Reviews 2

THE SUNDAY TIMES

"Countless widgets claiming to save fuel have come and gone through the years, but here's one that really works. Based around Formula One technology Ecotek's simple CB-26P Fuel Saver creates a swirl of air that helps your engine burn fuel more efficiently - resulting in lower emissions, an improvement of up to 15% in fuel economy and a crisper, more responsive drive.

Fitting takes a decent DIY'er 10 minutes, or expect a garage to install it for around £20. At £48.99 the device should quickly pay for itself"

This article, written by David Price in The Sunday Times - 'Driving' section, was partly based on tests he did on his Rover 827C where he also found he got a considerable increase in torque - click here for details.

REVS magazine tested the CB-26P and gave it their coveted 'Best Buy' award, about which they say:

"We take our testing seriously at REVS. All our tests are unbiased, objective, fair and relevant. Products which win tests are given the REVS Best Buy award. They are the products we would buy with our own money. If you are looking for a new piece of kit, look for this REVS logo – anything carrying one is a winner."

Here is the content of the REVS report in its entirety:

"I've got to admit it, I was interested in this Ecotek CB-26P. The device claims to reduce emissions and fuel consumption. Bold claims, and cheap at the price if they're true.

The unit fits into a vacuum servo hose close to the inlet manifold and is a non-return valve which injects minute quantities of agitated air into the manifold at certain pressures, This leans the mixture very slightly - the quantities of air involved are about 5% but they are sufficient to create the turbulence necessary to produce improved combustion efficiency. Anyway less of all that techno babble, does it do the business?

We took a couple of Ecotek unit's along to our spanner wielding chums Supamek where we tested the product on an '87 1.4 Astra. We ran it up on the MoT emissions tester and come up with a CO figure of 1.32% volume, and a C02 reading of 14.1 % vol, It took us five minutes to fit the Ecotek, and the results were good, 0.47% CO and 12.3% C02. a marked improvement all round. After a quick test drive, response was up and the car pulled through the gears much smoother.

Not content with just one test Danny from Supamek also fitted one to his Calibra, having low emissions due to the fitment of a cat. These were his conclusions:

'When going up through the gears on the rev limit the car used to die momentarily as I changed.

It now pulls cleanly and I'm well happy - a chip upgrade does the same job. So I reckon I've saved about a £100, which can't be bad'

Fitted to everything from Bentleys to Corvettes, these things work. If you don't trust us, you'd trust the Department of Trade wouldn't you? Even they liked it."

Best Buy award REVS magazine: issue 41 Click here to see the full article.

"Saw the Revs magazine product test and purchased the item which I fitted the other day. The difference in throttle response is amazing, the car was quite sluggish till you hit 3000rpm and then it took off; now it is turbine smooth from tick-over upwards with no hesitation or flat spots. It is too early to note any improvement in fuel consumption probably because I am enjoying the improvement in performance. Anyway the product has so far lived up to expectations for which I thank you."

John Michael.

Nissan Primera 2.0eGT

STREET MACHINE Magazine

"On the road you can really feel a difference as the Neon is much more agile going through the gears." Click here for the full review.

I purchased a CB-26P about a month or so ago, after reading some excellent reviews in the press. I drive a Vauxhall Astra GSi, and the CB-26P seemed to be the ideal way to keep fuel costs and emissions down, especially as I intend to modify the vehicle. I used to get about 240-260 miles from £35 of fuel, and I am glad to say that after fitting a CB-26P I have just managed to get 306 miles from the same amount, and all but about 15 miles of that was town driving!!

An absolutely top class product, I would recommend it to anyone.

Mark Robinson - 15th May

VOLKSWAGEN DRIVER

Full Review - click here. Here's an excerpt:

"Throttle response is crisper and power delivery smoother... I would recommend this device to anyone; economies are made from the first turn of the key, and extra power is there if you need it."

Bruce Purvis - Volkswagen Driver Magazine Click here to see this and other VW reviews

" We specialise in tuning performance cars and have a persistent problem with Peugeot 205/309 GTi’s which commonly suffer from low speed jerkiness and lumpy idling. The only real solution to this has been to modify the ECU at a cost of £240.

We recently fitted the Ecotek CB2-26P to one of our own 1990 Peugeot 205 GTi 1.6’s and tested it on our rolling road – it took only 10 minutes to fit and immediately reduced CO emissions throughout the rev range. The car drove much more smoothly, was more responsive and the tick-over rock steady at 1000 rpm.

At less than £50 we think that this device could be one of the best value for money modifications for 205 and 309 Peugeot GTi’s – we left the device on the car and now also find that it improves petrol consumption by about 2 mpg."

Simon Godding - Motoscope Performance Specialists Tel: 01609 - 780155

Click here to see the REVS and FAST CAR reviews of the Ecotek device on Peugeot 205 Gti's.

REDLINE
RECOMMENDS - ECOTEK CB-26P – Tested by Dan White (March 2000).

"I was sceptical, very very sceptical. This simple device promised great things for under £50: lower emissions, reduced fuel consumption and possibly better performance. If I'm honest I went ahead fitting it with the intention of alerting the public to yet another bogus product. But I was very wrong.

Fitting takes a couple of painless minutes and the improvement was immediately apparent. My car now feels less breathless at high revs and seems to pull stronger than ever before.

I've had it fitted for a couple of months now and am more than pleased with it. The only slight downside is the sucking noise the ECOTEK creates when I lift off. It's not too unpleasant though and I've been assured that it's simple to silence should I decide I want to.

Rather stupidly, I've been driving the car with increased vigour of late thus cancelling out any potential fuel savings. I certainly haven't noticed the consumption being any worse though, despite my best efforts.

ECOTEK Technologies Plc have loads of information backing up their product, including an impressive full test by the Department of Trade and Industry. So if you want to save cash on petrol, drop your emissions and pep up your motor's performance, you could do a lot worse than getting your hands on one of these.

VERDICT: SIMPLE, CHEAP AND, IN MY CASE, EFFECTIVE."

Click here to see the full article.
REDLINE Magazine.

"I imported a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo4 2.0 Turbo (pictured) and fitted an Ecotek CB-26P on the off chance it would get through the MoT without a Catalytic Converter - to my surprise and delight it sailed through. When I told the MOT man that the car didn't have a CAT he didn't believe me and said that the emissions were VERY low. "Are you sure you’re not running your car on water mate " he said jokingly as the figures stabilised on the emission tester.

Not only were the emissions so much better, but the device made a dramatic improvement in the low end performance. The car now felt much more like the naturally aspirated MIVEC engine which utilises a separate set of cam followers for lower rpm. I previously owned the MIVEC engined Lancer and when I traded it for the EVO, the only downside was the EVO's lack of low end torque in comparison with the MIVEC engine.

Now normally you don't get something for nothing and I was worried that the engine might be running too lean and decided to do a stethoscope test at speed to see if there was any pre-ignition. I had my boost controller set to 1.2 bar and the day was very warm indeed. The car never pinked once at these settings. The mechanic drove up an inclined dual carriage-way at 120mph with his foot hard down in fifth gear. Nothing !!

So.... apart from improved emissions, there is better low down torque, improved fuel consumption and no problem with pre-ignition whatsoever. I have recommended the Ecotek to several friends including the owner of a Mazda 626 2.0 auto which now gets an extra 70 miles per tank at motorway speeds of 80mph, they are all very pleased.

I believe that this is a truly brilliant piece of engineering."

Jonathan Colling - Jonathan@octagonmusic.com

We also had some feedback via a dealer who fitted an EVO 5 driven by the Director of a Company who was so impressed that he got his whole fleet fitted - here is what he said and here is a copy of his original letter (click to enlarge)

" I would like to take this opportunity to express both our surprise and satisfaction following the fitment of the Ecotek valve to the Mitsubishi Evo 5. All too often products such as this are overstated and provide nothing near what is promised, this has to be the exception.

Since fitting the system the all round driveability of the car has improved particularly in terms of throttle response, we have also noticed an improvement in mileage.

As you are aware we have asked for the remainder of our fleet to have the system fitted and we will process our purchase order in the next few days.

Should you wish to pass this testimony on to other prospective customers then please feel free to do so, in fact we would be pleased to pass on our thoughts directly if required."

Philip Dawson - Carpet Maintenance Group - Sunderland

"As promised I thought I would let you know what effects the device has had on my 1995 'N' Renault Clio 1.2, with 65K on the clock.

The device has seemingly taken about 500 miles to 'bed in'. I have noticed that the engine is much, much smoother now than it has ever been. As for improved fuel economy...well it is just as I expected, much better. On average I am getting 50 miles per gallon, which is what Renault claim for this engine at a constant 56mph (when the engine is brand new). This is an improvement of at least 20% on what I was getting before. Cruising on the motorway at about 85mph I have got 43 mpg and cruising at 70 mph has got me at best 52 mpg."

Alex Kitney

STREET MACHINE Magazine:

Small But Perfect

"We live in a fuel-conscious world. No really, we do. While some of us might be buzzing around in the fastest fossil-fuel eaters going, there are those who say we should stop such a practice, that we should buy cheaper cars or take public transport everywhere we go. Hmm, balls to that. Public transport doesn’t take you up the strip and the only way the government could make it worthwhile would be to have topless waitresses serving tea and bickies, then you wouldn’t worry so much if you were on time.

Anyway, despite the fact we do love burning fuel, we still want to make it last as long as possible, which is where this little product comes in. Called the Ecotek, its names suggests it’s completely green but it’s actually more than that. We had one on test recently and at first it seemed too simple a device to actually feel any difference. We were wrong, and that’s a good thing. We like being wrong when such a device makes your car feel smoother, faster and promises better fuel consumption. We’ve yet to confirm the latter but it shows all the right signs.

The Ecotek CB-26P is a non-return valve and it fits on your intake manifold vacuum hose to creating an air vortex within the manifold, keeping the fuel suspended in the air. When there’s a lot of manifold vacuum this device is at its peak operation and through creating the swirl of air it means the fuel is less likely to stick to the intake walls, hence it promotes better mixture which in turn gives your engine a bigger, better bang. We felt it most of all when pulling away from low revs, the engine felt much cleaner and more eager. It was really impressive around town when driving on part throttle.

Now, at £59.50 fitted you’re unlikely to find better value for money. The guys behind the marketing of this device, Steve Daley and Barclay Lamont, say that although it was originally intended as a fuel-conscious device, it’s gaining popularity as a performance product too. It’ll go on any car, though V8s usually need two units to cope with the extra air flowing into the engine. Contact 020 8287 3472, or check the website on www.cleanburn.co.uk. You will be convinced."

Richard Nicholls - Editor - STREET MACHINE - Vol. 21 No: 10.

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