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AAA: 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.

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