BROQUET of Delights - CARMA March 2005

BROQUET OF DELIGHTS

Many motorists underestimate the significant role fuel plays in dictating the overall health of a combustion engine. The guiding principle behind this is pretty simple. In layman's terms, we are what we eat. The same applies for cars. Feed the car with poor fuel quality and you'll get poor performance and even poorer mileage returns.

In an era where strict emission regulations overrule all other priorities, it is increasingly difficult to push the efficiency boundaries without utilizing high-octane fuel. This is especially so for high-performance cars. Obviously, manufacturers realize this. Take a look at performance-oriented cars such as the Suzuki Ignis Sport, Saab 9-3 Troll and Subaru WRX. These are a few examples of performance cars that ride on high quality 98 RON fuel to achieve the balance between power and fuel economy. If you ever wondered why parallel importers bring the cars that are much more powerful than local agents, it's because these JDM Models, as they are known, take full advantage of superior fuel quality to maximize efficiency. Our market along with many others do not have privilege of top quality fuel like in Japan where 100 RON petrol and above is easily available. So take note those JDM car owners, particularly high performance models like the Mitsubishi Evolution. Because of the unavailability of top grade fuel, your cars are not able to realize their full potential. The solution is to go for premier fuel but in the light of escalating fuel prices, sustaining this act religiously is a costly affair.

BROQUET TO THE RESCUE

Enter Broquet. Long before other fuel-saving device were heard of, the history of Broquet dates back as far back as World War II, a time when poor fuel quality restricted the performance of fighter jets. The rest they say is history and since then the world saw the birth of Broquet. Universal Consultant, the sole distributor in Singapore, brought this fuel enhancer to us.

Wheels Asia, in wanting to challenge claims and put norms to the test, fitted Broquet in three different class of cars- a seven seater family MPV Toyota Picnic, as-normal-as plain-bread saloon Toyota Corolla and the kick-ass Subaru WRX STi.

CASE OF THE COROLLA

The best selling car in Singapore, Toyota Corolla (G9), in stock trim was already clocking in impressive fuel economy mileage. How would the Broquet B30 In-Line Unit be able to improve the economy? Exactly how much mileage can be squeezed from an already economical car?

Previously, the car was doing about 569km on a full tank of 50 litres. That's about 11.4km per litre. The owner, a Sales Executive who does hell of a lot of driving everyday, claims he didn't experience any noticeable power gains in terms of better acceleration or improved torque.

He did, however, enjoyed better fuel economy after installing the In-line Unit. He now does an average of 609km per thankful. That works out to 12.2km per litre, an improvement of seven per cent.

The owner is now targeting a minimum of 13km per litre, which he hopes to achieve after putting in the Broquet In-tank Units. Watch this space to find if he succeeds in his quest.


POWER GAME

Subaru 22B, the then most powerful Subaru, required a minimum of 100 RON fuel to run because of its highly tuned nature. Unfortunately, fuel of this grade isn't available in UK. Broquet provided Prodrive solution by adding two B8 In-tank pellets. Now according to Jeremy Ong, the Technical Director of Universal Consualtant, all Subaru WRX and STi sold in Britain have two B8s in their fuel tank upon realizing the benefit.

The Subaru STi reviewed here had purchased three units of B8 In-tank pellets before this test. We wanted to rebut the claims that Broquet has no saturation point. Jeremy says that the more pellets there are, the better will be the results. He added that the 24 pellets that were already in the tank were sufficient to yield any significant performance gains. We, on the other hand, were initially skeptical and wanted to debunk his claims.

We dropped five units of B5 into the STi, making a grand total of 49 pellets in the fuel tank. Installation took about an hour because of the difficulties in accessing the fuel tank.
After fitment we drove off. We didn't feel any immediate noticeable improvements and we broke for lunch. An hour later, hopping back into the car revealed a totally different story.!


Upon cranking the car to life, the engine felt much quieter than before and there seemed to be less vibrations. We drove around at our usual pace to maintain consistency, and the immediate benefits were apparent! It was most noticeable during leisurely gear changes when the revs would drop. Hitherto, this would cause a 'lag' in engine response. But now the available torque was simply awesome. Previously, the engine would 'grumble' as it tried to climb back up the power band. After Broquet, the engine pulls with much more vigour.

We later learned that Broquet takes some time to react. Hence, immediately upon installation, we didn't feel much improvement. In a sense, it was true as our fuel tank ran low, the catalyst reaction felt much more powerful than before. This, according to Jeremy, was because the fuel was a lot more 'concentrated' than before as there was less fuel to be treated.

He was right after all - the more the pellets there are in the tank, the better are the gains.

Putting the In-line, however, tells another story. It appeared that the STi was already very happy with the existing set-up. Installing the In-line therefore hardly yielded any extra benefits. Perhaps there was a saturation point. Not convinced, we put the In-line on a stock WRX and monitored if there were any gains. Sadly the result was similar.

PICNIC NEEDS HELP

The owner knows his Picnic inside out. He used to pump in Shell V-Power, now it's good Shell 95. With fuel prices being what they are, he needs all the help he can get, especially since he drives from west to east everyday to work.

The Picnic, with a gross weight of almost 2 tons, uses the same engine as the Camry. With such heavy body to lug around, the MPV suffers from lethargic performance and poor mileage. To make things worse, the Picnic is fitted with 17-inch rims!

The owner - you should know by now who he is - was appalled when he clocked 7-plus km per litre when he first got the car. After some very minor non-intrusive 'mod' jobs, he did something like 9-plus km per litre. Prior to this Broquet test, he fitted a Venturi One device, which brought the consumption down to 10km per litre.

He was happy but can the Broquet B40 In-line Unit make him happier?

Before we answer that question, a point to note here is that we wanted the Picnic to be included in our test because any power gain would be best represented in an under-powered car like the Picnic. A 5-horsepower increase in a 100bhp car is a 5% improvement, compared to a 5 horsepower gain in a 300bhp, which works out to only 1.7% improvement. This miniscule 'improvement' would not be easily felt by a driver.

Anyway back to the Picnic. It took a while before things started to happen with the car. By the third tankful, the owner was beginning to notice improvements. His quarter tank mark usually gets him 120km, now he gets at least 130km.

He usually tops up full tank when the empty-tank check light comes on. In the past that would mean something like 460-500km on the clock. After the BM40 In-line was installed, the owner is consistently getting 480-520km. On the average that works out to around 10%.

He spends about $400 on petrol a month. Now he is spending about $50 less every month. That probably explains why we are getting more prata and kopi treats from him.

However, the big question is this: Would there be an even bigger improvement in the Picnic's fuel consumption if the In-tank pellets were dropped in?

You will soon find out as we conduct the Broquet test further.


OUR VERDICT

Three different cars, three different drivers and three testimonials but the results were unanimous. Broquet does work, perhaps in varying degrees with each vehicle. Whether Broquet products are used as a preventive measure against engine detonation or as a fuel-saving device, they do offer a win-win solution.