Ordered Airtabs today!

[JanGeo]

Sounds like you all need to get a fan and a cardboard box and mount a scale on the box to measure air drag forces then add air tabs to it and see if drag is reduced. You can also run the yarn air flow telltails on the box and see the effects right in front of you.

[ZugyNA]

Originally Posted by JanGeo

Sounds like you all need to get a fan and a cardboard box and mount a scale on the box to measure air drag forces then add air tabs to it and see if drag is reduced. You can also run the yarn air flow telltails on the box and see the effects right in front of you.

I live about 75 miles from where the Wright Brothers original air tunnel is located...maybe I could borrow it?

[GasSavers_SD26]

Good information on this thread.

I'm new. Thanks for having me.

As a racer, I have a couple things I think about. One, I'd like to go faster, and, two, I'd like to do it cheaper. My travel costs are kind of high with a shuttle bus and an enclosed trailer.

I will agree, yeah, if the aerodynamics are good already, it's going to be hard to get dramatic improvements. But if you've got a brick, well, you might be able to polish the piece up and get something for a gain.

I teach six schools were I have to drive 650 miles one way to do it. So, if I could improve my FE from 11 to 12 MPG at $3.50 a gallon of diesel, I'll have got the cost of some of the Airtabs back, depending upon how many I use. If there's some stability to be gained, I'd like that too.

Looking forward to hearing more. I won't be making any changes myself until later toward spring when it gets warm out here in Wisconsin.

[cfg83]

Hello -

I did my magneto-airtabs :

Attachment 1121

On the website, I thought that I wouldn't like them aesthetically. But, they have already grown on me. They haven't fallen off at 65 MPH, so I think I am ok with the magent solution for the roof (and the hood).

For side, non-magnetic applications (gravity and plastic body panels), I think I will install more of them as follows :

Attachment 1122

The one problem is that they are designed for flat surfaces, so they have limited applications on curved passenger car surfaces. The gooves on my roof limited my application. That made me ask this question. Would they still work if I attached them like so :

Attachment 1123

Attachment 1124

Assuming for the moment that there is no vibration, would this be a better application, or would the lack of a surface underneath the end of the tabs sabotage the positive aero effect?

CarloSW2

[DarbyWalters]

Originally Posted by cfg83

Hello -

I did my magneto-airtabs :

Attachment 1121

On the website, I thought that I wouldn't like them aesthetically. But, they have already grown on me. They haven't fallen off at 65 MPH, so I think I am ok with the magent solution for the roof (and the hood).

For side, non-magnetic applications (gravity and plastic body panels), I think I will install more of them as follows :

Attachment 1122

The one problem is that they are designed for flat surfaces, so they have limited applications on curved passenger car surfaces. The gooves on my roof limited my application. That made me ask this question. Would they still work if I attached them like so :

Attachment 1123

Attachment 1124

Assuming for the moment that there is no vibration, would this be a better application, or would the lack of a surface underneath the end of the tabs sabotage the positive aero effect?

CarloSW2

You usually want to keep them away from the very edge. They are supposed to be located like you did on the roof to stop the separation...so you would put them on the side windows themselves. I too grew used to mine and don't even notice them much anymore...had them on just the roof like you...finally stuck three on each side near the rear.

[ZugyNA]

Originally Posted by SD26

I teach six schools were I have to drive 650 miles one way to do it. So, if I could improve my FE from 11 to 12 MPG at $3.50 a gallon of diesel, I'll have got the cost of some of the Airtabs back, depending upon how many I use. If there's some stability to be gained, I'd like that too.

Besides the airtabs...try this?

www.oilcrusher.5u.com

ListerEngine forum:

"I had a horse trader cowboy from west Okla., call me one night? He was not a farmer, nor had time to press seeds. He had 3 Duramax Chevys pulling horses all over the USA. He said the $3.00 fuel was killing his profits. ?What can I do he pleaded?. Well off the top of my head ,, I told him to go to the store and buy a cheap gallon of cooking oil.. Take it home and mix it with 2 gallons of gas and add that mixture to his 40 gallon pu tank.. Well he called me several days later, wanting to pay me for my help. He said his pu went from 12mpg to 18mpg on his first tank."

50% gains are hard to come by?

[GasSavers_SD26]

Hmm... Interesting.

50% gain? Kind of like that guy with the gain from the Airtabs being 100%, I'd be skeptical. Might give it try though. Put it on my list.

You have a link for that statement?

Currently, I collect all my used engine oil from our cars, the race bikes, and the bus, I run it all through some thing to clean it up a bit, then put it in the diesel fuel tank. Used engine oil has more BTU's than diesel, 135k-140k per gallon compared to petrol diesel at under 129k. I don't know if I'd use that in a 6.0 Power Stroke, but the 7.3's would probably run on dirt and water if you mixed it right.

I love the magneto Airtabs. That's really a great idea. Unforunately, my trailer has full fiberglass walls and the bus has an aluminum skin. Even the hood of most Ford vans are composite. I might use the idea for our Ford Focus though.

[GasSavers_SD26]

Originally Posted by ZugyNA

Besides the airtabs...try this?

www.oilcrusher.5u.com

ListerEngine forum:

"I had a horse trader cowboy from west Okla., call me one night? He was not a farmer, nor had time to press seeds. He had 3 Duramax Chevys pulling horses all over the USA. He said the $3.00 fuel was killing his profits. ?What can I do he pleaded?. Well off the top of my head ,, I told him to go to the store and buy a cheap gallon of cooking oil.. Take it home and mix it with 2 gallons of gas and add that mixture to his 40 gallon pu tank.. Well he called me several days later, wanting to pay me for my help. He said his pu went from 12mpg to 18mpg on his first tank."

50% gains are hard to come by?

Ok, I found that thread.

I'm reading with great interest.

Thank you!!!!!

[DarbyWalters]

Have 11 AirTabs on my Jeep Liberty...and the taillights are also shaped like an AirTab from the side (by accident I am sure). I did not do a test with only the AirTabs as the change...so I can not give any empirical data. I will say that the rear window does stay a bit cleaner in the rain, the Jeep feels a bit more stable at highway speeds and in turbulent air and fuel mileage did go up but other things probably contributed to that also. I think with a SUV type shape, you do get results that are most likley measurable because there is such a large area to improve upon.

The good thing is that the AirTabs are cheap to buy and/or similiar vortex tabs are easy enuff to make that there is no real harm. I think the trick is not to go overboard and create some kind of "Armadillo Skin" on a vehicle. Put them in the areas where the air leaves the vehicle in the rear...most likely benefit.

[JanGeo]

Back in my college days when gas was 25 cents a gallon a professor said to try some home heating oil in the gas and when I did in my old Rambler American it helps a little but on colder days it would smoke a lot until it warmed up and on warm days it had trouble shutting off - kept on running ha ha. Basically if you are adding oil to the gas you provide some upper cylinder lube and some more energy to the fuel to burn. What you want to watch out for is fouling the cat and O2 sensors.