PFM/ How does Throttle Body Spacer possibly help. Snake Oil?

[sadass]

How does this increase air flow? HP? I can not help but call B.S on this product. What do you think? Is this Pure F'ing Magic.. how does it work. Please school me if I got this wrong. But I just don't see how this does anything but help, Just Empty Every Pocket

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[Rockmaninoff]

How does this increase air flow? HP? I can not help but call B.S on this product. What do you think? Is this Pure F'ing Magic.. how does it work. Please school me if I got this wrong. But I just don't see how this does anything but help, Just Empty Every Pocket

Yes snake oil and nothing new... these have been around for the JK and I'm sure much before that too.

I have spoken to a guy who has one on his JK and he said it's negligible meaning other factors like air temperature, quality of fuel, etc. that can vary will over shadow any measurable differences whether positive or negative.

If someone thinks this makes a performance difference then there should be shocking differences when you change the intake... and we all know how that goes.

In saying that, a properly tuned long intake path would help torque in lower rpms. To do this right you need to have a continuously variable length intake like some high end vehicles do. I think the GC SRT has a two stage one too if i remember correctly. Also it helps a lot to not have bends in the air flow.

If you want better performance:

1. Put on lighter wheels
2. Have it dyno tuned for higher octane fuel
3. Supercharge or turbo it <-- What I did

 

[Skye]

If it was that easy to increase hp with any significance I think it would be designed into the throttle body to begin with.

 

[Sean L]

Many moons ago I fell for the Throttle body spacer trick and I installed one in my 2000 Dodge Dakota... It made absolutely no difference in performance or fuel economy.

 

[FuriousEwok]

I'm the first to admit, I'm probably the least mechanically inclined person on these boards, but my guess is things like this would be handled by the manufacturer (as @Skye mentioned) if they worked. You have to figure, if after market things like this would enhance fuel performance, the government would have made it a requirement.

 

[Shooting or Jeeping]

I dealt with this type of thing for years when I did car shows and SCCA. So many people had tricks that cost hundreds of dollars to save meaningless stats. In theory they all work, but in practical terms- they don’t do much of anything.

 

[smithrd65]

Waste of money

 

[smithrd65]

Mythbusters: The PROVEN truth about Throttle Body Spacers
So, I bought an AirRaid TB spacer from johnpsmith on here for scientific testing purposes. I know this has been a hot topic on this and many other forums, but most of the arguements were not backed by anything other than "it just doesn't make sense why it would work" or "it's $100! It has to work!". I decided to bite the bullet and test this myself.

I recorded the 0-60, 1/4 mile, top speed and peak rear wheel horsepower using the DYNOLICIOUS app on my iPhone. For the critics; this app has been tested alongside the infamous GTech meters (which are known for being ridiculously accurate) and was found to be just as or more accurate.
I ran 5 runs before the spacer and 5 runs after, along the same stretch of flat straight road, with the same amount in the gas tank and nothing else changed other than the addition of the spacer.

Here's what I found:

BEFORE
Run 1: 140rwhp
Run 2: 142rwhp
Run 3: 139rwhp
Run 4: 139rwhp
Run 5: 143rwhp

AFTER
Run 1: 141rwhp
Run 2: 139rwhp
Run 3: 144rwhp
Run 4: 143rwhp
Run 5: 137rwhp

If you're wondering, check my mods and you'll see why the HP was so low. Also keep in mind that this is WHEEL HP

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