The 21st century has been called the Information Age, but I'm beginning to wonder whether it might be more accurate to call it the Infomercial Age. The advent of long-format television commercials has blurred the distinctions between advertising and reporting. If the production is slick enough, it's difficult to discern the difference between a sales pitch and a documentary. 

     Many of the products that are pitched on late-night cable TV are simply too good to be true. Diet pills that melt fat, electronic stimulators that give you rock-hard stomach muscles and car waxes that make 20-year-old paint look better than new are certainly enticing - but how realistic are the claims? No magic pill or vibrating electrode is going to make my 52-year-old body look and feel like a teenager. But obviously enough people dial those 1-800 numbers with credit cards in hand to keep the TV merchants in business. 

     Unfortunately, I see some drag racers searching for the mechanical equivalent of the magic diet pill. They're looking for that one part that will turn their race car into a winner. They want that magic cam or miracle carburetor that will add 50 horsepower, increase the engine's operating by 2,000 rpm, extend engine life and produce perfect reaction times. Sound too good to be true? It is. 

     Racers who wouldn't spend $19.95 on dubious diet pills will spend thousands on questionable engine parts. It's unfortunate that the unrealistic claims for improved performance and trouble-free reliability made by some manufacturers, dealers and engine builders poison the water for all of the conscientious and knowledgeable people in the racing industry.

   Whenever I see an ad that promises trouble-free performance from any part used in a racing engine, my skepticism shifts into high gear. By definition, racing parts are used under extreme conditions that push them to the limits of endurance - and sometimes beyond. A new coating or exotic material might be helpful in preventing bearing wear, but I guarantee that if you do several burnouts with zero oil pressure, the crankshaft is going to be in bad shape regardless of what you put on the journals. 

     I'm also suspicious of claims for absolute power increases. The interaction between engine components is simply too complex to assert that bolting on part "X" will produce "Y" more power. A new manifold might produce a measurable power gain - but only if the manifold it replaced was wrong for the application. It's just as likely to reduce power if the original manifold was optimized for the combination. And when you consider the infinite combinations of suspensions, shock absorbers, converters (or clutches), and gear ratios that affect a race car's elapsed time, it's simply impossible to predict accurately how one part will improve or impede performance. 

     I've been told by people who should know better that a trick new fuel regulator or a top-secret carburetor float would improve the performance of my Pro Stock by a tenth of a second. I don't know whether people who make such statements are dishonest or simply ignorant. If I added up all of the performance improvements that were touted in magazines, catalogs and ads, we'd have the first Pro Stock in the fours.