Does it really do anything? (throttle body spacer)
 

I have a question regarding throttle body spacers. How do they work (or supposed to work)? I have looked at some different ones and am skeptical that they would really help anything. What is the theory behind their operation and are they really beneficial? Are they supposed to help swirl the air charge like all those snake-oil "vortex generators" in the info-mertials, or do they work by creating a space for a larger volume of air/fuel to be available between the TB and combustion space. I would think that the later of these claims would be the only way that it could help anything - and it would be a very small help. Perhaps by increasing this volume, there would be a greater amount of "surge" space for sudden load changes, thus a more readily available air/fuel mixture for better throttle response.

I am curious about this contraption and would like any insight that anyone might have as to how/why they do or don't work. I was wondering if it would be worth getting for my new V10 (supposed to be delivered in June). Thanks.

Swirling the air before it is mixed with any fuel is pie in the sky advertising Hype!

A throttle body spacer can only do one thing.... increase the post throttle body butterfly area before the intake valves (called the plenum) by the the total amount of square inches it adds.

As a proportion of the total plenum volume, the 1" thick spacer is only a very minute percentage. The net effect will be to increase or decrease the air flow dynamics, and the total plenum volume and maybe, increase OR decrease throttle response, and torque.

$15-$20 to experiment with OK ....but for $60 or more for a half pound hunk of aluminum with some holes in it? In my book they are mostly hype and snake oil... I pass.

I would have to agree but I do have one. It did improve throttle response on my truck.

I have one made by UMI Performance. I prefer the soft swirls in their unit. The pics on their web site and ebay are of my truck. I helped them tweak the bore size for max flow. I have no interest in the company. I paid for the unit but I was not 100% happy with it.<O:p</O:p

They were very interested in improving the product. I agreed to use my truck as a lab rat with a couple of spacers they sent me. The one they sell now is the one currently on my truck.<O:p</O:p

In the old-carb days, a spacer in between the carb and the manifold did a couple things, it gave the air a 25-50% longer path to flow before it had to make a hard turn into the intake runners, which greatly helped airflow. And it also helped insulate the hot manifold from the carb. But we are talking about the dinosaur days of tuning. A velocity stack can make, or lose hp, so can a carb spacer, it's not a panacea for all engines. And believe me, if Ford, GM or DCX could gain hp AND gas mileage from a $5 (to make) part, don't you think they would ? CAFE (corporate average fuel economy, the overall mpg ratings for ALL a manufacturers vehicles) is a great concern for automakers. The fed govt is pounding on the automakers to get their averages up. And even .5 mpg on one vehicle is HUGE. All these magnets, air swirlers, electric superchargers, etc may, or may not help your particular vehicle. Probably the only thing it will help is the suppliers bank account. Swirling the air (if it indeed does) 12 inches upstream of the TB or MAF does what once that air makes it's twist and turns into the manifold and through the heads? Anything we do to the intake or exhaust may have some change to our hp, but will it be a positive change ? And can you tell if you pick up 2 hp at 4361 rpm ?

I think they are snake oil also.They are usually the same size as the throttle body and if you eventually install a larger throttle body, you have to remove the spacer to see gains from the TB. Now, they do work somewhat on carbed engines.

Thanks guys. I appreciate the advice.