But supposedly the automakers and Big Oil won't allow them to come to market because they'd wreck the industry. The people who tell you this are usually conspiracy buffs who offer it as an example of how the masses are duped by the Illuminati, so you have to be skeptical. My main energy-saving strategy is to go only places downhill from me, so I can just put it in neutral and roll. Alleged high-mileage carbs are based on a beguilingly simple principle. This enables the gas to evaporate quickly but thoroughly.
More gas is burned and less goes out the tailpipe as pollution.
Detroit seems to avoid these designs because they cost more. But better carbs are out there for the tinkering. Someone also sent me a report that supposedly originated with the Carb Research Center of Oklahoma, which promotes vapor carbs. The report makes the astonishing claim that theoretical maximum fuel efficiency for a conventional auto is nearly 2,900mpg. While I don't want to belittle blue-collar ingenuity, the vapor carb's inventors are trying to solve a nonexistent problem.