Throttle Body Spacer

DrewBoy · Jul 8th, 2005, 01:44 PM

I'm planning on purchasing a Poweraid Throttle Body Spacer for my truck. Has anyone tryed one of these... if so, did it help and is it worth the $100? Thanks.

JoeyS · Jul 8th, 2005, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrewBoy

I'm planning on purchasing a Poweraid Throttle Body Spacer for my truck. Has anyone tryed one of these... if so, did it help and is it worth the $100? Thanks.

Some people like it, others didn't notice any difference besides the slight "whine" it makes... With the flex tube that goes from the box to the manifold, the air is pretty turbulent, so I don't see how it could make much of a difference without replacing the whole intake including that black rubber hose with a straight pipe.

DrewBoy · Jul 8th, 2005, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeyS

Some people like it, others didn't notice any difference besides the slight "whine" it makes... With the flex tube that goes from the box to the manifold, the air is pretty turbulent, so I don't see how it could make much of a difference without replacing the whole intake including that black rubber hose with a straight pipe.

What about the Airaid Cold Air intake for a 99 Frontier. It only replaces the top half of the filter housing, not the intake tube. Would that mean that it would not be as effective as a K&N intake that does replace the intake tube?

thx1158 · Jul 8th, 2005, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrewBoy

What about the Airaid Cold Air intake for a 99 Frontier. It only replaces the top half of the filter housing, not the intake tube. Would that mean that it would not be as effective as a K&N intake that does replace the intake tube?

I put a cold air intake on my Jeep 4.0 with a throttle body spacer and it DID make a difference on that motor. I would NOT recommend AEM. I purchased the system they sell and had issues with the product and they WOULD NOT back it up. Customer service was terriable and they basically said "too bad..your problem now. The distruibitor did however stand by the product and made things right.

I dont think just the spacer will yeild anything significant by its self. I did the intake, spacer and low restriction exhaust and together they made noticeable difference. Would I do it to my 05 Fronty...maybe....I'd wait till someone developes a complete intake kit, check the dyno reports and go with a gibson exhaust. There have been reports of a lack of filtering from these set ups and more dirt getting into your engine.

TonkaDriver · Jan 18th, 2007, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrewBoy

I'm planning on purchasing a Poweraid Throttle Body Spacer for my truck. Has anyone tryed one of these... if so, did it help and is it worth the $100? Thanks.

I researched them and bought a Street Performance. I have had a noticeable gain in midrange power and a 1-1.5 increase in mpg. The common complaint about the Airraid is the noise. I know 2 others personally that have installed the one I have and they have had better gains, but with larger engine displacement.

top_shelf · Jan 19th, 2007, 06:22 AM

yes do not buy the airraid-very noisy and no increase in performance...i believe from others in the nissan forum that the Street Performance TBS is the way to go... just my two cents...

**88pathoffroad** · Jan 19th, 2007, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by top_shelf

yes do not buy the airraid-very noisy and no increase in performance...i believe from others in the nissan forum that the Street Performance TBS is the way to go... just my two cents...

And why is this, I wonder...

TonkaDriver · Jan 19th, 2007, 10:01 AM

Hitman86 · Jan 25th, 2007, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 88pathoffroad

And why is this, I wonder...

Because it's a piece of crap that is cheap!!! Woo Hoo for the crap metal products!!!

You know i have learned that if it is cheaper then all the other competitors products then it probably is JUNK! :competitors:

TonkaDriver · Jan 25th, 2007, 05:34 PM

Path is talking about the debate, making a (good natured?) jab after the feathers stopped flying, not the throttle body spacer.

I have seen 5 complaints about the Poweraid TBS in the last week. It seems they shipped the things with RUBBER gaskets

instead of springing for a proper heat resistant gasket. The throttle bodies get hot enough to require a coolant line. You would have thought they could have used a little foresight...

On a seperate, but relevant note, I see someone (wonder who?) has taken away some of my reputation points following our little debate. In spite of personally requesting an explanation, no reason has been offered.

The moral: If you can't beat 'em with your argument, stab 'em in the back.

This will be my next to last post.

**88pathoffroad** · Jan 25th, 2007, 05:36 PM

Eesh. I've seen people swear up and down that they work and I've seen people say they do nothing and are a waste of money. Personally, I don't think they do much of anything but drain your wallet. There are a lot of reviews and test reports out there to read, I'd suggest reading up on them before buying a $100 chunk of aluminum that purports to increase HP and mileage by simply making the intake an inch(or less) longer at the TB. The "swirling effects are a nice theory too, not much proof of performance there either. You'd think that if they worked that well, they'd come up with it at the factory.

**88pathoffroad** · Jan 25th, 2007, 05:38 PM

By the way, rep points are an ongoing joke between mods and Admin here as far as I've seen. Nobody pays attention to it for the most part. Losing two points for making a post that simply says "Ha-ha" at another user's posts or thread is like a slap on the wrist with a wet noodle.

jerryp58 · Jan 25th, 2007, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TonkaDriver

The throttle bodies get hot enough to require a coolant line.

Really

I always thought the coolant ran through there to heat the throttle body up on a cold start. I can sure get things backwards sometimes.

azrocketman · Jan 25th, 2007, 06:18 PM

I second Jerry's thinking. So, would bypassing the coolant line to the throttle body (in warm weather for driveability) give a similar result as cold air induction? We can only ponder (or test in warmer weather).

Steve

**88pathoffroad** · Jan 25th, 2007, 06:55 PM

It won't make enough of a difference to notice, I don't think. I've bypassed mine and nothing.

By the way, I came across a letter from AirRaid pertaining to their TBS product:

Quote:

Throttle Body Spacers (Primarily the "Helix" style):

These spacers do not provide any gains in HP at all. They claim to increase TQ and MPG but we tested one and it gained nothing. The Dyno showed no gains in HP or TQ. We also had contacted one of the manufacturers for their comments on them and here's the direct quote (from email):

--------------------------------------------

From: AirAid Info
Subject: Re: AIRAID.COM Contact Form
Date: Fri, 09 Mar 2001 09:20:36 -0700

Dear Sir, thank you for your inquiry in our products. The spacer makes no HP on the Dyno. It makes all of it's power in torque in the low end. If you haven't noticed any power on the Dyno or the track then it's doing what it's supposed to. You would not see any gains down the 1/4 mile or increases on the Dyno. The idea of the spacer is to improve overall drivability and fuel mileage. In most cases when people install a bolt on part they expect better mileage and power, what happens is they are into the throttle a lot more than before trying to test performance and that's when the decrease in mileage happens.

Sincerely,

<Airaid Technician>

Points to look at:

"The spacer makes no HP on the Dyno. It makes all of it's power in torque in the low end."
"If you haven't noticed any power on the Dyno or the track then it's doing what it's supposed to."
"The idea of the spacer is to improve overall drivability and fuel mileage."

So...it doesn't make any more HP, is not supposed to help in 1/4 mile performance (or on the Dyno), and is mainly for mileage and bottom end Torque. Well, Dyno's show TQ figures and there were no changes, mileage stayed the same, and 1/4 mile performance wasn't affected on the several others who have tried it (including us). They also are still not able to explain how the spacer keeps the swirl effect through the two turns (90 degree and 45 degree) in the intake plenum of the Dodge Ram/Dakota/Durango manifolds.

While the Throttle Body Spacer showed no gains on the 3.9/5.2/5.9L Magnum engines, the 4.7L engines have been reported to show noticeable gains from the spacer. Why? It's a much more efficient intake system with less restrictions than the Magnum engines. It may work just fine for the 4.7L crowd but we'll look into this at a later date for Dyno and long term MPG testing.

So....they don't do anything for power or torque but they somehow give you better mileage at the same time? o.O