Sport Truck Product Spotlight
Fitch Fuel Catalyst
With fuel costs rising rapidly, many sport truck enthusiasts are scrambling to find ways to improve upon their truck's fuel economy. Those of us blessed with SUVs (especially supercharged ones) tend to be the most desperate. Large engines with large fuel tanks often take $80 or more of high-octane fuel. In our search for ways to improve fuel economy, we came across the Fitch Fuel Catalyst, manufactured by Advanced Power Systems International, founded by John Fitch, veteran race car champion. The fuel catalyst claims to reduce emissions and improve fuel economy by treating the fuel in the tank. The fuel treatment keeps the gasoline fresh for improved combustion. In turn, the engine runs more efficiently, thus increasing fuel economy. The representatives at APS did not divulge what the components are that make up their catalyst and recommended that we try a set on our '95 Chevy Suburban.
At first, we were resistant to dropping some "magic pellets" into our truck's fuel tank, but we figured we had nothing to lose. Following the directions, we installed several of the catalyst pellets in our fuel tank. The number of pellets will depend on the size of the tank. APS also recommends resetting the factory computer by disconnecting the negative battery terminal and reconnecting it after a few minutes. We were also skeptical to the claims that we would improve our fuel economy by as little as 1.5 to 2 mpg, but, to our surprise, we ended up getting a 2.5-mpg improvement.
Our test began with measuring the combined highway and city average fuel consumption. Over one month, we averaged 13.3 mpg. After installing the Fitch Fuel Catalyst, we drove the vehicle for another four-week period and took an average. The result was a 15.8-mpg average. Considering that our test vehicle has over 85,000 miles on a 7.4L TBI engine, the results were well worth the $119 price tag.
According to APS, the catalyst will last the life of the vehicle and not clog any fuel pumps or any part of the fuel system. The Fitch Catalyst is also available in an inline system for vehicles that won't allow the use of pellets in the tank.