Last week I had introduced the idea of plasma coating the internal components of an already fuel efficient engine,for even better fuel economy.
Since that time, a lot of people on this post had chimmed in their suggestions, so I decided to research to most prevelent three: 1) Cryo-Engine treatment 2) Teflon Impregnation 3) and of course, Plasma Coating.
As a personal disclaimer, what I intend to report consists of a general discriptions from a consumers point of view. I am by no means an expert, nor am I trying to persuade anyone to pursue these processes in any way. If anyone is at all interested, then I would suggest that you do your own research as well.
A lot of the discussion revolved around speculations regarding both cost and performance output. Bearing all that in mind, I took it upon myself to do a little research, by calling each respective company that performs the above mentioned treatments. For the sake of this post, I will give a summarized description of each procces:
Cryo-Engine Treament:
This is the process of taking individual engine components, and exposing them to sub-zero temperatures. According to the research that I was able to find, it consists of a "Dry Process" where liquid nitrogen is converted in a gas, where the parts are then expossed to cold temperatures around -300F.
The parts are cooled slowly and left in for an extended period of time. The effect that the deep cold has upon the part, causes the molecules within the metal to unify more so in their aligment. In short, it makes the metal stronger than it was before, whereby creating sturdier engine parts with higher tolerences. The known overall effect is increased horse power, and perhaps increased fuel efficiency. (i.e. I was quoted maybe a 5% increase). The process is permanent & the cost is $425.00 for either a 3 or 4-cylinder. For more information, you can go to (
www.300below.com) On a personal note, I can't quite see how this would create an increase in fuel efficiency, however, you would have an engine that would be near indestructable. Additionally, you could however apply any of the above engine treaments to it.
The next engine treatment is Teflon Impregnation:
This process involves coating the pistons, cylinder heads, skirts bearing, etc. with a teflon coating. The process provides a slick material that coats directly to your engine components,reducing friction and galling, whereby increasing horse power. Unlike engine additives, this coating becomes "impregnated"into to your engine components(ergo the name). Once again, when asked if it would increase fuel efficency, I was granted a conservative maybe. The cost of this service is pending. I was told that the process was not permanent and would wear off in time. As to how long, could not be determined. For those interested, go to(
www.emcprocess.com).
The last process is Plasma Coating:
The one thing to keep in mind is that there are many companies that use different materials to plasma coat an engine. Some use ceramic plasma coating, while others may use nickle or chromium. Still there are those that will say that it permanent, while there are other companies that state that it's not (i.e. at that's what I was told when I had called one company).
At any rate, the reasearch that I had included in my last post stated that their could be a 20-30% increase in engine performance. The cost for either a 3-4cylinder engine was $425.00, about the same as Cryo-Engine Treatment. For a complete listing of prices and services, visit
www.swaintech.com
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