has anyone tried that tornado in there 4.3L? was fuel econy improved and if so by how much?

I haven't tried one, but I sold one to a guy at work the other day and he came back in tonight and was pleased with the results so far

Said it improved his performance and fuel economy, he had an '01 Silverado with the 4.3 in it

This really shouldn't be in the new member section, but...

Everything that I have read on independent tests that have been done have said that it is not worth the packaging it comes in. It is a placebo effect if you notice a change.

I kind of made my own and I agree that even by a dyno test thee was no improvement with power and that I have gotten no releif in my fuel expense either. The fact of spinning the air BEFORE it crashes into the injectors and gets sucked in seems to make no difference. Maybe spinning after the crash would help but not before.

Ummmmm.......

You already have the tornado effect. GM designed it, and built it into your 4.3L engine. It was so effective they started putting it in other engines.

Maybe you have heard of it, it's called VORTEC!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ALL 4.3L engines have the Vortec heads, however the most recent round of modifications is what everyone wants to call "Vortec" heads. That would be the '96 and newer heads. However GM started using Vortec heads back in '86. The 4.3L engine was the testing ground for the new design, it created a vortex in the head which greatly improved fuel efficiency and had the added bonus of increasing horsepower. Proved so seccessful the design was incorporated into bigger engines. LT1, etc.

Yeah, but that is done in the intake runner to valve design as well as the combustion chamber design, not prior to the throttle body.

The 'Tornado' sits before the throttle body. By the time that any swirling air gets to the intake runner in the head, it isn't really swirling anymore... It (the tornado) really is just a restriction in the intake air flow and nothing more.

there have also been incidences of the tornado coming apart, and being sucked into the engine...the case that i have heard was a WRX that sucked a piece in, and it got hung up in valve, and causes significant engine damage.

THE TORNADO IS A P.O.S.

I think he means piece of **** :D

I think he means piece of ****

m00nie, sometimes I wonder what we're gonna do with you. *Hands m00nwater a cookie* You are so damn smart! I guess all that mud and bumpy ass rock climbing hasn't affected your brain.

Damn, I'm a smartass, I'm sorry :D

well both you guys are right, but i have an easy way to solve this issue. autozone sells them so that should tell you its a pos!! autozone SUXORS!!!

Excuse me?

That's like you insulting my momma!

Nothing wrong with AutoZone, it pays my bills. Just because you've had a bad experience with an AutoZone doesn't mean they automatically "SUXORS", whatever the hell that is.

Yeah, I loathe my local AZ, but I have been in many that have been more than helpful given the present situation. I do think they carry WAY TOO MUCH ricer stuff that is all BS crap, but hey, there's a reason that stuff is on the shelves... Even if it is to take the young kids money...

Yeah we carry all that ricer **** but not a lot of people buy it. Usually when younger guys come in and start lookin at that crap I try to talk 'em out of it. I'm not just in this for the sales, I'm tryin to keep kids from spendin their hard earned money on blue seatbelt pads and neon lights, lol. I'd rather not sell anything than sell that bull****.

That seems like the only purpose for the retards at my AZ. They actually tried to talk me into buying a set of the APC BLUE (very blue) headlights to replace one of them on my Bonneville (yeah only one of them). I replaced both of the high beams with Silvania xtravision (or something like that). The kid would not stop telling me how much better the blue bulbs would light up the road even after I explained the whole color spectrum to him. I am not really a fan of the silverstars either. That's mainly because of how quickly I've had them burn out in my Intrepid. I will say that they helped the intrepid, but I don't think they would do very well in the Bonneville. The intrepid's beam pattern sucked so the extra reflectivity of the blue light helped out most of the time. Winter driving drove me nuts with the silverstars though. On the Bonneville, all 4 bulbs (2 hi + 2 lo) are on when the hi beams are on so there is literally no gap or dark spots in the pattern. Makes for a very full and wide spread light output that doesn't require a blue coating to make you be able to see great!

AZ is my preferred vendor. The rest of em hire the young kids who have no clue. Most of em get stumped if it isn't in the computer, and forget about looking it up in a book. :D

well didnt mean to offend ya bro, but i have had many bad experiences with az parts, especially electrical ones. just voicing my opinion that i think az parts are crap.