# Throttle Body Spacer



## DrewBoy (Jul 8, 2005)

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.


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## JoeyS (May 17, 2005)

DrewBoy said:


> 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.


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## DrewBoy (Jul 8, 2005)

JoeyS said:


> 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?


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## thx1158 (Apr 30, 2005)

DrewBoy said:


> 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.


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## TonkaDriver (Jan 5, 2007)

DrewBoy said:


> 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.


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## top_shelf (Jan 2, 2007)

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...


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## 88pathoffroad (Jun 6, 2004)

top_shelf said:


> 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...


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## TonkaDriver (Jan 5, 2007)

:givebeer: :cheers:


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## Hitman86 (Jan 4, 2007)

88pathoffroad said:


> 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:


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## TonkaDriver (Jan 5, 2007)

*Closing Throttle Body Spacer Post*

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:woowoo: 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.


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## 88pathoffroad (Jun 6, 2004)

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.


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## 88pathoffroad (Jun 6, 2004)

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.


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## jerryp58 (Jan 6, 2005)

TonkaDriver said:


> 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.


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## azrocketman (Oct 5, 2005)

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


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## 88pathoffroad (Jun 6, 2004)

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:



> 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):
> 
> ...


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


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## Hitman86 (Jan 4, 2007)

Like it was said by (ME) lower quality product!!! 

I would bet that this performance part would work better if it was incorporated in a host of performance upgrades, such as CAI and exhaust systems or others. This however is just speculation not back by any proof.

Pathy, I fail to understand why you bring this letter up from this manufacturer (AirAid)...was anyone questioning that it was a piece of crap product?


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## jerryp58 (Jan 6, 2005)

88pathoffroad said:


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


Most tweaking probably doesn't make much difference in the grand scheme of things. Unless it's something to make the consumer more comfortable (quieter exhaust, quieter intake, smoother shifting transmission, etc.) or save production $$$, I think the manufacturers have already tweaked these things as much as possible to increase performance and to meet MPG requirements.

I've thought it would be beneficial to wrap my air inlet tubes in header tape (especially where they travel over the top of the radiator) to reduce the heat of the incoming air. Maybe I'll try it someday, but I don't think it'll be noticeable (probably not even on a dyno). Sometimes I do it just 'cause it's fun. Like the idea of putting small air dam on my truck too. Maybe after a half dozen tweaks or so, I might gain 3/10 of a MPG  

BTW on the spacer subject: back in my carburetor and TBI days, I got very curious about spacers. It's old tech, but some of you may enjoy reading this article and maybe this one too. A lot of carb spacer use was an attempt to gain a tenth or two at the track by shifting the power band up so that you didn't smoke the tires at launch. Yes, I have to admit, I even made my own spacer out of wood


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## 88pathoffroad (Jun 6, 2004)

Hitman86 said:


> Like it was said by (ME) lower quality product!!!
> 
> I would bet that this performance part would work better if it was incorporated in a host of performance upgrades, such as CAI and exhaust systems or others. This however is just speculation not back by any proof.
> 
> Pathy, I fail to understand why you bring this letter up from this manufacturer (AirAid)...was anyone questioning that it was a piece of crap product?


It was just something I found and thought might be useful pertaining to this thread. I fail to see why a TBS from one manufacturer would perform better or worse than another, being as they are only a slab of aluminum with a hole in it. What is the major difference between them that makes you say AirRaid TBS's are POS's? Don't say "the spirals on the inside" because air flowing across those is NOT going to spin enough to make a difference. IMHO. I'd like to flow-test a TBS with some smoke to see what it actually does some day.


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## Hitman86 (Jan 4, 2007)

88pathoffroad said:


> It was just something I found and thought might be useful pertaining to this thread. I fail to see why a TBS from one manufacturer would perform better or worse than another, being as they are only a slab of aluminum with a hole in it. What is the major difference between them that makes you say AirRaid TBS's are POS's? Don't say "the spirals on the inside" because air flowing across those is NOT going to spin enough to make a difference. IMHO. I'd like to flow-test a TBS with some smoke to see what it actually does some day.


That would be a great idea to do a flow test with smoke and everything. The difference between manufacturers is the quality of a product. That's like saying what's the difference between a Lamborghini and a Geo.


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## azrocketman (Oct 5, 2005)

Hitman86 said:


> That would be a great idea to do a flow test with smoke and everything. The difference between manufacturers is the quality of a product. That's like saying what's the difference between a Lamborghini and a Geo.


The Geo will probably get 100k miles and the Lambo won't. Price is not the indicator of quality. Design, finish, materials, fit, reliability, and craftmenship are measures of quality. Ford Rangers and Frontiers are similarly priced but most people will say that the Frontier has higher quality (and some will argue that Toyotas and Hondas have even higher quality).

The bigger question on TBS is if the concept is sound. Most people dismiss the sheet metal swirl inducer (the Tornado or Turbonator?) as junk yet they consider the TBS a possibility. The problem is the both claim to do the same thing. Speaking for myself, I think the TBS has as much credibility for improving performance and gas mileage as cow magnets on the gas line. 

If I were looking for low dollar performance increases I'd look at a cooler thermostat (but that hurts emissions and gas mileage), removing air inlet restrictions from the stock system (maybe a K&N filter), synthetic lubricants, bumping the timing, and electric (or flex) cooling fans (and maybe underdrive pulleys). My next tier of improvements would come from cold air induction and headers (and other exhaust modifications). Once I got beyond those items then its time for open heart surgery (e.g. camshafts, port matching, etc.) or more cubic inches.

Steve


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## Centurion (Sep 5, 2002)

I have the Airaid spacer on my Frontier and I do believe it makes a difference. Don't ask me to prove it because I can't. I also have a NISMO intake, JBA exhaust and e-fan and all that jazz makes for a good combination.


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## MrMorphine (Jul 15, 2005)

Back in the carb days.

Wow,is it bad when we throw this stuff around in the past tense,when i just ordered a pair of 500cfm demons for my project car?


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## jerryp58 (Jan 6, 2005)

MrMorphine said:


> Back in the carb days.
> 
> Wow,is it bad when we throw this stuff around in the past tense,when i just ordered a pair of 500cfm demons for my project car?


Sorry about that. I guess as long as you can get a crate Chevy 350 for $1500, slapping a $1500-$2500 fuel injection system on top of it seems kind of silly when you can just use a carb (or two).


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## golfer (Aug 21, 2006)

Interesting how discussions about items like this will keep coming up time after time.

How is it that you can walk in to a store pick up something off the shelf , take 20 minutes to bolt on and presto ... magically there is all this performance as hyped.


You have to wonder how you get remarkable performance increases with things bolted upstream in the air intake when it's still up to the factory intake manifold.


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## Hitman86 (Jan 4, 2007)

I give up all you people make me laugh it works for some others can't see anything and this guy above me doesn't like bolt on jobs LOL. Fun stuff, so I just want to know if I buy a CAI and "slap it on" it shouldn't really give me that much more improvment right. LOL I'm done, battle it out guys.

Ding Ding!!


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## 88pathoffroad (Jun 6, 2004)

Boy, that was easy.


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## nissanmadness (Sep 18, 2006)

Hitman86 said:


> I give up all you people make me laugh it works for some others can't see anything and this guy above me doesn't like bolt on jobs LOL. Fun stuff, so I just want to know if I buy a CAI and "slap it on" it shouldn't really give me that much more improvment right. LOL I'm done, battle it out guys.
> 
> Ding Ding!!


The definition of forum is as described, a place where causes are tried, a tribunal. That is the beauty of it . State your case or opinion, and let others do the same. Everyone's not gonna feel the same way about all things all the time. If you know what you want to do to your truck, then go with it. If you want opinions about something and don't like the answers then don't berate others. They took the time and effort to say what they probably have had experience with, and are trying to give you a clue. Appreciate that.


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## Hitman86 (Jan 4, 2007)

nissanmadness said:


> The definition of forum is as described, a place where causes are tried, a tribunal. That is the beauty of it . State your case or opinion, and let others do the same. Everyone's not gonna feel the same way about all things all the time. If you know what you want to do to your truck, then go with it. If you want opinions about something and don't like the answers then don't berate others. They took the time and effort to say what they probably have had experience with, and are trying to give you a clue. Appreciate that.


Ok thanks dad. I feel like I just got spanked...ouch! All I said was I give up on this TBS thing, meaning I have my answers. However, it's still funny to see everyone come out of the woodworks over something so simple as a TBS, and I have to admit I have seen enough people in this, and other forums, to see that the reaction is very disproportional to the question. 

And the same goes for you, if you can't take a little heat with out feeling the need to correct someone about a joke, then maybe you should stop looking at the forums.

Oh and Pathy, you didn't get rid of me that easy I'm just giving up on getting a conclusive opinion about a TBS on this forum. 

Don't get me wrong the community here is really good at solving problems and helping out member, but sometimes it gets off onto tangents and the mud slinging and name calling gets out of hand. Now I know that I am new to these forums, but I am not new to public forums at all. I have seen things get very ugly before, but I don't see that happening here. No, no I will still do research on these forums, I like them. Well that's it for my tangent speaking of which I have business calculus to do so I will bid you gents (and lasses {if you are out there}) a due for the day  

~TB~


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## nissanmadness (Sep 18, 2006)

Hitman86 said:


> Ok thanks dad. I feel like I just got spanked...ouch! All I said was I give up on this TBS thing, meaning I have my answers. However, it's still funny to see everyone come out of the woodworks over something so simple as a TBS, and I have to admit I have seen enough people in this, and other forums, to see that the reaction is very disproportional to the question.
> 
> And the same goes for you, if you can't take a little heat with out feeling the need to correct someone about a joke, then maybe you should stop looking at the forums.
> 
> ...


Sorry, didn't mean to seem so harsh, Dude. My apologies. Now go to your room and study! LOL!!!


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## MrMorphine (Jul 15, 2005)

*as for the carbs...*

I prefer carbs to fuel injection. it's just a personal thing i guess. 

As for throttle body spacers,i don't know if anyone else has done this,but i CAD/CAM'd a design and had it CnC milled along with some adaptors/spacers for my el camino.


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