OT: Water injection improving gas mileage?, Anyone doing it? Alot of scams with it. Just curious Options

[JRust]

So I have tried a water injection system before. It was about 5 years ago & we used it on a few cars. My father in law started it. It was supposed to use distilled water. We had mixed results with the cars we tried. Along with our mechanic who tried some too. Eventually the support just wasn't there & we quit the project. We did see a noticable jump in response on their park avenue. It would seriously throw you back in your seat when the system was on. It did not improve gas mileage though. I noticed a decent increase in response in my 240sx. Mileage improved on that also from low 20's to high to low 30's. The system seemed to be faulty though. It would work for a week then quit. I couldn't keep it working & although my mechanic was great with everything. The company which I am kicking myself for not remembering just didn't support their product, They tried to help at first but definately gave up.

So I do think there is merit here with water injection. I am just wondering if anyone is using it? If they are what system are they using? Is it just a total crock & a scammers dream?

[jjs3rd914]

In the early 1980's I had a VW bus (camper) that we installed a Corvair drive train. We used the bus to tow a trailer (FV race car). I installed a water injection system (Edlebrock I think) on the Corvair engine to reduce pinging. Leaded premium was getting hard to find. It actually did work (reduced the pinging) but was a pain to keep adjusted. I do not remember any real performance or mileage improvements.

Just recently I found the brain and two of the nozzles, but nothing else of the old system. Sold them on ebay and I believe at least $50 for the parts. So there must be an interest in the systems once again.

jjs3rd914

[kerensky]

In the early 1980's I had a VW bus (camper) that we installed a Corvair drive train. We used the bus to tow a trailer (FV race car). I installed a water injection system (Edlebrock I think) on the Corvair engine to reduce pinging. Leaded premium was getting hard to find. It actually did work (reduced the pinging) but was a pain to keep adjusted. I do not remember any real performance or mileage improvements.

Just recently I found the brain and two of the nozzles, but nothing else of the old system. Sold them on ebay and I believe at least $50 for the parts. So there must be an interest in the systems once again.

jjs3rd914

We had a similar system on our old Ford van back in the early 80s. Worked great for keeping it from pinging. Essentially you're using it to cool the fuel/air charge, which reduces preignition and allows you to run higher ignition advance (or boost in turbo applications). The advanced timing can improve mileage in some cases, but it'd probably vary widely depending upon the car and your driving habits.