Yeah, keep selling that crap...
Submitted: 9/4/2006 5:45:34 PM
Modified: 12/23/2008 7:13:39 PM
Glenn
Henderson, Nevada
Ripoff Report Verified Safe
Before you put any FFI MPG-CAPS in your vehicle or jump on their MLM bandwagon READ THIS:One of my best friends gave me a few FFI MPG-CAPS to try in my 2000 Mitsubishi Eclipse. I bought the car new 09/99, had 65,000 miles on it and NEVER had any fuel system problems. As suggested, I added 2 pills to a tank full of gas. I immediately saw a boost from 17mpg in town to approx. 24 and car seemed to have more power too. Thus, I was happy and continued to add 1 pill to each tank of gas.
After the 4th tank of gas, my car started to act like it had vapor lock. If you're not familiar with the term, it means your vehicle suddenly loses all or partial power as if your gas pedal has been disconnected. This can be VERY scary & dangerous if you are on a freeway like I was and stuck in a center lane going 15 or 20mph while people whiz around you at 75+.
I'll spare you all the details. Despite my friend swearing that the FFI pills have never caused anything like this, I stopped using the pills. The vapor lock slowly disappeared. After 3 or 4 tanks of gas without the pills, the car seemed back to normal and I never used the pills again.
Two weeks ago I had to take my car for annual smog test required by Nevada before you can renew a tag. My car failed the tests, which it has never failed before. The report indicated fuel system problems. Immediately took the car to a state licensed repair shop.
Two days and $1427 later I was given a receipt stating that contaminated fuel may have caused the damage. Reminder: Since I bought the car, I've never added anything to the gas tank except the FFI pills and never had any fuel system problems. Bottom line: I am now preparing a lawsuit against FFI.
FFI's response to me has been the same hype posted on their website and mimicked by their sales drones. However, NOWHERE on their website do they state that they've never had any reported problems. Thus, I am posting this everywhere so that other people who have experienced similar problem(s) can contact me.
I would especially like to hear from Patrick in Saint Charles, Missouri, since I believe my damage may prove his theories to be correct.
CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.
Glenn
Henderson, Nevada
U.S.A.
http://ripoffreport.com/reports/0/209/RipOff0209448.htmGas Additives: Truth or Fiction?by John J. Fanning
As gasoline prices increase beyond the $3 per gallon mark, consumers are starting to look for any method available that can help them save money at the pump. For some Americans, the rise in gas prices has forced them to make hard decisions on what to give up in their lives in order to fuel their car each week.
With concerns increasing as gas prices rise, more than a few charlatans and con-artists have come forward offering products that they promise will save consumers money by increasing fuel mileage from 15 to as much as 50 percent. Desperate Americans have been willing to shell out good money for these products in the hope of saving a few bucks, only to find themselves victims of a scam that intentionally targets the most vulnerable in a greedy effort to exploit those hurt the most by rising gas prices.
To begin any story about gasoline additives and their value to consumers, it is probably best to remind everyone that the gasoline business is competitive. There are multiple gasoline companies out there and each one wants you to buy their brand of gasoline. With this in mind, it is important to remind consumers that one of the best ways a gasoline company can attract more customers is by formulating their brand of gasoline to increase gasoline mileage. In fact, many gasoline producers do just that. It is a fact that you may increase your gasoline mileage by selecting a particular brand or increasing the grade of gasoline you use in your car. But the degree of savings you realize will depend upon a number of things, such as whether you are driving in the city or on the highway, the type of car you are driving and the manner in which you drive.
The first rule of gasoline additives for all consumers to understand is that gasoline additives have pretty much always been offered - right at the gas pump. And if someone is interested in finding ways to increase their gas mileage through additives, increasing the grade of gasoline you use is a pretty good first-step.
When it comes to third-party gasoline additives, independent testing does confirm that drivers can increase gas mileage. But the big question that has surrounded gas additives from the very first is, "at what cost"?
Let's suppose that you purchase a gas additive that increases your gas mileage by 30%. And let's suppose that before your use of the additive, you were getting 17 miles to the gallon. That means that after the additive, you are getting a little over 22 miles to the gallon or 5 miles more per gallon. Now suppose you are paying $2.90 per gallon for gas and your car has a 20 gallon gas tank. What all this means is that you can increase your gas mileage by a little more than 100 miles per fill-up for a savings of around $17.00 per tank of gasoline.
That $17.00 represents a pretty significant savings for folks who may be filling up their tanks every week. And that $17.00 in potential savings is what is spurring the growth of gasoline additives that are of dubious efficacy.
Take for example, MPG-Caps, a new product that is being marketed by Fuel Freedom International, a marketing company located in Virginia, or Florida, or Arizona, or, well, frankly we could never really pin down where they were from. We did a lot of searching to learn about the company and the product and we only learned that they seem to be connected with at least a half-dozen other companies or company names out there. Fuel Freedom is actually marketing distributors for the MPG-Caps that, according to an advertisement of theirs sent by spammed fax, will save you 20 to 30 percent at the pump and "knock out 90% of the pollution on the planet".
Wow! Apparently we can end global warming and still keep our Hummers!
MPG-Caps are designed to retail for around $20 for a package of 10 capsules. According to instructions, you initially add 2 capsules to your gas tank and then 1 capsule each time you fill your tank.
ABC television got interested in this product and apparently tried to find out more. AAA, the automotive association actually put the product to test and found that when following the manufacturers instructions, there was no measurable increase in gasoline mileage in their test vehicle. When they contacted the company, they were advised to "increase the dosage", so AAA doubled the recommended dosage to 4 capsules and still recorded no change in mileage in city driving and just a 4% increase in mileage with highway driving.
Remember the math we did a little earlier? In order for the driver of the car we used in that example to break even following the purchase of MPG-Caps - assuming they followed the recommended dosage for those caps - he or she would have to increase their mileage by around 4% to break even.
The MPG-Caps advertising make a point of stating they are "EPA Tested and Registered". For a lot of people they might think that this means the EPA endorses this product. They might think that the product was tested to prove it worked in saving consumers at the gas pump. In fact, all gasoline additives must be tested and registered with the EPA, but only to ascertain that they will not add to pollution coming from vehicles or damage pollution control devices. EPA does not "certify" or "endorse" any products from any manufacturers.It is a terrible shame that when things get really tough for some Americans, there are always a few slime balls ready to step up and make things even worse for them. I hope that after reading this, at least a few of our readers will look a little closer at the companies promising remarkable savings at the gas pump and do a little math before shelling over hard earned money to something that is nothing more than a money making scheme.
http://www.chiefengineer.org/content/content_display.cfm/seqnumber_content/2517.htmAAA: No Magic Pill For Gas Price Blues April 17, 2006
Anytime gas prices taken a sudden spike, as they've done this spring, marketers are quick to roll out gadgets, additives and magic potions that supposedly give your car increased efficiency when it comes to burning that ever-valuable fossil fuel. The latest product, a "gas pill," promises big savings but consumer groups suggest a healthy dose of skepticism.
The pill is called MPG-Cap, marketed by Fuel Freedom International. The company says by dropping a couple of the pills, which cost $2 each, into your gas tank, you can increase your gas mile by up to 20 percent. How can that be?
"MPG-Cap is an engine conditioner that simultaneously improves fuel economy and power by creating a micro-thin coating on the combustion chamber in your engine allowing your fuel to burn more efficiently," the company says on its Website.
Not so fast, says AAA. The automotive consumer group took the MGP-Cap for a test drive and said it found no improvement in mileage while driving at 34 miles per hour. There was a slight gain -- four percent -- at 65 miles per hour. Even increasing the amount of the product per gas tank didn't help.
"I didn't see anything approaching any of the claims for 10 [percent], 20 [percent] or 30 percent improvement in mileage," AAA's Tom McLaughlin told ABC's Good Morning America.The Environmental Protection Agency says it hasn't gotten around to testing MPG-Cap, but says it's seen similar products before. The EPA has tasted about 100 other fuel saving gadgets over the years, but says it has yet to find one that lives up to its claims.
Fuel Freedom International, meanwhile, says its product is "fully EPA registered (emphasis added). It says its "fuel economy technology has been proven in more than 20,000,000 miles of double blind statistically designed tests." It does not disclose on its Web site who conducted the tests or under what conditions.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2006/04/aaa_gas_prices.htmlCan a Pill Reduce Your Gas Costs?Company Says Gas Pill Leads to 10 Percent to 20 Percent Savings
April 17, 2006
With the average price of a gallon of regular gas soaring to $2.68, drivers are looking for any way to cut down on costs at the pump.
Fuel Freedom International says one pill of MPG-Cap in your tank with every fill up will increase mileage by 10 percent or 20 percent.
(ABC News)Consumer groups, however, warn promotions promising quick fixes are usually too good to be true.
One of the latest ads sweeping the Internet is a "gas pill" marketed by Fuel Freedom International. Fuel Freedom International says dropping a $2 MPG-Cap in your tank with every fill up will increase mileage by 10 percent or 20 percent. When ABC affiliate WPVI asked a AAA expert to test-drive the pill, results were not as significant.
AAA saw no improvement while driving at 34 mph and just a 4 percent increase in mileage at 65 mph.
The company recommended a bigger dose, but when AAA used four pills in the tank, it didn't make a difference.
"I didn't see anything approaching any of the claims for 10 [percent], 20 [percent] or 30 percent improvement in mileage," said Tom McLaughlin of AAA.
The company suggested McLaughlin might have to burn several tanks of gas before the pill kicked in. Fuel Freedom International did not return "Good Morning America's" calls for comment.
The Environmental Protection Agency has not tested MPG-Caps, but it has tested more than 100 other gadgets and additives that say they will save gas and has found they do not work.
"Those kind of claims, we have yet to find any kind of device or additive that can produce that type of result," said Joni Lupovitz of the Federal Trade Commission.
In 2005, ABC investigated a $90 million magnet that attached to your fuel line and was supposed to increase mileage by 27 percent. Lupovitz said when the product was tested, it was found to be bogus. The FTC sued the company, which agreed to pull its ads.
"We really want marketers to know we're watching them. We're monitoring the airwaves and the Internet and the print ads, and that we will take action if we see something that's egregious," Lupovitz said.
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/PainAtThePump/story?id=1850045&page=1FFI mpg caps magic fuel pill
Tested September 2006 A work colleague of mine is a believer in the oil industry conspiracy theory, i.e. they keep anything from going to mass market that would dramatically save oil and give us, the consumers, better fuel economy in our vehicles. Since he was going to purchase a package of the magic FFI fuel pills, I volunteered to split the cost with him on the understanding that we could use his car as the guineau pig and that we could document the results for my site. I suspected I'd just wasted some lunch money but for the sake of adding more value to my site, I figured it was worth it.
My colleague's commuting car is a 1995 Volvo 850 Turbo, automatic with 257,000 miles on the clock. It has an on board average fuel consumption display in mpg that can be reset to zero to begin an averaging run. The engine was at operating temperature before each trial.
We first did a base line run between his house and our office - about 16 miles each way - with cruise control set to either 70mph or 75mph. The route has an HOV lane on the freeway so maintaining these speeds is easy for the sake of testing. The results are tabulated below.
mpg Distance in miles Cruise setting in mph
33.6 32 75
29.4 16 75
30.6 16 70
31.4 16 70
30.6 16 70
29.4 16 75
33.6 16 75
30.6 16 70
30.6 64 70
31.4 16 70
Running avg mpg = 31.12
Next we did the same sequence of drives, but with the FFI fuel pill in the tank.
mpg Distance in miles Cruise setting in mph
28.3 32 75
29.0 32 70
30.5 32 70
27.3 32 75
29.0 64 75
29.0 32 70
27.3 16 70
28.0 16 70
29.4 32 75
28.6 32 75
Running avg mpg = 28.64
If we group the results by speed, into 70mph and 75mph groupings, this is what it looks like.
•For the pre pill 70mph speed the average is 30.86mpg
•For the post pill 70mph speed the average is 28.76mpg
•For the pre pill 75mph speed the average is 31.5mpg
•For the post pill 75mph speed the average is 28.52mpg
Conclusion. On average, with the pill in the tank, we saw a drop in fuel economy by about 2mpg. There was no perceivable increase in acceleration or the ability to perform at-speed overtaking maneuvers. This pill is another scam. Don't bother with it.
The raging debate.
As well as a response from FFI (see below), my review has garnered comments from other people who've tried this product out. Out of the many emails I've had, this is one of the most interesting:
I just want to comment on the MPG Caps from Fuel Freedom International. I tested the caps for 5 months in 4 vehicles, 2 Camrys a 2002 & 2004, a Toyota Tundra 2005 truck & a 1973 VW Beetle. I saw a decrease in mpg in all vehicles and gave up after testing over 20,000 miles total. Some people claim that it works, but you cannot prove it by me. In addition, I gave out pills to others who found either no improvement or also lost mpg. I was a distributor for them but obviously I am no longer...I do not want to promote something that only works for a few.
Followup - calling their bluff?
A couple of weeks after posting my review, I was contacted by an FFI representative who didn't think I'd been fair by trying their product out in an older car. He suggested I re-performed the test at their expense in a newer vehicle. I offered up my (at the time) 2000 mile Honda Element and gave them an address to send the product to for testing. Thanks to a natty little 'count up' javascript, I can tell you that it's now been 1060 days since then and I've yet to see anything. The original order for the product for the original test took only three days to get here. Have I called their bluff?
http://www.carbibles.com/productreviews_ffi.html
