Does It Work? The Fuel Boss

Since May 7 On Your Side has tested out several gas saving methods hoping to pump a little extra cash back into your wallet.

The Fuel Mizer, a mechanical tune-up, and the Fuelshark didn't take much of a bite out of our tester's gas bill. 

"I am getting a little bit better gas mileage, but not a whole lot," said our tester Patti Roberson.

After two months of tracking her mileage and meeting us for fill-ups  Roberson was a bit exhausted.  But she agreed to take one more stab at it to test out the fuel boss magnetic fuel saver.

"Oh well, you suckered me into it again," she said.

Like last time Roberson tracked her mileage for 3 weeks before we installed the device.

Her average came to:  21.8 miles per gallon.

Mechanic Scott Bailey at Auto Tech Services in Spartanburg helped us install the fuel boss over Roberson’ fuel line according to the instructions.

"It's simple to install, I mean most anybody can install one," said Bailey.

So how does the fuel boss work? It's makers say the magnetic field penetrates right through the fuel line separating clusters of hydro carbon molecules. The idea is that the fuel is exposed to more oxygen needed for combustion.  So the gas burns more cleanly.

Roberson fills up and she's on her way.

Her normal routine is a 60 mile commute.  It's a mixture of highway and back road driving.  She takes I-85 from Mauldin to Spartanburg and then the heads home via route 296.

She's filled up twice before we met up with her again.  she got within one mile per gallon of her average.  22.3 on the first tank, 22.8 on the second. 

Roberson had an explanation for an even bigger up-tick on her third fill-up with the fuel boss. 

After doing the math, her latest fill-up shows her gas mileage is up to over 24 miles a gallon. 

"That's surprising," says Roberson. But she admits she did more highway driving than normal,

With her latest fill-up, her new average mileage with the fuel boss is 23.3, a 7% change.  Still, that's well shy of the "11.6%" the company claims it got in EPA approved testing, and the "8 to 18%" it says drivers got at home.

Paul Duff with the Fuel Boss had this response:   "The results may vary but your product testing did provide a positive increase and no negative effects. We stand by the findings of the independent study." 

Back at Auto Tech, Bailey was not impressed, especially because highway driving could be what's really fueling the mileage increase.

"I haven't run into one yet that made a big difference or worked at all," said Bailey.

After testing 4 fuel saving methods it may be the end of the road for Roberson, but the search continues for a product that offers as much savings on gas as the makers promise.

For a link to the independent test results paid for by the Fuel Boss makers click here.