[Mr Wrath]

I bought the Poweraid Throttle Body Spacer (by Airaid) and noticed a much better acceleration at midrange. Claims to add 10-12 horses. It pickups nicely and due to the design of it (corkscrew effect inside the bore), it creates a nice noticeable whistle from the 28% pedal position on up (using Advanced EVIC). Now, the questions...first, does anybody know the actual horsepower gains from a throttle body spacer (approximate) and what are your thoughts on Throttle Body Spacers. Do many of you use them?

 

[MagnesiumPearlR/t]

i dont think anyone uses them... usually they are only good for vehicles with carburetors and race cars applications....no real gains on todays vehicles besides some whistling...

 

[GLHS837]

1. None.

2. Not much.

3. Some do.

See, the thing is, any changes made to the airflow by the spacer cannot survive the trip through the intake manifold.

Heres a cutaway pic.

 

[MagnesiumPearlR/t]

http://www.wkjeeps.com/engine/throttle_body_test.jpg


hehehehe this sums it up pretty well...

 

[Ghost13]

I bought one of these about a year ago, I put it on, went around the block, it threw a check engine light on the R/T I had, so I pulled it off. to this day I keep it as a forever reminder, that not all mod's are going to work out and your just out of the $.

 

[NYT]

yeah, i would have recommended you do a search before buying anything. these forums are a great tool.

there are actual dyno graphs around here that show a decreased performance due to tbs install.

 

[Pablo22]

You've heard of WOT - well this is WOM! Waste of money!

 

[goMANgo259]

yea this forum has always hated throttle body spacers... i dont really understand what that cutaway pic is showing, maybe somebody could explain it. but yea spacers are pointless on these cars

 

[metgo]

I love this picture, I stole it from another thread.

 

[arfur]

yea this forum has always hated throttle body spacers... i dont really understand what that cutaway pic is showing, maybe somebody could explain it. but yea spacers are pointless on these cars

The cutaway is just showing the twists and turns that the air has to go through to get to the back of the inlet valve. GLHS was just commenting on the fact that 'any' swirl which was produced by this TBS would not manage to get to the cylinder 'still swirling'. In other words, the claims of what it actually does can't really be true.

Yes - it makes a noise. Noise is a transfer of energy. If energy has been transeferred to the air, it must have come from somewhere. This energy will have been 'taken' from the inflowing charge of air. So technically, the TBS is reducing the kinetic energy of the moving air (or creates drag). Although this would be relatively small - it won't really provide 'gains'.

At the end of the day, if this spacer was needed to grab a few more 'free' HP, don't you think it would have been installed at the factory....? :grin:

 

[GLHS837]

Like arf said, thats what I was trying to show. The blue parts are where intake air has to travel before it reaches the cylinder. Quite a maze, really.

Whirlwinds are really delicate things, easily disturbed.

 

[Mr Wrath]

...good point, never really thought about it like that. So....does anybody want a spacer?:grin:

I got it at half of list, so no Major loss. Thanks for the input.

 

[wickedchargerrt]

i use them as christmas tree decorations

 

[goMANgo259]

Like arf said, thats what I was trying to show. The blue parts are where intake air has to travel before it reaches the cylinder. Quite a maze, really.

Whirlwinds are really delicate things, easily disturbed.

thanks GLH and Arf. its really easy to see now! man i had no idea the air had to go around all through there. this makes me wonder how effective any kind of cold air intake would be since the air has to tavel 4 miles through a hot engine anyways. its probably almost engine temperature by the time it actually reaches the cylinders

 

[Ciscokid]

http://www.wkjeeps.com/engine/throttle_body_test.jpg


hehehehe this sums it up pretty well...

LOL! :lol:

 

[dudeiwin86]

i put a TBS on my charger and have noticed between a 30-32 RWHP gain on the dyno and it pulls so much harder. i own ferrari enzos now.

 

[GLHS837]

Wait, let me see, you bought Turner Broadcasting System, and the profits have allowed you to buy (own) Enzos?

 

[dudeiwin86]

Wait, let me see, you bought Turner Broadcasting System, and the profits have allowed you to buy (own) Enzos?

no ;( i did buy turner broadcasting systems tho. but its such a worthless station i came out with less money.

lawl!

on that note. dont buy a TBS unless you want to waste your money!

 

[mullens]

Actually, the theory of turbulant air in the cumbustion chamber making better cumbustion is sound (case in point, GM's Vortec truck motors use this with great success). But, as the others have said, the swirling or vortex effect never makes it to the chamber. Like all bogus claims, there always is a thread of truth in there.

 

[Reece]

Having a HEMI pretty much makes a throttle body spacer pointless anyway, since the whole reason it is called a HEMI because it does the same thing a TBS does but inside the clyinder instead of inside the throttle body.

Reece