Throttle Body Spacer?

[fast924S]

Latley I have been looking for performance mods for my 2000 Toyota Tacoma, One that I found is a throttle Body Spacer. It clams better air flow and a 5-10hp gain. I dont know if this is true.

First off I would like to know how a Throttle Body Spacer would help Performance, Couldnt you just add a longer intake tube and have the same effect?

Also DO you think the Porsche 924S would show some hp gains from a throttle body spacer???



Thanx GUys

[MrPants]

what is a throttle body spacer?

[fast924S]

This is a throttle Body Spacer





It bolts in between the Throttle body and the intake manifold.

Here is the add

The POWERAIDŽ TBS concept was developed to enhance mid-range power, torque and fuel efficiency. The unique dyno-proven "Helix Bore" of the POWERAIDŽ TBS causes a spinning action of the incoming air-charge as it passes through the throttle body. This extremely beneficial air-charge carries all the way into the combustion chamber, producing a super-atomized mixture, which produces tremendous gains in mid-range power and overall efficiency. This is the key element to the horsepower success behind each POWERAIDŽ TBS.
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[SoCal Driver]

B.S. Alert!

B.S. Alert!

B.S. Alert!

[fast924S]

Ya I figured

[UconnTim97]

Sounds similar to that turbine fan that you can put in your air intake...

[dj_yen]

sounds like BS to me.
my guess is it would hurt low-end torque for some high-end power

[SoCal Driver]

Some truth to making the intake longer or shorter. But this is for the individual runners into each cylinder. Doesn't one of the new Porsches have this feature?

[fast924S]

I know Toyota uses this type of idea by changing the volume of the intake with a flap

[dj_yen]

Originally posted by SoCal Driver
Some truth to making the intake longer or shorter. But this is for the individual runners into each cylinder. Doesn't one of the new Porsches have this feature?

many of the new porsche's of this system
along with their variable-valve timing, they variable length intake runners.

[SoCal Driver]

Originally posted by dj_yen
many of the new porsche's of this system
along with their variable-valve timing, they variable length intake runners.

One way of moving the torque curve around. Same horses.

[fast924S]

HMMM, Well Then why do people put carburator spacers on their cars, wouldnt a throttle body spacer have the same effect?

[Wolf1]

Originally posted by fast924S
HMMM, Well Then why do people put carburator spacers on their cars, wouldnt a throttle body spacer have the same effect?

A carburetor spacer increases the plenum volumn of the intake, this allows it to flow more air at upper rpm ranges. The spacer is usually atleast as large as the intake/carb base therefore it adds no restriction.

These throttle body spacers however, do add intake restriction. With their smaller diameter and "Helix bore" they do not flow as much as the stock tb/intake configuration.

With my theory of airflow I could not see how this could increase mid-range power without decreasing top end power. So, I ordered one from our local performance parts place and told them that if it hurt performance I would be sending it back. The test mule was a 99 F-150 with the 5.4 engine.

I ran three consecutive 1/4 mile test runs stock. Then went back to the shop, installed the spacer, and ran three more times. All runs were done on the same stretch of road, same outside temp.

With the spacer installed I was consistently .5 seconds slower and lost 3-5 mph..

I returned the treasured spacer and told them about my test results......end of test...

[Taz's Master]

So Cal, since hp is a function of torque and rpm, wouldn't moving the torque curve change the hp output?

With a carb spacer, you are dealing with a fuel and air mixture, not just air. Increasing the volume of available fuel can have a noticable difference on a carbeurated engine. Our injectors respond much better over a wider variety of conditions, and having a spacer in our intake system shouldn't make a noticable difference in how much air our engine can injest.

[SoCal Driver]

Originally posted by Taz's Master
So Cal, since hp is a function of torque and rpm, wouldn't moving the torque curve change the hp output?

With a carb spacer, you are dealing with a fuel and air mixture, not just air. Increasing the volume of available fuel can have a noticable difference on a carbeurated engine. Our injectors respond much better over a wider variety of conditions, and having a spacer in our intake system shouldn't make a noticable difference in how much air our engine can injest.

Not much if any difference in HP where ever you place the torque peak. Just you can get it sooner and keep it longer if you can adjust the cam and the intakes. HP is the result of these parameters not a function.

[lousailor]

I had heard Click and Clack discuss this on NPR and I swear they endorsed this improvement. May want to doa search on other web sites.

[Taz's Master]

So Cal, by no means am I calling into question your vehicular knowledge, as you seem to boarder on clairvoyance when diagnosing problems. But I understand hp to equal torque x rmp divided by 5250. Using that formula simply moving the torque curve of a 944 turbo 1000 rpm higher you get an increase of better than 50 hp (more than 25%) at the torque peak, and peak hp increases by 41. These numbers seem significant to me. If I'm wrong correct me, because I do not want to continue with this misconception.

[ds475]

Originally posted by SoCal Driver

B.S. Alert!

B.S. Alert!

B.S. Alert!

you so funny.

[MrPants]

how do carb spacers work?

[Taz's Master]

They increase the area of the plenum of the intake (from which the runners feed each cylinder), giving a larger volume of air and fuel for each cylinder to draw from. They can also help to smooth the flow from the carb into the intake. The amount of improvement depends alot on the engine setup (everything between the carb and the exhaust will have an impact ). Tuning an intake for optimum flow of both air and fuel over a wide rpm range is very difficult, and one reason that fi can produce a more flexible powerband, because it is much simpler to make an intake that flows just air extremely well, and inject the fuel at the intake valve.