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[Errol HQ]

Hello, i'm new to this forum, I've noticed lots of topics about the yellow konis, but they are not available here. I found monroe sensa-trac for my 87 '33 and would like to hear your opinions bout them (they told me they have auto regulation, no knobs or things to turn)

Also i've been searching for simple mods for my car ( i'm finishing a restorarion) and found stuff that i'm not sure if they are worth it.

- A high tension 40.000 volt coil , with proper spark plug wires
- something called spinflow, that creates a vortex of air (it goes over te carbs) producing better breathing ( they claim that you gain up to 10% torque),
- some magnets that go over the fuel line, they "arrange" the molecules giving better performance and economy...

if you have any experience with these things please let me know, thx.

[Matt Stolton]

Monroe, particularly their gas ones, are shite. 'Auto regulation' is just hype/sales speal, meaning it has fixed rebound/damping rates. Avoid like the plague. Don't always believe the saleman. He could well be on comission, or has a big pile of them he needs to shift.

The super high voltage coils are also hyped up beyond their worth. A standard working coil/ignition system with good leads of the correct impedance, with the correct plugs, will work almost exactly the same, with little performance difference, if any at all.

Spinflow, and other similar devices, are another internet only get rich quick scam. They claim whatever you want to hear, with no real proof. Anyhow, if you look around the site you will eventually see that they do not recomend for boxer engines (as you would need four, and it would lean off the mixture too much, puting holes in your pistons). They bascially claim they work by adding a 'vortex of air' into the inlet charge which is supposed to 'spin' mixture into the piston chamber. However, by letting air in, you are leaning the mixture, and most head designs and valve chambers are already designed to give the vortexing you need for the compromise between power/torque/fuel consumption etc. Anything cheap that claims more than 1% extra power/torque is usually bullshit.

To get 10% more from a standard engine is doable, but requires clever revision and the removal of compromises built into the engine by the designers to meet emisions/consumption criteria. You can get more power/torque from most engines, but it is never that cheap, and never without sacrifice to the original compromise that the engine was designed to. The same with suspension, correctly fitted Yellow konis will make the car corner faster, but your teeth will rattle as the car will have a harsher ride. It is up to you to decide the level of compromise you need for day to day life.

I have also seen the magnets thing. As I have a degree in Chemistry, I can assure you that this device will do squat all. Since octane is just C-H bonds, all nicely evenly spaced, and electrically not polarised ( a nice even layer of hydrogen atoms over its surface, with the inner backbone of regular SP3 Carbons) a magnet will do squat all. It may momentarilly make a few electrons spin slightly differently, but as they are paired up, as one moved, its pair would do the opposite and counteract the first's movement. In any event, the instant the fuel left the influence of the "resonance" magnets, if it was untangled, it would tangle fairly instantly. Any way, the only attraction between octane is very weak Van Der Wall's forces of attraction, which is random and ever changing, effectively keeping spacing between molecules fairly constant anyway.

If you consider the additives in the fuel, these are also going to interact with each other, and with the octane, and may well become intertwined to an extent, but a small magnet would do nothing, and could not overcome any strong electrostatic inter molecule bonds (H-bonding, d+ve H being attacted to d-ve charged electron rich atoms, typically oxygen, is almost as strong as a coavalent bond). However, these bonds are always of a set length, as if the molecules get too close, the like charged 'backbones' start to repel each other and over come the opposite charged attarction. An equilibrium is set up.

You would have more effect heating the fluid.

At they end of the day take most things with a pinch of salt, and question the science behind the claims. If it stands up to scutiny, it may be a genuine good idea, but will probably be expensive, to pay for its development/patents/etc.
_________________
Regards

Matt

Ex Alfa 33 'GTA' (P4 with Knobs On)
Now cruising in a 166 3.2 Ti!!

[Errol HQ]

Thanks Matt for your advice, I thought all those mods were just marketing ploys for people to get rich, just needed someone to make sure,

If I should stay clear of Monroe's then what other shock should I look for, as apparently the only one recomended here are the Konis...

[Eddie W]

Bilstein,Boge, KYB, Spax. Personally Bilstein are my favourites but I haven't tried them on a 33 yet. Daughters s2 1700 has gas Monroes on the rear and rides like a skateboard on railway crossing.
Regards Eddie