Gas Pods - Anyone try them?
 

Just curious about these gas pods I read about and whether anyone's tried them out and/or whether the science behind it seems sound or not.

I read about it here: Make Your Car Look Like An Evo In The Name Of Fuel Economy

Also: How Lobster-Inspired Winglets Reduce Drag, Increase Fuel Efficiency | Autopia | Wired.com

From browsing that thread, they sound marginally helpful only if applied in a way that specifically suits your vehicle, basically. (And harmful if done incorrectly)

I can't resist:
http://www.unicorn-pictures.com/images/unicorn.jpg

Bless me father for I have sinned.

Bottom line, they're crap. There is no way some dongle placed on the rear, front, side, or bottom of a car is going to return any appreciable gain in aerodynamic efficiency. Keep in mind that the main cause of drag is form drag, or pressure drag on a road vehicle. This is only affected by changing the gross shape of the vehicle. Skin drag is pretty much insignificant and isn’t affected by these gas pods generating turbulence anyway since the air on a car is almost always turbulent to begin with. So you have a product claiming to do something that is already in place on a car. The air which is "Disturbed" by the passing of a vehicle extends out several feet in each direction, it isn't just the air 3 inches from the skin. If you don't believe me, then you haven't been paying attention to the grass and trees directly alongside a car or truck as it passes them.

This topic has been discussed with the owners of the company already. GasPod Discussion on Ecomodder They stand behind their "Computer Simulation" results, but have no desire to do any real world ABA testing such as coast down or max speed down an incline. These tests would be easy as heck to do and the results fairly significant. I have a hunch they have done these tests, found no benefit, and know themselves they're selling a dream with no real science to back them up. All they have is anecdotal stories of people who use them and have X,Y or Z savings over time. Peoples stories are no way to prove a benefit due to the extremely variable nature of fuel efficiency from week to week, month to month, person to person of vehicles. Besides, whose going to buy these for $70-130 and come back and report they haven't done anygood?

They have a Facebook page too GasPods on Facebook

I found the same exact thing at pep-boys for $12. You could always buy some of those and try them out. Save yourself a ton of money over buying the gas pods.

Check out responses by those who have tried GasPods
 

And, discount those by individuals who have not. All criticism is made by individuals who refuse to try them. There is a tally of early field results by drivers, previously unknown to the company, logging a minimum of 2,000 miles both with and without GasPods on their car, on this page of gaspods website under its press section and running down the side bar of its research page --- I'm too much of a newbie on ecomodder to post links.

One who is posting their results ecomodder under the thread heading:
accord-newbie-27-8-36-2-mods-23570.html

I am with the Company, all but the Volvo posted, which is mine, are not.

I think you're trying to link to this.
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post339459

That's not exactly a very scientific testing procedure. While he did see gains, he admitted there were other factors affecting his fuel economy at that time.

I don't know of anyone who's specifically and scientifically tested airtab/gaspod/vg's and found a significant improvement in aerodynamic drag. As a company spokesperson, perhaps you could point us to a comprehensive, unbiased test?

Yes. The other factor was low tire pressure, which actually diminished the differential between his logs without GasPods as compared to with GasPods on his Accord. In other words, they performed better than here reported.
Any project that has the variety of variables of driving requires a process to validate. Our protocol was to start with personal testing. Once that passed, foot the bill for Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD - simulated wind tunnel testing). We chose a firm whose clients include NASA, Boeing and just about every player in the Auto industry. Once again, I'm too much of a newbie on ecomodder to post the links showing more on this.

The third step is gathering field data. That is what our Test Team, clients logging 2,000 miles both without and with GasPods on their car is about. It will take awhile, but the validation will be there for a large segment of vehicles, and for some, a pick up truck, or a city driving Yukon Denali with roof racks, for instance, the results will be insignificant.

A little anecdote here, I love anecdotes... The aeronautical engineer who managed the CFD study hand delivered the results, and during his presentation, he specifically pointed to the diagrams showing skin friction coefficient of the GasPods on the vehicle tested, and said, "Had you made your GasPods any taller, longer or wider, you would have picked up drag, but you hit it right on the point before this...."

That's Bob Evans' (our Chief Designer and Director of R&D), he visualizes fluid flow. I've sat with consultants for NASA, with whom we've worked, and I've seen them turn with amazement at some point he makes, and say, "I've never met anyone who understands fluid dynamics the way you do." They're particularly amazed because he is not a physicist or an engineer. He's a visionary and an artist.

It's just not correct that there was just one other variable in his testing. Other variables he undoubtedly is encountering and apparently not controlling for would be ambient temperatures, tire pressure variation, humidity, pavements, throttling, city/highway mix, routes, wind patterns, drafting around other cars in traffic with him, and probably others I am not thinking of right now.

BTW, I think you have reached the five post threshold and should be able to post links now.