Yeah, So Holset, Garret, Cummins ETC who are all trying to get as much fuel economy and reduced emmisions as possible don't bother with them.
Exactly how turbulent do you think the air is comming out of the air cleaner?
So you bother to straighten the air right before it goes into the worlds fastest spinning air blender? I mean come on! The turbine wheel is going to organize and flow the air without the help of a few vanes in front of it.
But hey somone has to buy crystals and TAG's.

 

Who really cares about the theory as long as it works? And it does.
It's long established practice in stationary diesel engines where there is a ton of room to work with to have a certain distance of straight pipe before the turbo entrance to eliminate turbulence. There is even a formula the engineers use to figure out the length of straight pipe required vs. cfm. I don't know the formula but on an average CTD the distance comes out to around 18". Can't do that under the hood of a Ram, the inlet pipe is totally curved just to fit. The TAG does it in less than an inch. Hardly crystal science.
The material the tag is made from is originally intended for wind tunnels.
Although the TAG may cause a slight bit of restriction the laminar air flow more than compensates for it.
Cummins has been contacted about using the TAG for emissions reduction, don't know the outcome though.

 

Yet no one has any real mesurements to prove anything.
But nice picture. It helps with the types who want to believe no matter what.

 

Chevy 43, do you know something we don't know? By the way you talk, you must have proof that it doesn't work. I'm not sure I believe it does what people say it will do either, but I can't prove it doesn't. If you can, please explain because saying it doesn't work without having proof is almost as bad as saying it does work without having proof.

 

I know quite a bit about turbochargers. One thing is they have allot of power to move air as in 60 Hp or so when making boost on our Cummins. The slight eddies and turbulence in the intake makes about as much difference to the turbo as a 15mph variable wind makes to a 747 taking off. Is it better for the 747 to take off with no variable wind, yes, can you mesure the difference, not really. Obviously I can't prove anything but neither has the manufacturer and they should.

 

Think about it: the turbine blades themselves fix whatever turbulence is in the air. The scoop up the air and guide it. Why do you need a seperate thing to straighten the air that is about to be whiped into a turbo at 80,000 rpm?

 

Ive seen a product very similar to the TAG on a 97 454. It came on it stock and was used primarily so the mass air sensor could get a reading easier. I know this doesnt realy have any relavance to the cat fight at hand but just thought Id throw it out there .
Also (no real relavance here) but a guy who pulls his turbo charged tractor here locally, made an inlet tube with a series of fins in it (in a spiral pattern) that gets the air spinning before it even reaches the turbo. He really raves about it, and like I said before,this has no real relavance here but I though it was pretty cool.
Scott

 

Chevy, you've got some good points. Guess we'll all have to wait for someone to put one of these to a dyno to know for sure. I'm not getting one till I see some real dyno figures.

 

Chevy43 and skeptics. I have done my best to try and explain the benefits of the TAG. It is intended to make the turbo operate more efficiently and not all those benefits are directly demonstrated with dyno results. With that in mind dyno results for the Cummins typically show small gains such as those experienced by installing a larger exhaust or air intake.

For most, the benefits of the TAG are quicker turbo spool up, quieter turbo, some EGT reduction and towing performance. Keep in mind not all trucks have the same results using the TAG and its performance is effected by many factors including the modifications done to the truck and driving habbits. This is why I basically make no claims about the TAG and provide information only.

For those who are skeptical we offer a 30 day money back refund if you don't like what the TAG does. So rather than wonder if this thing works or not, try one and find out for yourself.

 

Turbocharger impellers are most efficient when compressing air that's entering the impeller eye in laminar (non-turbulent) flow. For decades, industrial engine practice has required a minimum of 5 diameters of straight pipe length for the air inlet piping coming into a turbocharger; if this is not possible, flow straightening devices are required. This means that, if one had 3.5" diameter inlet piping coming into the turbocharger, a minimum 5 x 3.5", or 17.5" of straight 3.5" pipe should feed the turbo inlet. Obviously, because of space limitations, this is not feasible with the 5.9L Cummins in the Dodge Ram application.

Honeycomb flow straightening devices have been used for many years in process piping, wind tunnels and aviation applications (check it out for yourself - run a Google search for "honeycomb flow straightener"). When the honeycomb material has the proper ratio of cell diameter to thickness, this technology effectively "tricks" the engine into thinking that it has the required length of straight pipe feeding the impeller eye.

A honeycomb flow straightener is not "smoke and mirrors", hocus-pocus or fuel ionizing magnets. It is well proven aerodynamic technology. Whether or not it offers significant benefits in our application will depend on the actual turbulence in the inlet flow - the more turbulent the flow, the more the TAG should be of benefit. Thus, I would expect the greatest benefit to be to those individuals who tow or haul heavy loads where the engine spends a lot of time at high accelerator pedal travel (aka "throttle" opening) conditions with high turbo airflow.

Credentials for the above - a mechanical engineer by training, I have worked for over 30 years in various technical management positions for a manufacturer of large industrial engines, turbochargers, gas turbines, reciprocating and centrifugal compressors. I have no affiliation with Diesel Power Products and/or the manufacturer of the TAG unit.

Rusty

 

Thanks for the input Rusty.

 

I agree that laminar flow is better the qestion is how much difference does it make and how much "drag" or restriction does the TAG create. It is like my 747 analogy.
It is so easy for you guys to just sit back and say everyone can expect different results and it can't be mesured on the dyno. I say BS! If it does a significant amount of good than it can be mesured in egt or boost presure or spool up time and it can be done in a controled enviroment where the results are not subjected to the fact that somone just spent alot of money on the product. If it is not smoke and mirrors than do some accurate mesurments!!!!! and cut out the double talk.

 

Say it like you meant it...

 

The dyno is not the be-all and end-all for everything. For instance, when towing our 13,500 lb 5th wheel up a 6% grade at 70 MPH in 6th gear (2350 RPM) at high "throttle" openings (yes, I know, diesel engines don't have "throttles", but you get the idea), I have a turbo aerodynamic instability problem. It's not the classic surge when the accelerator is released suddenly and fuel (and, thus, turbo drive energy) is chopped abruptly. Rather, under steady, high airflow conditions, the turbo has generated a "whoomp whoomp whoomp" noise from the first day I towed with the truck. Others who have experienced this turbo instability report that, since installing the TAG, it has not recurred. If that's the case, the TAG serves the purpose I would purchase it for, regardless of dyno numbers.

Rusty