Author Topic: Can pill for car raise gas mileage?  (Read 3934 times)

loco

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Can pill for car raise gas mileage?
« on: June 04, 2009, 12:10:41 PM »
No.

Can a little pill for your car improve fuel efficiency and take the sting out of high gas prices?

At least one Florida company says the answer is a decided yes.

But AAA, the motorist club, says don't be so sure.

The MPG-Cap, sold online in packages of 10 pills for $19.95 by Fuel Freedom International, promises to increase gas mileage up to 14 percent. Independent distributors are promoting the product in the Tampa Bay area, but state and federal officials say consumers should be skeptical when buying it and other such products.

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum is investigating the company's claims, spokeswoman Sandi Copes said.

"We have had complaints against them," she said.


Meanwhile, Environmental Protection Agency officials say most products that promise big gas savings just don't work.

"We have tested over 100 different devices and additives," EPA spokesman John Millett said. "A little pill can't change the amount of energy in a unit of fuel."

Fuel Freedom International, based near Orlando, stands by its MPG-Cap product and says motorists can generate significant savings on gasoline by dropping the pill into their gas tank every time they fill up.

Fuel Freedom President Randy Ray said the company has millions of satisfied customers worldwide. Once the attorney general's office completes its investigation, he said, it "will see the value of using MPG-Caps to lower emissions and save fuel."

The pill creates a thin coating in the engine's combustion chamber, allowing the fuel to burn more efficiently, the company says on its Web site.

About this time of year, gas prices typically start rising because of increased demand, and products promising higher fuel efficiency begin showing up, largely on the Internet. Regulators and consumer groups say many of the products don't significantly improve gas mileage.

"We do not put much faith in a lot of the products that make all kinds of claims to increase your gas mileage," AAA spokesman Gregg Laskowski said. "These things come out of the woodwork, especially when gasoline prices go higher."

AAA disputes Fuel Freedom's claims.

"One of our clubs tested it. We didn't find any improvement in mileage," Laskowski said of the MPG-Cap.


In a test involving one car, AAA said it found no gas mileage improvement while driving at 34 mph. At 65 mph, gas mileage improved by 4 percent, which is below the company's claim of 7 percent to 14 percent, the travel club said.

"Even increasing the amounts of the product did not help," Laskowski said.

Fuel Freedom spokeswoman Melissa Arnoff said AAA's testing method was flawed. AAA drove the car 30 miles, not enough to get accurate test results, she contends.

"You can't get that coating in 30 miles," Arnoff said. "You need to blend through two tanks of gas."

Other companies hawking fuel efficiency products have run into trouble with regulators. Last year, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott sued BioPerformance Inc., which said its gas pills and powders could increase fuel efficiency by at least 30 percent.

In January, the company agreed to pay the state $7 million in restitution to customers.

Patrick Davis has sold the MPG-Cap in Tampa for about three months.

"The price of gas is going up," Davis said. "It's getting ridiculous, and we have a solution."

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070330/BUSINESS/703300381

loco

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Re: Can pill for car raise gas mileage?
« Reply #1 on: June 04, 2009, 12:13:27 PM »
Attorney General Abbott Shuts Down Pyramid Scheme That Marketed Bogus Fuel Pill

BioPerformance ordered to return more than $7 million to victims of pyramid scheme

AUSTIN - Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today stopped a Dallas-based pyramid scheme from illegally marketing the so-called "top secret gas pill" that it falsely claimed would increase fuel efficiency in automobiles. The Attorney General's settlement with BioPerformance and its owners, Lowell Mims and Gustavo Romero, prevents the defendants from continuing to deceptively market their products and ends the State's eight-month legal action against the company.

A combination of the defendants' frozen assets and the dissolution of two trusts created by Mims and Romero will provide more than $7 million in compensation to deceived consumers. Mims and Romero may continue to operate any legitimate enterprise, but may not deceptively market BioPerformance pills or similar fuel additive products.

"Swift legal action stopped this cynical, brazen scheme to defraud consumers," said Attorney General Abbott. "With gasoline prices hitting record highs, these defendants aggressively marketed their worthless product as a wonder-cure. Sadly, these do-nothing pills were merely the tools of an elaborate pyramid scheme that enriched the sellers while buyers were left with empty hands and empty wallets."

Attorney General Abbott added: "Texans will not tolerate con artists who prey upon unsuspecting consumers. Though we will continue aggressively cracking down on fraudulent pyramid schemes that profiteer from worthless products, consumers should always be dubious when offered 'miracle' products that are long on hype but short on credible proof."

Last May, the Attorney General filed a lawsuit against BioPerformance that accused the company of violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. According to court filings, BioPerformance repeatedly and falsely claimed that its fuel pills could improve vehicular fuel efficiency by as much as 30 percent while also reducing engine emissions by 50 percent. BioPerformance also sold its fuel additive in powder form.

The Attorney General further alleged that the worthless product, combined with the defendants' downline marketing scheme, constitutes a product-based pyramid scheme, which violates the Texas Pyramid Promotional Scheme statute. By the defendants' own admission, they recruited 50,000 participants within six months of their scheme's inception.

Just months after BioPerformance's creation in 2005, the Office of the Attorney General received reports that Mims and Romero were making false claims about their product.

Appearing before standing-room-only crowds at seminars they organized across the country, Mims and Romero touted their products' capacity to significantly increase fuel efficiency and reduce vehicle emissions. At the seminars, the defendants' true purpose was to recruit product resellers who were charged several hundred dollars to join the scheme. Those newly minted resellers were subsequently instructed to recuit additional resellers and thus create a "downline" from which they could derive commissions.

BioPerformance's extensive Web site made similar unsubstantiated claims about product's capabilities, often referring to it as a "top secret formula" that was only available through company resellers. The site also reiterated defendants' sales pitches, promising potential resellers that selling the pills and recruiting others to do the same would reap them substantial fortunes.

To aid its investigation, the Office of the Attorney General retained respected scientific experts whose chemical analysis not only revealed that the defendants' pills did not significantly reduce fuel consumption, but also exposed naphthalene, a substance also used in moth balls, as their main ingredient. Although the defendants claimed that the pills were "non-toxic," "good for the environment," and "extremely safe...in all aspects of use," naphthalene is a toxin.

The State also determined that BioPerformance resellers credited with recruiting additional downline sellers were paid substantially higher commissions than were those who actually sold the company's products. Such a marketing and recruitment scheme is often indicative of a pyramid scheme.

Further evidence of a pyramid scheme was provided by Romero, the company's Vice President and Co-Founder, who admitted to selling BioPerformance for as much as $50 a bottle, despite its comparatively low $4 manufacturing cost. The defendants' dramatic markup on their worthless product, coupled with their downline marketing strategy, indicate they were organizing an elaborate, illegal, and unsustainable pyramid scheme.

In the coming weeks, the Office of the Attorney General will review consumer complaints and other data to determine how it will administer the resources available for consumer restitution. Consumers with questions or who wish to file a complaint can call 1-800-252-8011 (for callers within Texas) or (512) 463-2100 (for callers outside Texas). Complaint forms are also available online at www.oag.state.tx.us.

http://www.oag.state.tx.us/oagNews/release.php?id=1906

Migs

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Re: Can pill for car raise gas mileage?
« Reply #2 on: June 04, 2009, 12:19:29 PM »
que jags in

3


2


1

24KT

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Re: Can pill for car raise gas mileage?
« Reply #3 on: June 04, 2009, 02:15:20 PM »
que jags in

3


2


1

To do what? ...defend those scum bags? Heck no! I'm glad they were shut down. I wish it'd happened sooner

I hate con-artists & pyramid schemes. They give legitimate network marketers a bad name.
I also detest evangelicals. They make sane people both homicidal and/or suicidal, and turn people off to religion.

Combine an evangelical pastor with a pyramid scheme and you have nothing good that will come from that.

I'm glad they were shut down. I only wish they'd done jail time. They did a lot of damage to many innocent people.

Now that they are out of the picture, ...legitimate network marketers who market a safe, proven & effective product can get on with the business of assisting fuel consumers with their efforts to do their part to help the environment, by reducing their fuel consumption, increasing their mileage, and reducing their vehicular pollution.

www.milespergallonproducts.com

www.fuelfreedomvision.com
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Migs

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Re: Can pill for car raise gas mileage?
« Reply #4 on: June 04, 2009, 08:44:02 PM »
To do what? ...defend those scum bags? Heck no! I'm glad they were shut down. I wish it'd happened sooner



no to throw your opinion on this since it's right up your alley.

You've been very aggressive lately.  Are you in need of tiramisu?

24KT

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Re: Can pill for car raise gas mileage?
« Reply #5 on: June 05, 2009, 08:55:42 AM »
Ooops... forgot to respond to the first post.


Can pill for car raise gas mileage?

Can a little pill for your car improve fuel efficiency and take the sting out of high gas prices?

At least one Florida company says the answer is a decided yes.

But AAA, the motorist club, says don't be so sure.

The MPG-Cap, sold online in packages of 10 pills for $19.95 by Fuel Freedom International, promises to increase gas mileage up to 14 percent. Independent distributors are promoting the product in the Tampa Bay area, but state and federal officials say consumers should be skeptical when buying it and other such products.

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum is investigating the company's claims, spokeswoman Sandi Copes said.

"We have had complaints against them," she said.

Yes, there were complaints that occured during our first few months of operations.
Customer demands were sooo swift, the product was selling faster than we could manufacture it.
As a result, there were a few delays in fulfilling orders. There were those who had set up auto-ships,
...and some saw subsequent autoship charges taking place prior to event receiving their previous shipment.
that has a bit of a tendency to annoy people, ...and may have given the impression there was no viable product.

This coupled with the fact that BioPerformance claimed we were doing the same thing they were caused Charlie Crist  the AG in Florida to launch an investigation. Charlie has since gone on to become governor of Florida. bill Mccollum inherited the investigation, ...and from what I can gather, doesn't know what to do with it. All these years later, ...they have found no wrong doing on our part, and our company is still open for business having expanded to over 228 countries and territories around the world.

Quote
Meanwhile, Environmental Protection Agency officials say most products that promise big gas savings just don't work.

"We have tested over 100 different devices and additives," EPA spokesman John Millett said. "A little pill can't change the amount of energy in a unit of fuel."

Our product doesn't claim to alter the amount of energy in a unit of fuel.

Quote
Fuel Freedom International, based near Orlando, stands by its MPG-Cap product and says motorists can generate significant savings on gasoline by dropping the pill into their gas tank every time they fill up.

Fuel Freedom President Randy Ray said the company has millions of satisfied customers worldwide. Once the attorney general's office completes its investigation, he said, it "will see the value of using MPG-Caps to lower emissions and save fuel."

The pill creates a thin coating in the engine's combustion chamber, allowing the fuel to burn more efficiently, the company says on its Web site.

About this time of year, gas prices typically start rising because of increased demand, and products promising higher fuel efficiency begin showing up, largely on the Internet. Regulators and consumer groups say many of the products don't significantly improve gas mileage.

"We do not put much faith in a lot of the products that make all kinds of claims to increase your gas mileage," AAA spokesman Gregg Laskowski said. "These things come out of the woodwork, especially when gasoline prices go higher."

I love his broad generalizations. I can see where you'd devour it hook line & sinker tho... he used the word faith.  :P

Quote
AAA disputes Fuel Freedom's claims.

"One of our clubs tested it. We didn't find any improvement in mileage," Laskowski said of the MPG-Cap.


In a test involving one car, AAA said it found no gas mileage improvement while driving at 34 mph. At 65 mph, gas mileage improved by 4 percent, which is below the company's claim of 7 percent to 14 percent, the travel club said.

"Even increasing the amounts of the product did not help," Laskowski said.

Of course increasing amounts of the product didn't help. increasing the dosage will only give you worse results.

Quote
Fuel Freedom spokeswoman Melissa Arnoff said AAA's testing method was flawed. AAA drove the car 30 miles, not enough to get accurate test results, she contends.

"You can't get that coating in 30 miles," Arnoff said. "You need to blend through two tanks of gas."

At least. The longest I've seen it take was 3 months. Boy was that trucker glad he stuck with it.

Quote
Other companies hawking fuel efficiency products have run into trouble with regulators. Last year, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott sued BioPerformance Inc., which said its gas pills and powders could increase fuel efficiency by at least 30 percent.

In January, the company agreed to pay the state $7 million in restitution to customers.

EXACTLY!!! They've all been shut down or gone out of business very shortly, ...whereas we're still in business,
...still have happy customers throughout 228 countries & territories around the world. We even get accolades from others countries like China who awarded up "The Top Potential New eCommerce brand in all of China"

Quote
Patrick Davis has sold the MPG-Cap in Tampa for about three months.

"The price of gas is going up," Davis said. "It's getting ridiculous, and we have a solution."

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070330/BUSINESS/703300381

Absolutely we have a solution, ...not only to higher fuel prices, ...but also more stringent EPA emission regulations as well.
w