Is fuel-enhancement device legit, or just a load of gas?
By Ivan Penn, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Saturday, March 14, 2009
Using an electrical current running through the wire coil, the Fuel Genie is busy separating hydrogen from oxygen in the baking soda-enriched water in the jar.
If you can, Barry Holzsweig wants you to believe in a genie.
He calls it the Fuel Genie.
Now we've met in the past some supposed magical fuel products that proposed to make your car more fuel efficient. (Recall the Miles Per Gallon Caplets, a pill you pop in your gas tank and, voila, your car saves gas.)
Well, we found the makers of MPG-Caps in trouble with attorneys general in Florida and Texas, and the product particularly suspicious.
Now comes Holzsweig and his Clearwater-based company Hydro-Gen Inc.
Holzsweig claims a $499 attachment to your vehicle "turns water into hydroxy gas in your car or truck. We pipe this gas into your car's engine, making it 50 percent more efficient! It eliminates pollutants and actually cleans the air we breathe as you drive."
In ads in the St. Petersburg Times, Holzsweig invites consumers to attend a free seminar at the company's Clearwater office on U.S. 19.
Holzsweig says the product was tested at a Pinellas Technical Education Center and proved to be effective. He's sold almost 100 of them so far, making close to $50,000.
Now, we all could use a savings during the times we're in. But AAA gives a warning before you fork over your $500:
"Almost any after-market product that we've come across has not lived up to its claims," said Gregg Laskoski, spokesman for AAA. "We haven't come across one that actually delivers what it claims to do."
Laskoski said AAA Auto Club South has not tested this particular product, but he hears a familiar refrain coming from the Fuel Genie that has been heard from the others, such as MPG-Caps.
"If this is a legitimate product, there should be some type of independent lab that has tested it out," Laskoski said.
Still, Doralice Austin of Clearwater says her 2003 Buick LaSabre was getting 16 to 18 mpg before the Fuel Genie. Now she gets an average 30 to 35 mpg and sometimes more, "especially long distance."
Hmmm.
Despite all of the claims, "needless to say, we would still remain pretty skeptical," Laskoski said.
Adds Pete Candela, AAA's director of automotive repair: "If it is so good and does what it said it would do, why didn't the industry put it in the cars to begin with?"
So here's The Edge tips for fuel efficiency, courtesy of AAA:
• Follow regular and proper vehicle maintenance schedules;
• Be sure tires are in good condition and properly inflated;
• Change oil regularly;
• Keep a clean air filter.
Ivan Penn can be reached at ipenn@sptimes.com or (727) 892-2332.
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