One of the Staffers at Fast Car Magazine gave PowerBoost a try on the rollers at Sanspeed and this is what he found:

"Because I have a car that's nearly as old as myself, it has to be looked after. PowerBoost claim that they can successfully restore the performance and efficiency of higher-mileage petrol and diesel engines using a modern interpretation of the decoking process, but instead of costing near on £500, it only costs £27.50! So in true F.U.K fashion, off I went in hope of a re-born car... or at least one with more power.

After meeting the boys from Ecotek, Sanspeed had the old beast up on the rollers to see what she was pushing out. Turns out she had a whole 73 bhp at the flywheel. Then it was time to boost the power with PowerBoost!

The PowerBoost was sprayed into the air intake while the car was running, and it sure did something, as I haven't seen that much smoke since the last time me and my crew hot boxed my front room. After a couple blasts through the gears, it was time to take another reading on the rollers.

I am delighted to report that the Nova's power went through the roof to an amazing 76bhp, which for a 13-year old motor is F.U.Kin' deep if you ask me. Not only that, but there was a serious increase in torque, and my emissions went down by 50 percent. Basically if you've got an old motor, then I recommend you buy some of this, it will help your car and make you smile… especially come MOT time."

FAST CAR Magazine - January 2004

The Editor of CLASSICS, Tim Morgan, has a Classic Hilman Imp which he calls 'Pele' (number plate PLE) and he tried PowerBoost on it - here is an extract from his article - click on the pictures for the complete version -

"On the first run, Pele managed a credible 36bhp at the rear wheels. The guys from Ecotek and Sanspeed looked dismayed at the figure but I was jubilant - Imps only have 39bhp to play with in standard form anyway according to the books, so 3bhp down was nothing short of incredible on an engine that had done 53,000 miles.

We then applied the Power Boost... Basically, the car is run up to about 2500rpm and the Power Boost foam is sprayed directly into the carb for two minutes.

The engine is then left to tick over for a few minutes and then the process repeated. When the can is used up, you take the car for a 10 minute drive to ensure that all of the foam is burned off.

On this drive I immediately noticed a change in the car's behaviour - it seemed more nippy, quieter at tickover and generally happier. I was intrigued to see whether this would translate into any change in power output.

With Pele on the rollers, the loud pedal was applied again and it seemed like she worked harder. All eyes were on the printout. By the simple application of the Power Boost, she gained four bhp!

We tried her again to see if this was a fluke and exactly the same power curve and output was plotted on the printer. I was chuffed to bits - she was now outputting more power than the period testers came up with.

The drive home was fun too. The car picked up far quicker, especially out of corners and the smoothness of the engine was incredible.

I thought I was imagining things, so I gave the car back to Vickie (Pele's rightful owner) and let her have a drive. She noticed a huge difference in the car's behaviour too, so we are both chuffed to bits!"

Tim Morgan - CLASSICS Magazine - September 2003

Thanks Tim - 10+% BHP increase, improved pick up, smoother and much more driveable - all without using a spanner - can't be bad!
 

Still on the subject of Classics here's what TRIUMPH WORLD had to say in their July 2004 issue:

"Once the treatment was completed, the engine was run for 2-3 minutes before trying another run on the rolling-road. This time, the maximum power registered was 85bhp at 5,710rpm - a gain of two horsepower.

Another characteristic that showed up on the computer print-out was that, although there was no increase in torque, the torque curve itself was much flatter and smoother. The engine also revved better and the power hung on for longer at the top end.

At full power, the exhaust emission had gone down from 4.50 per cent CO and hydrocarbons at 220ppm to 3.50per cent CO and hydrocarbons of 140ppm.

Iain Ball confirmed: "It is exactly as you would expect, really. The carbs have been cleaned out and removing the carbon from the combustion chamber might have reduced the compression ratio slightly, but it has improved the burning efficiency.

Although two horsepower doesn't sound like very much, it does equate to a 2.4 per cent increase in power, which is not to be sneezed out. The Acclaim certainly felt livelier and more responsive on the drive home and has continued to perform better than before."

Tony Beadle - Triumph World Magazine July 2004. To read the full article click on the pictures to enlarge.

Banzai - the Top Jap tuning car Mag did their test on a well maintained 200 SX.

"As my 200SX has relatively high mileage I thought it'd be worth trying Ecotek's Power Boost Engine Energizer which removes built-up residue from the combustion process. As well as cleaning and decoking the engine, it also claims to improve acceleration, response, emissions and economy - bold assertions for something simple to apply. Ecotek was eager to help out and booked a rolling road for the test.

A control run revealed a healthy 191 bhp. To apply the Energizer the air intake pipe was partially removed, leaving room for the nozzle extension tube to poke into the throttle body. The solution was sprayed in for a couple of minutes while revving at about 2500rpm. The engine was left to idle for a couple more minutes; the process was repeated until the can was empty.

The Energizer certainly seemed to work, as during the process clouds of black smoke - what I assumed to be the coke and varnish deposits - came out of the exhaust. Before the final power run I took the car out for ten minutes to ensure all residue had been thrown out. Back on the rollers, there was negligible difference in outright grunt but the Energizer had smoothed out the power curve and helped it plateau at high revs rather than drop off noticeably. A result, then, and hopefully with irrigated internals, a cleaner, more efficient engine."

Banzai issue 26 Dec 2003

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