because it had damaged the air intake pipe. ie punch ed a hole through it
Can’t believe you put that cheap metal in the intake! I was waiting for it to disintegrate and take out any number of valves……glad to see you put it all on the line for the channel!
I can't believe they still make those LOL, remember seeing the TV ads when I was a kid and from what I recall even back then people were saying they were garbage.
I'm surprised this product is still available! In the '90s I tried it on an auto XD Falcon, all it did was make it idle worse, accelerate worse and use more fuel. The theory is sound in that you do want the air to tumble, perhaps they need to make 6 smaller versions to sit in the intake port runners of the AU just before the intake valves? 🤣
Pretty sure in NZ these were banned for false advertising some 20 odd years ago - really surprised Australian consumer law allows these still. Kind of impressed with the old Falcon's highway fuel economy - my G460 works out at around the high 8's per 100km in similar conditions, so not really much better.
@Michaels Carport I moved from my G6E Turbo, which on a good highway trip would be lucky to see single digits, to the Lexus, which puts out similar power but, at least after the Barra turbo, seems fuel efficient. Back in the days when I still had a carbureted car, I never gave a damn about fuel economy because I was paying less than a dollar per liter (New Zealand) - I put $150 of 98 in the Lexus this morning - got me just under 50 litres thanks to Taxinda -em - Hardern and those pesky Russians.
@@loganperry8637 It definitely helps, but gear ratio makes less difference than a lot of people think - reduced engine revs can help reduce energy lost to heat and so improve fuel efficiency somewhat, but ultimately the same amount of work is being done to move the car forward, so that's the only place you are going to reduce fuel use.
@@Beer_Dad1975 in all fairness your Lexus dosent make the same power- the G6ET/ XR6 makes over 310kw with overboost, they dyno at over 280rwkw. The 1UR makes nowhere near that. Also surprising you got that bad fuel economy with the ZF, my mates FG2 sits mid 8s on the open road and my F6 is even in the 9s. Wellington to Taupo on 1/4 of a tank. All depends how you drive them.
“Fuel is one of the cheapest costs when it comes to running a car” Here in the Uk I drive a Honda Jazz that cost £500, I have had it for just over a year and done two services services (£110) and got an exhaust repair (£30) but done 22k miles and at 44mpg that’s £3182 just for fuel, fuel is by far my biggest cost! I claim back all mileage but it hurts seeing how much a month I’m spending on fuel
Different country though, and that seems like a ton of mileage you're doing. Perhaps I didn't explain my intentions well enough - my comment was aimed more at people who buy new cars /hybrids etc to save money on fuel... But instead lose a ton of money on their brand new and rapidly depreciating asset. Often the cheapest car to run is the one you've already got (within reason).
I had always to assumed they were rip off. Getting to see one tested on an AU was great. I’ve done some impressive distances without refueling in my stand AU GHIA
Good video - my BA Fairlane Ghia with the I6 Barra gets 9.0L/100 kms on the highway. The only thing this Hiclone does it lightened your wallet $160 and all you got was a crafted salmon tin.
Haha years back I remember seeing these aper in cars mags had a laugh, did you know Ford Australia already engineer Cylinder Swirl into the intake in BAs anyway, all those vacuum operated butterflys in your intake plenum it's what they do.
No testing will ever be perfect, but a gain as large as they promised should have still been visible. If the economy was unchanged, there could be some doubt. But for it to get worse? It's a no-brainer I think!
Good to come across a test. Strangely, I was loaned 2 for my VS commodore and where it helped was that it stopped hunting through the gears when in cruise control and in hilly country. So that was a clear benefit but any fuel benefits were down to my driving habits.
We had a Hiclone on a 1994 Camry! I did not do scientific studies but we did see a little more torque up high revs! Fuel use was down on longer country runs -the best we got was 45mpg! best before was 42mpg! Maybe I had a placebo affect and was adjusting my driving habits unconsciously!!
These things were around in the seventies that could be fitted into carbies but i can't remember how they fitted. There used to be advertisments in magazines back in the day for them. There was a general consensus then that they didn't work.
My Mitsubishi has this shape cast into the plastic of the air intake. I was thinking it’s used as much for performance as for combustion. Similar things I know. But I wonder if they did it to help swirl in the combustion chambers and therefore a better air fuel mix
Few years ago I've used fitch fuel catalyst in my mitsubishi 380 before instalation there was always around 13l/100km and after I fitted catalyst it went down to 11-11.5 l/100km.It is an american product and is now hard to get.there is american brand "rentar" and this one is a very popular among american track drivers .There is also fuelmate made in australia.
In the early 90's the CSIRO did some tests on the Hiclone using a few different vehicles and fitments. On some the changes were reasonably good, I think 1 was unchanged and others were worse. The results were reported as inconclusive meaning that you could only tell by trying it. I chose not to bother because I never gave a rats arse about fuel economy, just the result I had at the rear wheels.
You have brought back a very happy memory for me I was working at an oil refinery in 1980 after the gas crisis of the late 1970s devices like this were common some just magnets 🧲on the fuel line and others a plate that went under the carburettor shaped like a soft serve ice cream.One of the guys I worked with fitted two one for each carburettor on his VW we were all giving him heaps every week he was Recording mileage and fuel ⛽consumption so we decided to help, me and some other coworkers had access to milk bottles of petrol for testing.Each shift we would put one into the tank of his car not surprisingly his milage went up from about 35 MPG to 60 plus MPG .After a few weeks of listening to him boasting we stopped and it took a few weeks for the penny to drop
G'day mate. Nice looking au. Got a bf falcon did a test with stock air box and was getting 8.2L to 100km so got a aluminium air pipe with a Supercheap pod filter. Remove air box. Was getting 7.4 7.2L 100km witch is pretty good nick. AC is not on. Hope don't get pull over and coper ask to open the bonnet. 🤔😂 Had a straight pipe au xr6 was getting 600km to a tank miss the au but love the bf Barra 🤙🤙 Chur bro.
Given that it's placed right before a 90' bend, and also a throttle blade which is almost shut at highway cruise I'm surprised it made any measurable effect (good or bad). I bought one of these back in the 90's to try and correct a dual fuel Townace van that had a massive midrange flat-spot when running on petrol (okay on LPG). It didn't work... :(
Fwiw The Mercedes Unimog uses a similar design inside the huge airbox. It looks more like a turbine with straight blades on maybe a 45° angle. It was pre 2000 when I first saw it but even then I said Hiclone while laughing with a face full of bulldust choking everyone!
Years ago I used to work at a place with a Bosch chassis dyno. In my experience I never saw a vehicle make more power with a hiclone. In fact the only thing that I ever saw was an increase in power when we removed them. Incidentally, N is the ISO symbol for RPM. N/S or N/M is revolutions per second or revolutions per minute, but generally it is accepted that N is taken as RPM unless otherwise specified. Good video and your observations are consistent with mine. That said there may be circumstances where a positive benefit has been obtained, but I have not yet seen or actually been able to verify one.
Interesting, I've never seen N used in that manner. You'd think in a consumer brochure they'd use RPM for simplicity's sake. But then again you'd expect them to not have mistakes too.
@@MotoringBoxTV it's relatively common in parts of Europe. You are correct in that N is meant to stand for Newton's, and the correct n for engine speed is meant to be a lower case n, however what you see there is not uncommon in my experience. On a slightly different subject, I remember dyno testing a Japanese manufactured vehicle back in the late 90's and it came up almost 20% down on power, until we checked the test standard that it was rated against. It was an obscure standard from one European country that resulted in numbers that suited the marketing department. About 20% higher than the rated standard that their major competitor was using. So depending on where you are, apples aren't necessarily apples
I would love to see a "Surbo" tested, bonus bit is it's only $99 in Singapore! It's some sort of "suction turbo" (hence the name i guess) that has moving bits and i think tries to use ineratia to make "boost". I remember seeing the site about 10 years ago and being amazed at the claims, and according to the site it was updated on 1/1/22 so it looks like it's still a thing.
Awesome test and your theory has to be right , interested you live in south east queensland ..I live close to Browns Plains ..Its great that people like yourself myth bust these BS devices!!!
Hey there. Thank you for this test and comments. I thought as much. I was given one YEARS back, under the name Tornado...Can't say that I saw anything good or bad happen in my truck's engine....It's being there since...My question is, leaving it there, I'm not causing any troubles for for SUV. Am I?
Thank you for the quick reply, to be on safe side, i took it out...if it's not helping any, there's no use keeping extra hardware in the engine....Stay well. (I wonder if anyone, wants to buy an "anchor" cheap..😁)
A lot of Hiclone's claims of savings were in the 5 - 10% range, which I agree is difficult to measure. But the Hiclone's economy figures were consistently worse, which for me is enough to rule it out. There was no fluctuation or even a hint that it could offer any benefits over stock.
I'll have to ask my tuner if putting in a restriction to a 600kw engine will improve performance 😂I might put it up my exhaust so it creates a vortex of flames.
@@MotoringBoxTV or it was rich because it was using less fuel because the combustion was more efficient. I had to close down the fuel screws, wouldn't that mean it needed less fuel than before? Maybe it needed less fuel because of a blockage or it was burning less. In a carb situation i cannot see how it could be restricting the air flow, it could be possible. This was 25 years ago too.
C'mon, Mac - get with the times! Hyclone is old school. All the "cool kids" are going with HHO cells (hydrogen infusion) these days. Y'know, introducing an unregulated, uncontrolled amount of hydrogen into the incoming air to replace some of the oxygen which could otherwise be used to burn the far more energy dense petrol, which is somehow supposed to provide more than 100% return over the energy required for the electrolysis to produce said hydrogen in the first place. Kinda jealous of the sub-10l/100 results, though. Damn my old girl is thirsty...
Ah, yes Sean, I see where you went wrong. It was during your installation of the "Hiclone". The "Hiclone" is a precision engineered fuel saving device, which must be handled with the utmost care. During you installation you employed the assistance of a claw hammer. This impact has altered the calibration of the "Hiclone", therefore rendering it unserviceable. Had you used a ball peen hammer, I firmly believe that the outcome would have been consistent with the information supplied by the manufacturer. Great video. I thought that they were BS. Thank you for confirming my thoughts.
I love the 10 speed fan on the AU Fairmont & Ghia, can basically run the ventilation system silently with plenty of air movement. And the trip computer design is large digits, simple, easy buttons etc. Only bummer is no cabin filter, but I'm sure there's a way to retrofit somehow.
I laughed about these when I was on my P's and I'm 41 now. Bit of fun for a vid I guess. No chance it could affect an EFI engine unless it has induction issues, Especial a Ford MAF managed system.
I have this and 4 other fuel saving devices on my FG they work that well I can do Sydney to Canberra starting with 3/4 of a tank by the time I get to mittagong I have to pull over and siphon fuel off as the tank is starting to overflow
That was great. Can not believe these are still for sale. Back in the 80s they had these that went under the carby and the same claims. Some guys did dyno tests and there was a loss in power every time on 4, 6 and V8s. I guarantee that if you did a Dyno test ( hub would be best) you would see a loss everywhere. On another topic; how did you do the sped up video? Do you use GoPro or similar? Really like how you produce the videos as well. Have an awesome week.
Fuel gains or loses are secondary to being able to spend a few hours behind the wheel of a magnificent AU Falcon. Did you use the money back guarantee?
The EPA have a great set of test reports for these types of products. They are masterpieces in diplomacy. Some of the nutty devices need to be seen to be believed. TH-cam really does not like the name of the synthetic lubricant mentioned in the reports. I can’t post the link as TH-cam hates it. Google EPA retrofit test reports.
I just looked up the site that has all those EPA retrofit test reports on it. Are you referring the the lubricant that starts with "A" and ends in "ube"?
let me look 40 years back, on a Ford Station Wagon, biggest BS, but I was young, bugger all for any save, but the induction noise was lower, same for Ford Chip set (ECU - still have it in my tool box) bought from a supplier from Queen Anastasia's kingdom, more fuel used and bugger all. Amazing how back yard developers can be better than engineers from car manufacturers with million $$$ budget.
Wow that is good fuel economy on the hyway. The mileage is calculated over time; the longer you use it on the hyway the better it will get. And a battery reset is not always a mileage reset. All you have done here is change the highway useage. I still agree the cyclone is a scam though. best would be to do the up and back without it until the usage didnt change then add the cyclone but close enough
Should take it to willowbank and drag race it , if it's down on power that will show up in the ET and the mph .... I'll bring our new AU V8 Fairmont and we can compare the 6 against the 8 as well :)
Makes sense it was a restriction to air flow I think on an injected car with a computer o2 sensor it’s maybe not tuned for all out performance but it’s going to be pretty good base tune. Sometimes replacing the o2 sensor or cleaning it can gain you fuel savings a mates rodeo requires it’s maf sensor cleaned regularly it loses power and fuel economy with it dirty. I think the only thing that could maybe really alter fuel economy with an older engine is water temp especially with a carbureted car
Kinda irrelevant but I have a 2003 vy S pac that got 6.8L per 100km on the A1 highway. At half a tank I got 550km out of it, all I did was hollow out the catalytic converter and put a 2.5inc exhaust system on it. Very good results considering the car is almost 20 years old and the engine was designed in around 1995 by GM
tried a fair few fuel 'saving' devices only thing that worked really well is a rear 'wing' on the back of the roof (better airflow at the back of the station wagon), a Hydrogen generator worked really well for the first 200kms I had it in (it almost doubled it for that 200km!) but after that my economy was worse than stock,
When you hit it with the hammer you knocked its atomic alignment out of sync, warranty void!. But seriously can you imagine the engine damage when inevitably one of the vanes departs the outer ring. Kablammo!
This test will be great, I think they are garbage but it's always good to test. FYI the bottom of the graph is for the torque measurement hence why the number is so high, confusing until you see it as the torque is in the lower end of the RPM
If you want power Increase you fit extractors and a sports exhaust system. If you restrict the air flow it can only reduce power the same as increasing the airflow increases power it is just common sense.
They're complete nonsense, however resetting the ECU will skew the results. Takes the ECU a good day or so to really settle itself as it's constantly learning. That's why you're seeing better economy after every run. Even without resetting it will do this when changing drive style (ie constant expressway driving). Personally i feel the figures would be next to identical meaning it doesn't make a squat of difference. The ECU will also compensate for lack of airflow and and slightly lean the mix to match factory as close as possible. That's what they do and people that put POD filters and crap really don't understand this. The goal for the ECU is to match factory mixture no matter what if possible
I have found the accuracy of them computers that are supposed to say what MPG your getting are off I test it by filling the tank right up drive so many KM then stop and fill it up again then do the calculations on how much fuel was put back in.
That's not a perfect method either though, as there's no guarantee the pump is filling the tank to exactly the same level. If you're trying to do this on a test like mine I don't think it'd work, as in my case I would have only been filling 3 to 4L, so any small difference would have skewed the percentage difference greatly. If you were filling almost the entire tank it'd be a good method though.
Even the wind can change the amount of fuel you burn. you will burn more fuel driving into the wind then if the wind was pushing you instead so the weather plays a big part in fuel efficiency too.
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If it had worked, giving an AU any more power would have been unacceptably dangerous anyway
daddy mahcoo welcome!
@@nanithefuck werri gud :)
werri my cate it mahchoo
Werri werri good indeds
Werri gode
Please try out the money back guarantee. I want to see the seller's excuses.
Was thinking the same thing, I’m sure you will have to provide proper evidence of testing showing it failed to get your money back
I hate to admit it, but I bought a magnet and a hiclone intake thingo back in the late 90's. No result what so ever. I did return them.
Best of luck, haha
So where are all the Hiclone fans at? Before you criticise my test, send me an explanation of how you tested your gains, and let me know if you'll let me test your car? 😂
Godd review mate👍🙂 They've gone way up in price since their introduction years ago...commensure with their bullshit!!🤣🤣💩
Lots of manufacturers use them to increase power with dramatic results. They use 2 in fact! One gets spun by the exhaust gas which in turn spins the intake side one...
I loved the reference of Ipswich being jurassic park 😂😭
An ECU tune can save you 20% (that's a safe max fuel trim) but you need a way to switch back to default settings, as you can't tow or do more than a full throttle run on the motorway, unless you allow cool down for several minute intervals.
It'd be interesting to see a "performance test" done on this. It's a restriction in the air intake, less air means less fuel and of course less power... but economy would likely go up as a result. I'm not familiar with those engines but if there's an airflow sensor (as opposed to an air pressure sensor) the restriction should be before it so as to not mess up the tune.
If manufacturers could save fuel by creating an air cyclone post air filter then I humbly suggest that they would have, from around 1970, when fuel economy became a strong buyer preference.
Government controls what they make
@@robertlawler1387 that might explain why in a lot of Mitsubishi’s they have this shape thing cast into the plastic of the inlet. Government made them do it.
@@THEROADSMITH the government makes us have catalytic converters and egr systems and they hurt our performance and fuel economy for emissions reduction. Both of which I removed from my sc400 gladly and would never go back.
@@diszruptiveent3634 actually no the gov set an target and cats and egr is the cheapest way the manufactures could make it happen.
@@THEROADSMITH we don't need them in our vehicles. It's for emissions laws. Especially for states that test emissions.
now the ultimate test is go down to K-mart and Big W and try and find some cheap cooking implement that works just the same for 1/50th the price! no joking that thing looks like it was pulled from the cooking draw from my grandmothers place haha
I got an interesting story on these Hiclone's from years ago. When these things first came out a very good mate of mine had a 4WD mechanical repair shop in Melb & I remember him talking about them. The rep for these things visited & gave him some to try on his clients vehicles. Unbeknownst to me, he put 2 of them in my GU 4.5ltr petrol Patrol when he was servicing it, It also runs LPG ( I still have the vehicle} & after I had been running around in it for a couple of weeks to my surprise informed me of what he had done & if I noticed any difference. I told him I had not noticed any difference at all, as the patrol still guzzled fuel at its usual not insignificant rate & no performance gains that I could ascertain. At that point I think he wrote then off as a lost cause. Interestingly as far as I know they are still in the car as he never took them out. But after your little experiment I gonna check if they are still in there & take them out - might get some fuel gains. PS I always wondered what they actually looked like. From my experience do not buy.
Definitely some placebo effect going on. Like you say, if you didn't know they were in there you wouldn't notice any difference. I probably wouldn't have noticed the 0.5L/100km loss.
I too had a 4.5lt gu petrol had terrible fuel consumption i had a look in the intake to see if it restricted in some way and found to Hiclones i took them out and noticed better economy and a bit better throttle response i sold them on eBay and made a few dollars too win win.
Had a fair bit of crankcase pressure in my patrol which I was fairly sure was some bad blowby. Pulled my intake apart to find a Hiclone right in the way of the crankcase vent. Car runs mint now. What a POS.
Great video Shaun
I wasn't at all surprised by the results of your test.
You're correct in saying that anything that obstructs inlet air flow is going to interfere with both an engines performance characteristics and economy.
Suzuki achieved exactly what the manufacturer of your product is claiming in 1981 on their GSX1100 motorcycle.
They introduced TSCC (Twin Swirl Comustion Chamber).
This swirls and atomises fuel particles coming into the combustion chamber by clever cylinder head design.
This allows for far more efficfilling of the cylinder before ignition.
Most beneficial improvements were torqu and economy.
Keep up the great videos.
Nick Australia
You installed it incorrectly… you were supposed to insert it up where the sun don’t shine, that way you won’t sit as firmly on the seat, and therefore your foot will be a lot more delicate on the throttle as you won’t get the full travel 😉
with that in mind I would suggest not going for the 70mm diameter version I have.
I think if I installed it where the sun don’t shine my foot would be planted extremely hard on the gas to keep my arse off the seat!
@@MotoringBoxTV Liberal application of Slick 50 may be required. Sadly the aptly named "Liquid Ring" (snake)oil additive doesn't seem to be made anymore.
Glad to see your upload. I recently pull one out of my son's vu v6. I didn't know what it was, but removed it. Because it had damaged the air intake pipe. ie punch ed a hole through it
The guy did recommend it be installed in the plastic part of the intake, as opposed to the rubber flexible section... that's probably why.
More air
Can’t believe you put that cheap metal in the intake! I was waiting for it to disintegrate and take out any number of valves……glad to see you put it all on the line for the channel!
The nicest thing I can say about it is... it has been built well.
@@MotoringBoxTV why did you waste $160 on that xD
I can't believe they still make those LOL, remember seeing the TV ads when I was a kid and from what I recall even back then people were saying they were garbage.
How could something like this ever help fuel economy? Adding a restriction into the air intake was always going to make things worse.
I'm surprised this product is still available! In the '90s I tried it on an auto XD Falcon, all it did was make it idle worse, accelerate worse and use more fuel. The theory is sound in that you do want the air to tumble, perhaps they need to make 6 smaller versions to sit in the intake port runners of the AU just before the intake valves? 🤣
Pretty sure in NZ these were banned for false advertising some 20 odd years ago - really surprised Australian consumer law allows these still. Kind of impressed with the old Falcon's highway fuel economy - my G460 works out at around the high 8's per 100km in similar conditions, so not really much better.
What the hell is an mpg
Bear in mind the au Fairmont Ghia has a 3.45 diff, a 3.08 or 3.23 would make the highway economy slightly better
@Michaels Carport I moved from my G6E Turbo, which on a good highway trip would be lucky to see single digits, to the Lexus, which puts out similar power but, at least after the Barra turbo, seems fuel efficient. Back in the days when I still had a carbureted car, I never gave a damn about fuel economy because I was paying less than a dollar per liter (New Zealand) - I put $150 of 98 in the Lexus this morning - got me just under 50 litres thanks to Taxinda -em - Hardern and those pesky Russians.
@@loganperry8637 It definitely helps, but gear ratio makes less difference than a lot of people think - reduced engine revs can help reduce energy lost to heat and so improve fuel efficiency somewhat, but ultimately the same amount of work is being done to move the car forward, so that's the only place you are going to reduce fuel use.
@@Beer_Dad1975 in all fairness your Lexus dosent make the same power- the G6ET/ XR6 makes over 310kw with overboost, they dyno at over 280rwkw. The 1UR makes nowhere near that. Also surprising you got that bad fuel economy with the ZF, my mates FG2 sits mid 8s on the open road and my F6 is even in the 9s. Wellington to Taupo on 1/4 of a tank. All depends how you drive them.
“Fuel is one of the cheapest costs when it comes to running a car”
Here in the Uk I drive a Honda Jazz that cost £500, I have had it for just over a year and done two services services (£110) and got an exhaust repair (£30) but done 22k miles and at 44mpg that’s £3182 just for fuel, fuel is by far my biggest cost! I claim back all mileage but it hurts seeing how much a month I’m spending on fuel
Different country though, and that seems like a ton of mileage you're doing. Perhaps I didn't explain my intentions well enough - my comment was aimed more at people who buy new cars /hybrids etc to save money on fuel... But instead lose a ton of money on their brand new and rapidly depreciating asset. Often the cheapest car to run is the one you've already got (within reason).
@@MotoringBoxTV yeah I’m all over the country! Ahh I see that makes sense if you willing to spend the money just go electric I think!
That product is right up there with indicator fluid.😁
I had always to assumed they were rip off.
Getting to see one tested on an AU was great.
I’ve done some impressive distances without refueling in my stand AU GHIA
I have been wanting to see someone test this since I was like 7 years old! Thank you! Try get your money back too I’d watch that
I bought my 2 for my 5l efi f100 22 years ago, still have them. I had 15% better fuel economy.
Good on you mate , makes sense its restricting the air flow ,keep up the good work
I thought the sheet metal fuel saving devices they use in Ipswich are stolen number plates to use at the servo.
Don't cost 160 bucks either.
Big savings to be had right there.
Can you do a video comparing different brands of Fuel System Cleaners and if they work to clean your injectors and combustion chamber?
Good video - my BA Fairlane Ghia with the I6 Barra gets 9.0L/100 kms on the highway.
The only thing this Hiclone does it lightened your wallet $160 and all you got was a crafted salmon tin.
Wow... $160... the words "SUCKED IN" sprang to my mind, even before I realized the pun!
Haha years back I remember seeing these aper in cars mags had a laugh, did you know Ford Australia already engineer Cylinder Swirl into the intake in BAs anyway, all those vacuum operated butterflys in your intake plenum it's what they do.
Variable intake runner length actuation is actually what they do
Lol that's not even remotely what secondary runners do
appreciate an honest opinion..very much valued..convinced me with actual data..a piece of $160 crap..thankyou.
No testing will ever be perfect, but a gain as large as they promised should have still been visible. If the economy was unchanged, there could be some doubt. But for it to get worse? It's a no-brainer I think!
Yes it does work it provides $159 clear profit for the company.
Good to come across a test. Strangely, I was loaned 2 for my VS commodore and where it helped was that it stopped hunting through the gears when in cruise control and in hilly country. So that was a clear benefit but any fuel benefits were down to my driving habits.
We had a Hiclone on a 1994 Camry! I did not do scientific studies but we did see a little more torque up high revs! Fuel use was down on longer country runs -the best we got was 45mpg! best before was 42mpg! Maybe I had a placebo affect and was adjusting my driving habits unconsciously!!
Am surprised the hiclone product no longer comes with a bottle of snake oil.
If it did, it'd be labelled snake oil but probably just have water in it.
@@MotoringBoxTV Homeopathic Snake Oil
These things were around in the seventies that could be fitted into carbies but i can't remember how they fitted. There used to be advertisments in magazines back in the day for them. There was a general consensus then that they didn't work.
My Mitsubishi has this shape cast into the plastic of the air intake. I was thinking it’s used as much for performance as for combustion. Similar things I know. But I wonder if they did it to help swirl in the combustion chambers and therefore a better air fuel mix
Few years ago I've used fitch fuel catalyst in my mitsubishi 380 before instalation there was always around 13l/100km and after I fitted catalyst it went down to 11-11.5 l/100km.It is an american product and is now hard to get.there is american brand "rentar" and this one is a very popular among american track drivers .There is also fuelmate made in australia.
Great test, good job.
In the early 90's the CSIRO did some tests on the Hiclone using a few different vehicles and fitments. On some the changes were reasonably good, I think 1 was unchanged and others were worse. The results were reported as inconclusive meaning that you could only tell by trying it. I chose not to bother because I never gave a rats arse about fuel economy, just the result I had at the rear wheels.
I can’t believe these still get sold.
Me either.
Great test. Thanks for the information.
Thanks for the great vid and test. Subbed :)
You have brought back a very happy memory for me I was working at an oil refinery in 1980 after the gas crisis of the late 1970s devices like this were common some just magnets 🧲on the fuel line and others a plate that went under the carburettor shaped like a soft serve ice cream.One of the guys I worked with fitted two one for each carburettor on his VW we were all giving him heaps every week he was Recording mileage and fuel ⛽consumption so we decided to help, me and some other coworkers had access to milk bottles of petrol for testing.Each shift we would put one into the tank of his car not surprisingly his milage went up from about 35 MPG to 60 plus MPG .After a few weeks of listening to him boasting we stopped and it took a few weeks for the penny to drop
G'day mate.
Nice looking au. Got a bf falcon did a test with stock air box and was getting 8.2L to 100km so got a aluminium air pipe with a Supercheap pod filter. Remove air box. Was getting 7.4 7.2L 100km witch is pretty good nick. AC is not on. Hope don't get pull over and coper ask to open the bonnet. 🤔😂 Had a straight pipe au xr6 was getting 600km to a tank miss the au but love the bf Barra 🤙🤙 Chur bro.
I remember this junk from the 90s. I think it started as a truckers product, and if they didn't use it no one would.
How did the money back claim go? Still ongoing??
If you are stuck with it, use it as fancy biscuit cutter, or ebay it 'as seen on...'
hahaha oldmate skulling beer, best demo example ever.
This was an entertaining video! Unlucky on the $160 lol
Given that it's placed right before a 90' bend, and also a throttle blade which is almost shut at highway cruise I'm surprised it made any measurable effect (good or bad). I bought one of these back in the 90's to try and correct a dual fuel Townace van that had a massive midrange flat-spot when running on petrol (okay on LPG). It didn't work... :(
For their economy gains to be realised it'd have to work on highway cruise though!
@@MotoringBoxTV did they specify the gains are on highway cruise??? Crafty little buggers... ;)
Haha it looks like one of those weird apple cutters! Great video !
I reckon it could!
@@MotoringBoxTV LOL! You're awesome man! cheers for being so active in your comment section, Shows how much you care :)
Fwiw The Mercedes Unimog uses a similar design inside the huge airbox. It looks more like a turbine with straight blades on maybe a 45° angle. It was pre 2000 when I first saw it but even then I said Hiclone while laughing with a face full of bulldust choking everyone!
Years ago I used to work at a place with a Bosch chassis dyno. In my experience I never saw a vehicle make more power with a hiclone. In fact the only thing that I ever saw was an increase in power when we removed them. Incidentally, N is the ISO symbol for RPM. N/S or N/M is revolutions per second or revolutions per minute, but generally it is accepted that N is taken as RPM unless otherwise specified. Good video and your observations are consistent with mine. That said there may be circumstances where a positive benefit has been obtained, but I have not yet seen or actually been able to verify one.
Interesting, I've never seen N used in that manner. You'd think in a consumer brochure they'd use RPM for simplicity's sake. But then again you'd expect them to not have mistakes too.
@@MotoringBoxTV it's relatively common in parts of Europe. You are correct in that N is meant to stand for Newton's, and the correct n for engine speed is meant to be a lower case n, however what you see there is not uncommon in my experience. On a slightly different subject, I remember dyno testing a Japanese manufactured vehicle back in the late 90's and it came up almost 20% down on power, until we checked the test standard that it was rated against. It was an obscure standard from one European country that resulted in numbers that suited the marketing department. About 20% higher than the rated standard that their major competitor was using. So depending on where you are, apples aren't necessarily apples
Great real world review Sean. 👍
Thanks mate, I tried.
That was fun to watch Sean.
Thank you kindly Adam.
I would love to see a "Surbo" tested, bonus bit is it's only $99 in Singapore! It's some sort of "suction turbo" (hence the name i guess) that has moving bits and i think tries to use ineratia to make "boost". I remember seeing the site about 10 years ago and being amazed at the claims, and according to the site it was updated on 1/1/22 so it looks like it's still a thing.
From what I've just read about it... it sounds like the same thing. No moving parts apparently.
Awesome test and your theory has to be right , interested you live in south east queensland ..I live close to Browns Plains ..Its great that people like yourself myth bust these BS devices!!!
Hey there. Thank you for this test and comments. I thought as much. I was given one YEARS back, under the name Tornado...Can't say that I saw anything good or bad happen in my truck's engine....It's being there since...My question is, leaving it there, I'm not causing any troubles for for SUV. Am I?
From my testing it made fuel economy worse slightly, but it probably wouldn't cause any other trouble.
Thank you for the quick reply, to be on safe side, i took it out...if it's not helping any, there's no use keeping extra hardware in the engine....Stay well. (I wonder if anyone, wants to buy an "anchor" cheap..😁)
Expressing mileage differently:
10.6 km/L Stock
9.9 km/L Hiclone
-0.7 km/L (-7%)
N.B. It's quite difficult to accurately measure changes in fuel economy
A lot of Hiclone's claims of savings were in the 5 - 10% range, which I agree is difficult to measure. But the Hiclone's economy figures were consistently worse, which for me is enough to rule it out. There was no fluctuation or even a hint that it could offer any benefits over stock.
Your test confirmed my thought on device. Just an idea what about trying a K&N in air box air filter next time.
Will do bugger all
Holly shit. That's a massive mark up from 20 years ago.
The price is laughable
@@MotoringBoxTV 🤦♂️ Things have and at the same time haven't changed.
I'll have to ask my tuner if putting in a restriction to a 600kw engine will improve performance 😂I might put it up my exhaust so it creates a vortex of flames.
Nice work. Science will always prove these things don't work.
Also are you planning to test other devices?? As there is so much BS out there.
Put one on a 302 xd back in the day. It worked because once fitted the carb had to be adjusted because it was running rich.
But running rich meant it was getting less air than before, which backs up my results of it being an intake restriction.
@@MotoringBoxTV or it was rich because it was using less fuel because the combustion was more efficient. I had to close down the fuel screws, wouldn't that mean it needed less fuel than before? Maybe it needed less fuel because of a blockage or it was burning less. In a carb situation i cannot see how it could be restricting the air flow, it could be possible. This was 25 years ago too.
Sean you legend!! 🤣 1:00
C'mon, Mac - get with the times! Hyclone is old school. All the "cool kids" are going with HHO cells (hydrogen infusion) these days. Y'know, introducing an unregulated, uncontrolled amount of hydrogen into the incoming air to replace some of the oxygen which could otherwise be used to burn the far more energy dense petrol, which is somehow supposed to provide more than 100% return over the energy required for the electrolysis to produce said hydrogen in the first place.
Kinda jealous of the sub-10l/100 results, though. Damn my old girl is thirsty...
All for a price that makes Hiclone look like a bargain! Err.. if it worked I guess. Still got the old slant-six?
@@MotoringBoxTV Oh yeah. I feel bad I don't drive it as much as I should, but she's yet to let me down in the slightest.
I can't believe they still sell these!
Ah, yes Sean, I see where you went wrong. It was during your installation of the "Hiclone". The "Hiclone" is a precision engineered fuel saving device, which must be handled with the utmost care. During you installation you employed the assistance of a claw hammer. This impact has altered the calibration of the "Hiclone", therefore rendering it unserviceable. Had you used a ball peen hammer, I firmly believe that the outcome would have been consistent with the information supplied by the manufacturer.
Great video. I thought that they were BS. Thank you for confirming my thoughts.
I think I should have been facing north when installing it to ensure it is properly aligned with the earth's magnetic field. Rookie mistake.
@@MotoringBoxTV Wouldn’t have happened if you had an Energy Polariser 😂
I love the 10 speed fan on the AU Fairmont & Ghia, can basically run the ventilation system silently with plenty of air movement. And the trip computer design is large digits, simple, easy buttons etc.
Only bummer is no cabin filter, but I'm sure there's a way to retrofit somehow.
As I always say, you get the air as nature intended. Sometimes with sticks and leaves.
@@MotoringBoxTV 😅👌🏻
I love my AU Series 1 but why oh why did the heater have to get stuck to *ON* during Summer?
@@totalrecone yeah that happened to my AU2 fairmont as well, lol
I laughed about these when I was on my P's and I'm 41 now.
Bit of fun for a vid I guess.
No chance it could affect an EFI engine unless it has induction issues, Especial a Ford MAF managed system.
Econ mode works very good
Thanks always wondered
Now you know!
The only thing that truly helps fuel economy is a vacuum gauge. Driving to the highest will increase fuel economy
This was a fun one, I hope you can get your money back
I have this and 4 other fuel saving devices on my FG they work that well I can do Sydney to Canberra starting with 3/4 of a tank by the time I get to mittagong I have to pull over and siphon fuel off as the tank is starting to overflow
Such great savings! 😂
Excellent review because there is a sucker born everyday!
You didn't answer the most important question, did you get your money back from the seller?
Underway, thanks to eBay it is pretty much assured.
Pretty sure I have one of them in my Slap Chop.
That was great. Can not believe these are still for sale. Back in the 80s they had these that went under the carby and the same claims.
Some guys did dyno tests and there was a loss in power every time on 4, 6 and V8s.
I guarantee that if you did a Dyno test ( hub would be best) you would see a loss everywhere.
On another topic; how did you do the sped up video? Do you use GoPro or similar? Really like how you produce the videos as well. Have an awesome week.
Yup, GoPro - at 5000x speed!
Fuel gains or loses are secondary to being able to spend a few hours behind the wheel of a magnificent AU Falcon. Did you use the money back guarantee?
A friend of mine found one of these in his garage and asked if I wanted it. I said no.
The EPA have a great set of test reports for these types of products. They are masterpieces in diplomacy. Some of the nutty devices need to be seen to be believed.
TH-cam really does not like the name of the synthetic lubricant mentioned in the reports.
I can’t post the link as TH-cam hates it. Google EPA retrofit test reports.
I just looked up the site that has all those EPA retrofit test reports on it. Are you referring the the lubricant that starts with "A" and ends in "ube"?
@@TheKnobCalledTone. Of course! Analube.
let me look 40 years back, on a Ford Station Wagon, biggest BS, but I was young, bugger all for any save, but the induction noise was lower, same for Ford Chip set (ECU - still have it in my tool box) bought from a supplier from Queen Anastasia's kingdom, more fuel used and bugger all. Amazing how back yard developers can be better than engineers from car manufacturers with million $$$ budget.
Hope you’re safe from the flooding mate, heard it’s pretty bad up there
Wow that is good fuel economy on the hyway. The mileage is calculated over time; the longer you use it on the hyway the better it will get. And a battery reset is not always a mileage reset. All you have done here is change the highway useage. I still agree the cyclone is a scam though. best would be to do the up and back without it until the usage didnt change then add the cyclone but close enough
I think it proved enough that it certainly didn't help mileage. More could be done, but I already wasted 3 hours on it!
Should take it to willowbank and drag race it , if it's down on power that will show up in the ET and the mph .... I'll bring our new AU V8 Fairmont and we can compare the 6 against the 8 as well :)
after all these years thats gold hahahaha
Makes sense it was a restriction to air flow I think on an injected car with a computer o2 sensor it’s maybe not tuned for all out performance but it’s going to be pretty good base tune.
Sometimes replacing the o2 sensor or cleaning it can gain you fuel savings a mates rodeo requires it’s maf sensor cleaned regularly it loses power and fuel economy with it dirty.
I think the only thing that could maybe really alter fuel economy with an older engine is water temp especially with a carbureted car
Kinda irrelevant but I have a 2003 vy S pac that got 6.8L per 100km on the A1 highway. At half a tank I got 550km out of it, all I did was hollow out the catalytic converter and put a 2.5inc exhaust system on it. Very good results considering the car is almost 20 years old and the engine was designed in around 1995 by GM
🤣🤣🤣🤣 gold, funny as f#%$k. Nice work hahaha
tried a fair few fuel 'saving' devices only thing that worked really well is a rear 'wing' on the back of the roof (better airflow at the back of the station wagon), a Hydrogen generator worked really well for the first 200kms I had it in (it almost doubled it for that 200km!) but after that my economy was worse than stock,
When you hit it with the hammer you knocked its atomic alignment out of sync, warranty void!. But seriously can you imagine the engine damage when inevitably one of the vanes departs the outer ring. Kablammo!
This test will be great, I think they are garbage but it's always good to test.
FYI the bottom of the graph is for the torque measurement hence why the number is so high, confusing until you see it as the torque is in the lower end of the RPM
Nice test bro....
Well done mate
If you want power
Increase you fit extractors and a sports exhaust system.
If you restrict the air flow it can only reduce power the same as increasing the airflow increases power it is just common sense.
A few weeks ago I saw a petrol station price standard unleaded at 191 cents ($1.91). I've never seen petrol that expensive, ever.
Well, beter not to come over to The Netherlands: we pay 2.20 euros (that’s $2.87) per liter nowadays. Better enjoy that $1.91 :-)
They're complete nonsense, however resetting the ECU will skew the results. Takes the ECU a good day or so to really settle itself as it's constantly learning. That's why you're seeing better economy after every run. Even without resetting it will do this when changing drive style (ie constant expressway driving). Personally i feel the figures would be next to identical meaning it doesn't make a squat of difference. The ECU will also compensate for lack of airflow and and slightly lean the mix to match factory as close as possible. That's what they do and people that put POD filters and crap really don't understand this. The goal for the ECU is to match factory mixture no matter what if possible
I fitted one to a courier van doing the same 120km run for many years . Absolutely no fuel saved at all . He couldn't get it removed quick enough
I have found the accuracy of them computers that are supposed to say what MPG your getting are off I test it by filling the tank right up drive so many KM then stop and fill it up again then do the calculations on how much fuel was put back in.
That's not a perfect method either though, as there's no guarantee the pump is filling the tank to exactly the same level. If you're trying to do this on a test like mine I don't think it'd work, as in my case I would have only been filling 3 to 4L, so any small difference would have skewed the percentage difference greatly. If you were filling almost the entire tank it'd be a good method though.
Even the wind can change the amount of fuel you burn. you will burn more fuel driving into the wind then if the wind was pushing you instead so the weather plays a big part in fuel efficiency too.
I'd like to buy your fancy egg ring!!
Wouldn't a dyno test with and without hyclone work as a test ?
At least you can use it to cut some high performance cookies? Or cook some cyclonic fried eggs?