Fuel Doctor
Fuel Doctor is a $79.99[1] $59.99 product[2] claimed to increase fuel efficiency by smoothing the DC voltage of a vehicle's electronic injection system just by sticking a dildo with some flashing lights into the cigarette lighter.
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[edit] Technical
The Fuel Doctor comes in just one model, the 'FD-47 Platinum'; although why it should be given the Platinum moniker is anybody's guess. The makers claim that
“”The Fuel Doctor’s FD-47 conditions the Power Systems optimizing a motor vehicle’s electronic systems. Similar to how high end entertainment systems filter the current’s electrical noise, the Fuel Doctor works by stabilizing the voltage running through your car or truck’s ECU.
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Various other sales outlets describe the product[1]:
| The device simply plugs into a vehicle's DC outlet and stabilizes the electrical current flowing to the electrical control unit (ECU)--the computer that controls the engine's fuel injection and ignition systems--to optimize engine efficiency and improve gas mileage. It also mitigates electrical interference from the stereo, lights, or air conditioning that can negatively affect the ECU's ability to optimize fuel injection and fuel efficiency. |
[edit] Caveats
"It also takes time for the vehicle’s electronics to adjust to the cleaner signals as a result of the FD-47 power conditioning[3]" Ah yes, electronic circuits have feelings too.
[edit] FuelDoctorScam scam
An internet search for "Fuel Doctor scam" brings up a site called (unoriginally) FuelDoctorScam.com which contains only positive reviews of the product. A DomainTools search shows that the registrant is Fuel Doctor; obviously an attempt to pre-empt the expected criticism. Should you wish to contribute your own review at FuelDoctorScam then don't be surprised if it is never posted. Despite that, the positive reviews all get overwhelmingly 'dislike' votes.
[edit] Other spurious sites
[edit] Similar products
The Fuel Shark is an amazingly similar and equally spurious product that looks even more like a feminine massage device than the Fuel Doctor, and at a cheaper price. The Fuel Shark's woo is at least based in reality, however. Fuel Shark claims to use a capacitor to store energy to run your car's electrical systems, thereby taking load off the motor, especially at idle. Mazda has recently employed this technique and it has caused a significant increase in fuel economy. However, the capacitor in the Fuel Shark is orders of magnitude too small to have any effect whatsoever. Mazda's capacitor is rated at 120 farads of capacitance. Fuel Shark's is rated at 1000 microfarads.
What this means, to anyone with any knowledge of electronics, is that the Fuel Shark is simply incapable of running any of the car's electrical systems for any period of time. The Fuel Shark doesn't even store enough energy to run its own blue LED.
[edit] External links
- Official Fuel Doctor website
- Consumer Reports: Fuel Doctor FD-47 fails the Consumer Reports mpg test - Dec 7, 2010
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hammacher Schlemmer (now discontinued)
- ↑ Fuel Doctor online store
- ↑ Archive copy at the Wayback Machine Why Did Consumer Reports Label FD-47 as a “Don’t Buy”?.