Gadgetman - Page 3 - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

Frank Lee · 12-08-2009, 04:54 PM

Obviously Gadgetman showed J. Shelby the "gas cap trick":

Lift up the gas cap and replace the vehicle underneath it.

No wonder J. Shelby is ecstatic with the results!

Christ · 12-08-2009, 04:55 PM

LOL Yup. Of course, the point I was trying to make is that it's a Ford F-series, being represented as a GMC.

The headlight profile and raggedy body lines give it up quickly.

It's also a few years older than a '99... In fact, the newest it could be is either '95 or '96, can't remember which.

bestclimb · 12-08-2009, 05:02 PM

looked like diffrent girls in by her fiat too.

I wonder if he would agree to the A-B-A testing used around here and let the money sit in escrow.

tangomar · 12-08-2009, 06:03 PM

Gadgetman must be really blind then.
They say he is 95% impaired...

Mustang Dave · 12-08-2009, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Christ

LOL Yup. Of course, the point I was trying to make is that it's a Ford F-series, being represented as a GMC.

The headlight profile and raggedy body lines give it up quickly.

It's also a few years older than a '99... In fact, the newest it could be is either '95 or '96, can't remember which.

It's a '92-'96 F-series.

Christ · 12-08-2009, 08:39 PM

Thanks Dave, I knew that in '97 it was the cab-over-engine body style, but I wasn't sure if it was that way in '96 or not.

Appreciate it!

wdb · 12-08-2009, 10:14 PM

Here's a youtube of what he claims to be doing -- the "gadgetman groove". I'm pretty sure it is the same guy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2V8M_oVvLo

Christ · 12-08-2009, 10:22 PM

Yeah, he's claiming that by increasing turbulence aft of the throttle plate, you're creating a resonance that is, in effect, a supercharger at certain speeds. Of course, intake length/cross section tuning achieves this as well.

I'm not entirely sure that those grooves will do anything except completely kill the flow velocity, but I can assure that at higher throttle angles than cruise, they won't be increasing horsepower, as they'll be restricting airflow by creating more turbulence. Keep in mind, even pipes have a boundary layer. The effective cross section of an intake pipe is actually smaller than the visible cross section, and is increasingly so as intake velocity increases.

There is no evidence that a completely smooth intake tract is any more beneficial than a lightly roughed up one, but I'd be extremely wary of grinding out any kind of slot in my throttle body and expecting any gains from it. They're usually not cheap to be carelessly modifying.

Christ · 12-10-2009, 04:33 AM

Anyone wanna try it? I found the guy on PES' website showing how the grooves are made.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElfWf...layer_embedded

Christ · 12-10-2009, 04:34 AM

PES' wiki page on the mod:

Directory:Gadgetman Groove - PESWiki

It appears that basically, all that's being done here is adding approx a 3mm deep groove in front of the lower part of the throttle plate, and behind the upper.

So what's really happening is a trick way of telling the ECU that you're at X throttle position while you're allowing the same amount of airflow as Z throttle position. Other than that, I can't say for sure. I may give it a shot on the spare TB I have for my wife's Saturn, though. It takes about 10 mins to put the TB on, so that shouldn't be a problem.

EDIT: OF course, if I do this, and there is no change/negative change, the guy's just going to say I did it wrong. It won't be an extremely definitive test, either. I'll see about using my datalog tool to check MAP and TPS values, etc.

EDIT again: Wouldn't you know, I can't find my Dremel. Gonna have to buy another one, again, it seems. O well, excuse to go to Harbor Freight.