[1mz-fe]

welp, since the question has been asked i feel obligated to answer it. a while back i was reading a post by corey (94intrepidES) in which he said that he had obtained some throttle body spacers as a prototype part. he posted looking for buyers for the parts and a few people answered, namely myself and 97purple_trep. after discussing the effects of the parts extensively both of us 97 drivers decided to drop $100 on the spacers. there was also a set on ebay that someone linked to that was priced super-low at $60.

as for performance effects, these TB spacers work essentially like a tunnel ram for an old carbureated engine. on top of the effects of the additional space, they incorporate a helix-bore, which is like a big auger inside the casting which creates a vortex. this allows better fuel atomization. in principle this aspect of the spacer is kind of like a tornado vortex generator except that the results are much better because the vortex is created after all turns in the intake. this means airflow isn't disrupted after the vortex is created. the manufacturer reports 5-10hp and corey reports a real-world ~5hp in the 3.5.

i called the manufacturer, poweraid, and they said pretty much it's still a prototype part. i am not sure but the time to get them may have already passed, at least until they get to mainstream production. i'll get some pics of them installed when i get back up to school next week. read more about them here

 

[79lilred]

Hey 97 - I'm sure you've seen me post my skepticism of these things, which is just MY OPINION after trying to reason how they would work. As I have great respect for you, it would be very interesting if you could do some actually testing of their affects at a track, then post the results...would that be possible?
If you could make several passes during a cheap test&tune session at a drag strip without them and then several passes with them, I would find the results most interesting.
A similar eval was done on cams for the 2.2 turbo engines by one of the 2.2 gurus. He had bought a special grind cam and it just didn't seem to give the oomph he thought it should. So he actually spent a day at the drag strip swapping cams and making passes. Guess what...the STOCK 2.2 cam gave as good performance #s as the "special" cam sold by a well know performance group geared to the 2.2s. Who'd of ever thunk it?
The efforts of another enthusiast saved me from spending money on a cam that would have yielded no gain and I'm now running a junkyard cam in my GLHS (don't get no cheaper than that! LOL)
And of course if you report some actual gains, I'd be their next customer!

-steve

 

[1mz-fe]

now that i've had some time to play around with the TB spacers i am even more in love with them. it just so happened that my motor destroyed a couple intake manifold gaskets (pics coming when i finish this roll of film) and was idling at 2500rpm - not good. now that the problem is fixed i have been running around on the TB spacers and i absolutely love them to death. the really liven up the lower half of the rev band. at the top you can tell they're there but the low end is where the most gain appears to be. that said, i don't really want to take them off and put them on a whole lot. though it is a simple mod it takes awhile to put the spacers on because there is so little room towards the back of the engine bay. on top of that the throttle linkage is also kind delicate so you have to be pretty careful when installing the spacers. above all the nearest track is 90 miles from me and their prices seem to be outrageous - they also haven't posted a cheap tune/test day on their schedule.

so 79, i'd say that if you have a hankerin for a little more oomph you should investigate getting these spacers. if you don't experience an ass-dyno gain then i will eat the mopar gaskets that come in the kit.

 

[brun064]

I bagged those off E-Bay. So far I noticed a 2 mpg increase in fuel economy. And 3/4 throttle really makes the speedo wind up faster.

 

[79lilred]

fair enough, 97!
yep, 90 miles is a long way and I forgot about the TBs pointing back toward the firewall. I remember what a pain it was just getting the plastic air plenum off when I replaced the inner tie rod bushings - the use of some choice words was required!

 

[1mz-fe]

79 - i have been talking to a sales rep at poweraid and he told me that the plate kits have gone into production at this time. the only problem is that you have to buy them from a retailer, poweraid will not sell direct to you. unfortunately this means raised prices. i will try to find out what retailers might be stocking this part and get back to you. if anybody else is interested please let me or corey know that you are.

 

[2low4u]

I am interested.Can you list how much.

 

[1mz-fe]

this is the dealer list from poweraid's website (dealer list). there are several shops in phoenix so not too far a drive from tempe, 2low. i have no idea whether or not any of them actually stock the kit but these seem like a good place to start looking. perhaps if they don't have them they can get them. you will have to check with the dealer to get a price on the kit, since it's retail each place will be different. hope this helps.

 

[gr8crash]

i also put my spacers on, MPG hve goen up slightly, but have only been on a couple days, and the does seem to be peppier, i am pleased ;-)

 

[knighttrepid]

Im also interested in acquiring thes TB spacers for my trep

 

[1mz-fe]

go to the link i posted earlier in this thread. it should direct you to a dealer in your area. there are also internet retailers listed there.

 

[Starscream]

cool thanks! I'm selling my intrepid on ebay right now though.. I'll tell the next guy/girl that buys my car about them.

 

[Lafrad]

what typea car you gonna get?

 

[94IntrepidES]

If anyone is interested in these email me at [email protected] and I'll give you some information.