Jus Another Gas Pod

[Jus-A-CMax]

I decided to take a look at these Gas Pods after a couple of other owners here tried them and reported positive results. I wanted to check these out myself and BANG someone here posted these were deemed "snake oil" by the GOD MIGHTY AUTHORITY of another forum. Huh?

 

So...let me  get to the point - these Gas Pods are controversial. Google them and there are some very nasty, nasty attack postings about them on various forums. They have been called anything from :airquote:  snake oil to scams. Mostly from those who have never used them. You spot the occassional one post or two who claim to have used them and it was a waste of them with no other information and data associated with them.

 

As a mod here and with Adair, neither of us will tolerate any attacks or nastiness which may come from people posting their comments and usage on this. So if you think you can come in here as a :noobie:  and start lambasting away at this or any other issue on this forum - watch out.

 

Now we got the formalities out of the way, lets get back to this.

 

My Initial Thoughts

Right up front, I thought they would not work. Even with my wifey, she bet me $5 these would not work. Yeah, she read those forums too. I know for a fact, mtb is a driver here who struggles to get any decent MPGs, ptjones is another who is always tinkering and so was catsailor. All 3 are long time posters here and all of them reported positive results. That had me rethink. However none of them seem to provide any figures. What figures any of them did post were soon jumped upon here as not being "scientific" enough, no baselines. If that's the expectation jus stop reading now and go to another thread because the rest of this post won't meet your high expectations or standards. I am not in the business of scientific research field and probably 99% of the posters here aren't either so don't hold me or others up to those standards. Cool....disclaimer #2 out of the way.

 

So why did I get these? Because I can. I am curious. I really don't care if they work or not and they look cool anyway. So I have no skin either way if they work OR NOT.

 

About Me

I owned my CMax since Dec 2012. I have over 20,000+ miles logged on my fuelly.com (Jus-A-CMax) and my Avg MPG is pretty darn high with a running MPG of 54.7s and an Lifetime 48.6 MPGs. I have since got 3 x 800+ miles per tank and a ton of 600 and 700s. So yes, I am a hypermiler who regularly beats the Ford 43MPG or Consumer Report 38MPG touted for the CMax. Yes, I didn't get the memos from either Ford Motor Company or Consumer Report - I did check with my secretary and we are positive this  :rtfm:  memo was not sent out and received by us....bad Ford and bad Consumer Report :finger:

 

Ordering

Ordering was easy. I also decided to join their "test" program. And sent them my lat 2,000 fuelly.com miles. For that I received a 20% discount on the order and if I submit my next 2,000 miles, they rebate another 20%. Cool, no loss there. The postage at $9 something was expensive. I could have driven to Santa Barbara and picked these up myself and still have money left for an ice cream on the beach to enjoy the rolling waves and sand.

 

My package arrived in about 4 days, nothing special in that. USPS.

 

Package

I said this before and I will say it again. The Gas Pods arrived in a USPS box and in a brown paper bag. Along with a business card and also a color print of someone's black CMax and where to position it. I looked at the picture and all it had were some lines and that was it and some verbiage to follow the curvature. At least they could improve the documentation here with a photo of some actual gas pods on a CMax to visually show it. But no.

 

The brown paper bag was a shocker. I just paid nearly $55 for these Gas Pods and they came in a brown paper bag. Susanne replied that I was the first to complain about it - hell yeah, I spent this money at least you could package it - even just a bit, nicer. Susanne's comment  was that it was eco-friendly. Yes, it is eco-friendly but even other sellers who pacakge their product in similar "eco-friendly packaging" still made it look professional. Initial impression is everything

 

Baselines - of sorts.

I use my CMax everyday to travel to work, go to lunch, head to the golf course, head to the golf shops, gym and then head home. My route from home to work is pretty consistent as its the most efficient route for a hybrid to take. Minimize on traffic, long stretches of blocks to run EV with a slight downgrade. This is Los Angeles and although we have a pretty much f*cked up city (IMHO), we are blessed with consistent weather. It does not rain here and 99% of the year, its windless or just the gentlest of breezes that roll west over the Santa Monica ranges into the San Fernando valley.

 

Traffic. This is LA. It's busy here all the time especially during peak hour. But consistently busy though. I take the surface streets, and its trouble free most of the time. Yeah, I spend more time in the car but hell.

 

Below is the map of my "To Work" route:

 

 

NOTE: This is not the exact route to protect my privacy, I have tweaked the start and end points but the middle sections are true.

 

 

Stats

This is my stats. I marked off the "To Work" section in gray. This is the exact same road I travel in my drive to work so you have, somewhat, apples to apples comparision with the pre-gas pods vs. gas pods.

 

 

 

About the To Work

10/09 to 10/14 I did these runs before I got the Gas Pods. On 10/21 I redid the same run after I got the gas pods. The 78.1 is not unusual, it does happen but that day I had the right sequence of lights running. If you look at 10/15, I had a similar run with the Gas Pods. Lets put these 2 down as kindness from the MPG Gods.

 

However, note the consistencies of the other 4 "To Work" runs in both the Pre Gas Pods and Gas Pods. Those are my figures from the car, but when I do the actual driving, when the car is in between 33 and 45 mphs in EV - I definitely feel the EV use (at its most minimal in my glide phase) returns the most :airquote: bang-for-the-bucks. The car seems to go further for the same EV use. As I said, I know my routes and traffic, and the gas pods days do seem to have the car go further when I use the EV.  I am going to say this but I also feel acceleration from 15mph to 35 mph is a wee tad quicker with gas pods than none. No, I did not have another driver sit with me with a timer. However, my Gas Pods day stats seem to show some improvement there and these 2 areas are what I see and feel as the driver.

 

About Total for Day

The miles travelled here have more variations because I would sometimes head to the golf course, or head to the gym or head to Glendale, after work. But I always head home and I try to keep the same roads as possible because I really know that road. While the To Work road is from top to level, the route from work is level back to the top.

 

Again, the pre Gas Pod days looks pretty consistent for the 4 out of the 5 days. Even the 10/11 the total for the day MPG was not stellar, being only 61.50.

 

However, look at the same Total for Day in the Gas Pod period. Even when I travelled 63.1 miles, I finished with a consistent 63+ MPG.

 

 

Well...you can say "what do you know, you're no professinal driver". True. But I have clocked over 21,000+ miles in this car in 9 months and working as an appraiser where I did a TON of miles over a lot of terrain and roads, I probably know a thing or 2 and spent more time with my car on these LA roads than you have spent having dinner & washing up afterward with your wife/girlfriend over this same period. So I know every whine and noise my car makes and I know what it can do on the City streets and Freeways. Not bragging but I don't wish the hours that I spent in this car on anyone else but it is what it is. Some of my 800+ mile tanks, I have recorded 45+ hours over a span of 3-4 weeks.

 

 

 

My thoughts

When I started this, I was as skeptical as the rest of the Internet world - thats jus healthy. But I wanted to prove it to myself. If you asked me NOW if these Gas Pods work or not?

 

Yes. They work for me. They work for my style of driving. These are my stats and I happy with the consistency shown without them and with them on my car.

 

To me, the most stand out thing and physical thing I feel is that with these Gas Pods on, the CMax seem to glide further and I am able to maximize my EV use much, much more. This is where I make my MPG mullah - how I use and optimize my EV as much as possible. 

 

I also learnt that the improvements are, imo stellar but they are NOT Galactic. To put this in prespective, given NO Gas Pods and with a well timed traffic light and right traffic, I can beat the average of my gas pod stats right now. However, given those same conditions and with the gas pods on, I can trump that.... ;)

 

From what I have seen, the improvement is around 5% to 7% with the Gas Pods on. Thats consistent with what I believe the Aerohance team are saying.

 

So for now and for me: they plain work :dance: I am collectin.... my wifeys $5 :thumbsup:

 

For all the things we can to our CMax without breaking out the drill or tape such as inflating the tires, I would rank the improvement here above inflating the tires to improve your MPG.

 

 

Do these Gas Pods keep the rear clean?

One of the issues with the CMax is that it seemed to suck the dirt to the rear bumper bar and the liftgate. If you are asking me does these Gas Pods forever keep the rear clean - NO, they do not. My finger test still had the same dirt. And No, I am not going to post a picture of this, you get the idea.

 

Now, does it help reduce the dirt. From my use so far and from what I am seeing jus washing the car, probably reduce it a tad but nothing GALACTIC in the reduction. So don't have your hopes up for this. As a note, others CMax gas pod owners have said they do reduce but I beg to differ - may be my LA air is jus plain dirtier than other cities, lol...I should not laugh....oh no :nonono:

 

 

 

Food for Thought

One thing I know for sure 13b07 was a BAD move for City drivers like me. I could get better MPGs back then but I cannot now, its a struggle to get even in 60, 61 as a total MPG for the day. Perhaps I tweaked my driving style too much or not but I can say, the old pre-13b07 without gas pods would have given the post 13b07 gas pods a real run for the money. When I did my 833.8 miles tank (the 1st Maxer to break the 800 barrier, I was averaging over 63MPGs total for the day and I finished that tank with 64 MPG).

Also, I know for a fact, these gas pods stay on in a bad accident also. Those magnets are strong!

 

So Aerohance - fix up your packaging and your documentation and you have a finer product to at least make the buyer feel they brought a professional product for their money. These pods aren't cheap so I hope you take up this advice.

 

 

Happy Maxing guys..... :flyaway:

Edited October 27, 2013 by Jus-A-CMax

[catsailor]

Like u I have decided that they work for me too. I told Susanne I am keeping mine on. Screw the exacting science as I see the performance on the highway. Too many variables to a hybrid to fix the same conditions is what I told Susanne but ur results speak very well to performance. Catsailor

[Jus-A-CMax]

Like u I have decided that they work for me too. I told Susanne I am keeping mine on. Screw the exacting science as I see the performance on the highway. Too many variables to a hybrid to fix the same conditions is what I told Susanne but ur results speak very well to performance. Catsailor

 

I was hesitant to post my results and when I initially did, it was a secret post, kinda and that was because of the attitude and pedantic nature that thread was taking. This is my thread and I will do what I want - hence this is my take on these Pods. I just find it amusing that slapping on some lexan wheel covers are totally accepted science while deturbulators such as this which work on aircraft is voodoo science.

 

Yeah...I did the best I could and all I am saying is here it is, here is what it is is FOR ME. And yes, I am keeping mine on as well....lol, when I have Maxine back.

 

I did a 50/50 City/Freeway on my last run before the crash and I pulled up a 65.3MPG going from Woodland Hills to Santa Monica Blvd and again, these things are better for the EVing as they seem to reduce the resistence from the rear and its showing up in how I can EV further.  I was headed south on the 405 from San Fernando to Santa Monica (those who live here know exactly what a climb that is)...and I was getting so much EVing on the way down Sepluveda Pass. Look it ain't my 1st time EVing down the Sepulveda Pass but it was a 1st for me with the gas pods, the car seemed to roll forever with very little input from the EV....I was amazed and like I said, I ain't seen this performance from what I remember. I truly enjoyed passing all the other cars with their gas engines running and even pass many number of Prii who I know were gassing it....yaaah!

[HannahWCU]

Thank you Jus for an impartial review of gas pods. I, for one, had my doubt's about whether they actually improved gas mileage or not. But I also have an open mind and like you saw ALOT of negative reviews. Funny thing is, all these negative discussions said they have never seen any scientific evidence that they work, well, I have never seen any scientific evidence that they don't either. So, again, thank you for your opinion on the product.

Edited October 27, 2013 by HannahWCU

[C-MaxSea]

"Excellent !!!  Great to hear!". Thanks for posting data.  (A little harsh up there)

 

Nick

[Jus-A-CMax]

"Excellent !!!  Great to hear!". Thanks for posting data.  (A little harsh up there)

 

Nick

You're welcome​ :) . Yeah it was mate but it reflect the frustration that I and others felt as being muzzled because of the fear of the controversy. I toned the part down a bit after your post.

 

Thus I moved away from that thread to start my own with my own stats for some backup. 

Edited October 27, 2013 by Jus-A-CMax

[fbov]

Nothing disperses snake oil better than data. I will add that a skeptic would still point to the small number of days, only 100 miles each, but an experimentalist would say the work route data shows a difference with 96% probability (full day data is 99.96%). That's pretty good in my book! Thanks for holding off on results until you could write it up like this, and leave little doubt what you found.

 

Conversely, sorry to see that life has rewarded you in a most unfortunate manner! I trust in your ability to handle whatever it throws at you!

 

HAve fun,

Frank

 

PS both aero wheel covers and modifications of rear parting edges are well known avenues to reducing drag. The difference is that is easy to see how one might make effective aero wheel covers, lots of folks have made them, tested them, and documented the improvement. The only universally accepted and widely successful approach I see to rear parting boundaries is the Kamm back, which seeks to extend the "template" roofline farther, and provide a clean parting edge.

 

GasPods seek to do the same sort of thing, but it's hard to see how something that sticks up into the airflow might succeed in that regard. Data tells us what's happening, understanding has to adapt.

[Jus-A-CMax]

I wish I could play more Frank but -alas- as I told Nick, I was getting so excited...that day I had a 78.4MPG run to work and I had scored a 65.3 run and I was so looking forward to pulling Maxine into the garage to see how she performed on the Freeway with the Pods (heading mostly upslope) but alas ended up in the ER that night instead.....thats jus life.

 

I'll let you figure out how with Susanne & her team, and I know you're more civil and more productive back and forth with her than the other forums - thank goodness. I'd like to know how. However, I know what I am seeing and feeling especially in the EV - its subtle, not in your face but it's incrementally enough and it will eventually add up.

 

What I also didn't say is that my MPGs are very high and I doubted it could get any better with these pods. 13b07 seemed to take some MPGs off and I feel like these Pods added the MPGs Ford removed.

 

Time to bed, its been a long day for me... :)

[asb]

Because I drive mostly on the highway, my mileage is way behind everyone else's.  I would love to at least hit 500 miles per tank on a consistent basis.  I'm interested in trying gas pods if they would help.  I do try to coast quite a bit on the highway.  Any thoughts?

[ptjones]

Great Post Jus-A-CMax and your results appears similar to the rest of us with GASPODS plus you got another $5 discount. I'm so envious. LOL Sorry to hear about your CMAX, I hope you are OK and is CMAX going to be OK?

I would think the GasPods work better the faster you go, more suction, more drag.

 

Next Tuesday I head to Phoenix and hope to raise my record to over 900mi. with the addition of wheel covers and 50PSI. Weather appears to be good and will polish up the CMAX this time.  I will start new thread to post my progress.

Paul

[wab]

Because I drive mostly on the highway, my mileage is way behind everyone else's.  I would love to at least hit 500 miles per tank on a consistent basis.  I'm interested in trying gas pods if they would help.  I do try to coast quite a bit on the highway.  Any thoughts?

 

Similar to you most of our summer driving is at speed, that first mid 35 mpg was........ how to be diplomatic :gaah: !

 

A few decades ago I read an article with "scientific data" that pretty much said you have to be illegal for any aerodynamics to have any effect, at the time the USA legal speed limit was 55.

 

When I read about shutters on the c-max I thought "yea right" then I saw them when doing the mods for our motor home.

There is NO WAY Ford or any manufacture is going to spend that kind of money if it doesn't reward them with some major mpg gains!

 

Now Ford says there will be some changes to the back of the 2014, makes one pause a minute say hhmm maybe those pods do have some value.

Edited October 27, 2013 by wab

[ArizonaEnergi]

To me, the most stand out thing and physical thing I feel is that with these Gas Pods on, the CMax seem to glide further and I am able to maximize my EV use much, much more. This is where I make my MPG mullah - how I use and optimize my EV as much as possible. 

 

From what I have seen, the improvement is around 5% to 7% with the Gas Pods on. Thats consistent with what I believe the Aerohance team are saying.

 

 

Excellent documentation and a near perfect testing regiment.  I was and remain a skeptic that these small fins would impact MPG but another 20-30 results reported by you, with and without them on alternative days for example, might sway me into becoming a believer.  Well done!

[catsailor]

Four (4) Adults, full rear cargo storage space with luggage and all for a weekend trip to St Michaels MD. Return trip home at 45.4 mpg at +95 miles driven. YEAH THE PODS WERE INSTALLED and I held to all posted speed limits 55 on back roads and 65 on Rt 50 and 495. This was a first for me having the payload and luggage so quite happy being over 45 MPG. The overall tank is +46.6 so far and I am getting ready to fill up again. Can't tell you that the pods were the difference because I have never had such a payload.

Edited October 28, 2013 by catsailor

[asb]

The one time I had five people in the car and the cargo area full of luggage, my mileage tanked big time.  :)  I think the pods are working for you.

 

Next question, how do I get them?

[catsailor]

Aerohance.com

 

the koolaid for geeks looking for FE :)

[asb]

Aerohance.com

 

the koolaid for geeks looking for FE :)

Thanks!

[hybridbear]

Awesome information about the pods. Thanks for the impartial review.

[fbov]

Excellent documentation and a near perfect testing regiment.  I was and remain a skeptic that these small fins would impact MPG but another 20-30 results reported by you, with and without them on alternative days for example, might sway me into becoming a believer.  Well done!

I agree that 20-30 points is required if you want to see a reasonable picture of the data distribution, but Jus' 5 points are enough to give a good estimate of the central tendency. He also did a "remove and replace" at the end with little effect. If we can assume that Southern California is a fairly stable environment, unlike my neck of the woods, I don't see a caveat, besides the ones below.

 

In addition, the statistical comparison I reported is one that accounts for sample size (t-test, equal variance). The only reason the "to work" data is lower confidence is due to a potential high-side outlier in both test (80.4) and control (78.1) populations. Compare the 4 lowest points and it's all 99.9%+ confidence, just like the "whole day" data.

 

So, we can confidently say that anyone driving like Jus will see a positive benefit. The two issues are a) we're not dealing with a normal driver (Jus' baseline MPG is among the highest) and b) we're analyzing a variabile that's highly non-linear.

 

The first is important because there are many ways to lose energy, and none to create it. Jus has already demonstrated the ability to conserve energy about as well as the car's capable of conserving. That means he's minimized most losses, save for the parasitic losses, aero drag and rolling resistance. Put another way, aero drag results in a larger fraction of Jus' fuel consumption than for most of us normal folk. That amplifies the affect of any change in aerodynamincs of the car - he's an ideal tester!

 

The second is that MPG is inversely related to fuel consumption: MPG = miles / gallons used. Use 1% less gas and you may see a 5% increase in MPG, or 0.1%. In this case, a 7.2% increase in MPG results in a 6.6% reduction in fuel used. The numbers will only be equal at 40 MPG, with MPG favored at higher MPGs, and fuel consumption favored at lower MPGs.

 

HAve fun,

Frank

Edited October 28, 2013 by fbov

[ptjones]

Interesting that all of us using GasPods see some benefit.

Paul

[frbill]

I was so impressed with the data Jus was developing that I ordered the Gas Pods for my C-Max. Unfortunately it decided to have 12 voltanitis and I called it quits before I could test out the pods. I am using them on my Energi now but will probably pass them on to my parents for their C-Max.

 

Peace,

 

Father Bill

[Recumpence]

I find the comment about wheel covers to be very telling. When I installed mine, everyone pretty much assumed they would help and they do. I see a 1.5 to 2mpg increase with them installed overall. On the highway that number is higher, below 30mph there is nearly zero increase. No-one argued with me, though I did not do any scientific testing, just my before mod mpg and afterward mpg report. Yet, these little pods get knocked everytime someone decides to post anything positive about them.

 

For those who wonder how adding something to the frontal area can improve mileage, allow me to illustrate by pointing out that nearly evey major airliner now uses wing tip fins. Those "Added" fins should increase drag. But, they do the reverse by reducing the wake vortex. This is somewhat similar to what is going on with the gas pods.

 

I would hazard a guess that some body styles will see a drastic benefit while other body styles will see no benefit what-so-ever.

 

I, for one, plan on ordering a set. After all, I already have the aero mods on my car to increase mpg, I may as well go all the way.

 

Oh, my lifetime mpg is currently at 49.2 with my daily average at 54mpg. Maybe I could up that by a couple mpg?

 

We shall see.   :)

 

Matt

Edited October 29, 2013 by Recumpence

[fbov]

Matt, there's a reason...

PS both aero wheel covers and modifications of rear parting edges are well known avenues to reducing drag. The difference is that is easy to see how one might make effective aero wheel covers, lots of folks have made them, tested them, and documented the improvement. The only universally accepted and widely successful approach I see to rear parting boundaries is the Kamm back, which seeks to extend the "template" roofline farther, and provide a clean parting edge.

 

GasPods seek to do the same sort of thing, but it's hard to see how something that sticks up into the airflow might succeed in that regard. Data tells us what's happening, understanding has to adapt.

 

It's a very human thing to distrust what we don't understand. Folks can understand aero wheel covers - they look like they smooth the side of the car and smooth is good - at least they think they can.

 

In fact, aero wheel covers and GasPods work for the same reason - they modifying parting edges. The wheel well is a hole on the side of the car. Air exiting that hole is skewed relative to the laminar flow along the side of the car. Injecting air into that laminar flow causes far more drag than simply passing it over an uneven surface. It's the flip side of blocking air entry across the front grill; that air's aero damage comes when it exits, not when it enters the grill. Aero anaysis is odd in that the front of the car's not what's important, it's the effect in the air just behind that shows you evidence fo damage done farther up the stream.

 

In addition, if you have vented disk brakes, the wheel well contains a fan in the form of that vented rotor. I found a nice paper on rotor cooling that includes wheel effects, motion and wind tunnel testing. There's not much on wheels besides this: 

 

Clearly, preventing air flow through wheels has negative impact on brake cooling. I point this out not as a problem, but rather as proof that there is airflow out of the wheel and into the air stream along the vehicle's flanks. The blocked wheels are substantially similar to aero wheel covers in blocking air flow. A comparison of flush disks to simple blockinig might be interesting... and no, a hybrid is not in danger of brake overheating unless you're on a race track!

 

I'll also point out that GasPods don't change a C-Max frontal area if placed on the trunk lid spoiler, as the high point is at your head. The spoiler edge is farther along the template and so low enough that the little bumps only intrude into the air stream, but don't add frontal area. Not unlike the winglets, they modify parting edges for a beneficial reduction in drag.

 

Have fun,

Frank

[fbov]

For those interested in a little aero testing, I can upon a very nice set of articles, one of which shows how vortex generators can reduce drag.

 

The idea is to set up the back of your car for a "tuft test" wherein you tape tufts of yarn to the car surfaces and then photograph them at speed to see what the airflow is doing. 

- Laminar flow regions, the tufts lie flat and straight.

- Turbulent regions they bend and twist in many directions.

 

The link explains this all very well, including a practical analysis of rear window turbulence and the effect of vortex generators at the rear edge of the roof, 2 ft. ahead of the turbulent region. My first thought was if anyone had done this with a C-Max, because I like to understand a problem before trying to fix it. My next thought was how busy I am this weekend...

 

Any chance someone's aready tufted their C-Max?

 

HAve fun,

Frank

[ptjones]

Frank, thought has crossed my mind taping long pieces of different colored 1/4" ribbon on top, sides and back of car to see air flow pattern. Will see if I can make some time to experiment.

 

Anyone have connections to someone with a wind tunnel!?! LOL

[Jus-A-CMax]

Frank, thought has crossed my mind taping long pieces of different colored 1/4" ribbon on top, sides and back of car to see air flow pattern. Will see if I can make some time to experiment.

 

Anyone have connections to someone with a wind tunnel!?! LOL

 

Paul, I am surprised you have not done something similar with A to B runs to see if your gas pods vs non gas pods stats reflect a similar result or better since you have the additional cover for the grill and wheels. Would you care to do some runs here for the forum? Also what distance are you running your Pods it from the back edge (can't recall if I or others asked this before hand...hmmmh).

Edited November 1, 2013 by Jus-A-CMax