Snake Oil Sales Men and Other Charletons

[solarite_guy]

Recently our site experienced a visit with offers to everyone of a product made using "hand picked seasoned" "virgin blocks". Whatever, that may be. Never heard of a used virgin.

I developed some curiosity when we were informed Jegs, Summit and Eagle distributed their products and for some reason this was supposed to give this outfit some credibility.

Being curious now, I decided to look for other snake oil carried by either Jegs or Summit the next time I received one of their flyers. Bingo, that happened today. Right on the front cover were these innovative looking spark plugs called E3 Spark Plugs. Just look at how impressive they are:

http://www.jegs.com/p/E3-Spark-Plugs...tm_content=Tub

Increases engine power 8% to 12% over conventional spark plugs!

The unique patented electrode configuration of the E3 spark plug increases the amount of combustion pressure created during each power stroke of an engine, which results in a marked increase in power output, fuel economy, and reduced emissions in all gasoline engines. E3 Spark Plugs are Sold (each).

Powerful and Impressive Ignition Picture Cited Here:

(I wonder where the "Artist's Rendering" footnote is?)

Techno Product Picture Cited Here:

(Clearly a highly advanced piece of engineering and design)

Features:
Produces up to 12% more power, reducing fuel consumption by up to 13% while cutting harmful toxic emissions up to 58%
By reducing carbon deposits, your engine will run cleaner and smoother and last longer
Edge-to-Edge design concentrates spark energy for easier starts in all weather conditions

Do you already have another manufacturer's part number?
See the E3 Spark Plug Cross Reference Chart

They have such fantastic claims. Where have I been, under a rock somewhere?

I then checked Summit and sure as the world they have similar claims.

Hmmmm? Surely the folks at SpeedTalk and YellowBullet must be all over this modern marvel. How could I have possibly missed such a leap forward for mankind and a sure guarantee of continued life for the IC engine? I had to check the 2 aforementioned sites.

http://speedtalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=22151

http://www.yellowbullet.com/forum/sh...d.php?t=115392

Odd. I was expecting these places to be plastered with threads about phenomenal power and fuel utilization improvements with these plugs.

What gives? Two threads in two sites? well YB has another post in a second thread.

Looks like a couple lawn mowers improved their use of fuel.

I like a couple of Joe Sherman's comments. Joe is a well known and respected engine builders in the states and a competitor at Engine Masters. Joe was actually sponsored by E3. They put 2,500 bucks in his pocket too run their plugs in competition. Here is what he had to say:

bigjoe1
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Re: E3 DiamondFire Spark Plugs

Post by bigjoe1 » Fri Jun 18, 2010 11:08 pm
I ran some for a test on a 502 BB Chevy a few months ago=== As near as I could tell, They LOST four horsepower over the NGK that I allway run== Another gimic I would say==

JOE SHERMAN RACING ENGINES
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Re: E3 DiamondFire Spark Plugs

Post by bigjoe1 » Sat Jun 19, 2010 7:51 pm
When I won the Engines Masters contest I also used the plugs that paid money== They lost 4 or 5 HP over the NGK plugs I usually run in everything, but 2500 dollars they paid was worth it

JOE SHERMAN RACING

There are a couple of other comments back and forth, but, unfortunately no

12% more power, reducing fuel consumption by up to 13%.

Then I started remembering some of the ads I used to see in the J.C. Whitney catalog when I was young. There was something called a "Mini Supercharge" that I saw in 2 configurations. You could get one that mounted under the crab or get one that mounted over the carb. Could not find any images of those adds. However, I found pictures of what looks like the "real thing"





Look at that precision machine work ! Especially around the "turbine housing".

Sine spark plugs were part of the initial subject, I had to search for the surface gap Fire Injector spark plugs offered by J.C. Whitney.




In all fairness, IIRC there was a similar type of surface gap plug that worked "somewhat" in oil fouled conditions...I think?

Then I found a link to Hemmings with a couple pages of products scientifically guaranteed to separate the buyer from their money. Providing the URL as the images are too big.

https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2014/1...hrunken-heads/

What kind of snake oil has been offered to the Australian consumers over the years?

Cheers