Throttle Body Question

[Jeff_D_2385]

I'm new to the whole performance upgrade and aftermarket scene but I'm getting that $600 check from the rebate thing and some graduation from college money and want to start.

I was looking at a throttle body and then a throttle body spacer.. what the difference between the two and is it a good place to start as terms of ease of installation? I was also looking at cold air intake and will that fit with the new throttle body/spacer?

 

[PSYKOSTEVO]

I will have to speak from my experience with throttle body spacers on EFI cars. They are almost 100% useless. Almost........but the key word is USELESS.

And the Throttle Body is not a very restrictive place to start. You will want to do the intake and tune first, and if you can afford to, get an exhaust. Those are your basics, and they will make you very happy. Once the butt-dyno stops registering all the thrill from those mods then it will be time to step up to bigger mods. But nothing really nets you that change quite like the Intake/tune/exhaust combo.

Then there are superchargers and nitrous for later on after you learn a little bit more about modifications. Think later.

Oh, and congrats on Graduating from college. I graduated three years ago from Arizona State University, damn I'm glad that's over.

 

[whyask]

yeh... useless is the word i would use too

intake and tune (brenspeed) 500 - 550 $
exhaust (mid pipe and mufflers) 600 $
gears (3:73 & 4:10) 400 W/ install

you can do all for under 1500
And you will think its a differnt car ! WELL WORHT IT !

 

[Towelly]

I just installed my C&L Racer Intake and SCT XCAL2 tune from brenspeed. I can tell you that it was worth every penny. The car should have come like this from the factory.

 

[Redfire 05]

I would totally agree that the TB spacer is not worth it. If you are looking at first mods to make to your car follow the advice already given. The CAI and tune is the best bang for the buck for our cars. Here are the gains you can expect based on tests from magazines and other sources I've collected and saved. These are just peak numbers most will help throughout the rpm range. In the case of the shorties they help mostly a lot at lower rpms.

1. Cold Air Intake
CAI w/o tune 10-15 rwhp $250-$300
CAI and Tune 20-30 rwhp $550 +
2. Throttle Body 6-8 rwhp $280-350
3. Underdrive Pulleys 6-8 rwhp $180-250
4. Headers
Shorty Headers 3-5 rwhp $300+
Long Tube Headers 10-15 rwhp $450+
5. X-Pipe w/ or w/o cats 8-12 rwhp $150+ w/o cats or $300+ w cats

 

[05wolfkiller]

skip the throttle body. that first $600 should definitely go toward a cai and tuner imo

 

[jt14894]

I have a Predator tuner and would like to get a CAI/w tune, but with the price of 93 octane hitting $4.00+ a gallon. It ain't worth it.

 

[PSYKOSTEVO]

I have a Predator tuner and would like to get a CAI/w tune, but with the price of 93 octane hitting $4.00+ a gallon. It ain't worth it.

I disagree with you on that. I'll pay $0.20 more per gallon, which is about $0.01 per mile when you think about it. To drive a tuned car vs. stock. The Extra 50hp from the intake/tune/O/R pype/exhaust is much appreciated by me.

The car felt like a Ford Taurus before all of those mods, and now it feels like a mustang. Hell, the stock tune limits how far the throttle-body can open, delays the pedal response, drops timing through what they refer to as an "octane plug", reduces torque output through a limiter, and doesn't properly utilize the Variable Cam Phasing.

Think about this.....the higher the base price of gas gets, the smaller the % of that price it is to upgrade to premium.

When gas was $1.30 and premium was $1.50 it cost 16% more to upgrade.

Now at $3.70 a gallon and $3.90 for premium it costs 5% more to upgrade to premium.

 

[jt14894]

I disagree with you on that. I'll pay $0.20 more per gallon, which is about $0.01 per mile when you think about it. To drive a tuned car vs. stock. The Extra 50hp from the intake/tune/O/R pype/exhaust is much appreciated by me.

The car felt like a Ford Taurus before all of those mods, and now it feels like a mustang. Hell, the stock tune limits how far the throttle-body can open, delays the pedal response, drops timing through what they refer to as an "octane plug", reduces torque output through a limiter, and doesn't properly utilize the Variable Cam Phasing.

Think about this.....the higher the base price of gas gets, the smaller the % of that price it is to upgrade to premium.

When gas was $1.30 and premium was $1.50 it cost 16% more to upgrade.

Now at $3.70 a gallon and $3.90 for premium it costs 5% more to upgrade to premium.

Ok. So you disagree. Fine. I'm not really into heavy mods as you and so I lean towards getting the most out of a tank full because of the ever increasing gas prices.
So with all these mods, have you experienced any increase over stock as far as average MPG or mileage range per tank full?

 

[PSYKOSTEVO]

Ok. So you disagree. Fine. I'm not really into heavy mods as you and so I lean towards getting the most out of a tank full because of the ever increasing gas prices.
So with all these mods, have you experienced any increase over stock as far as average MPG or mileage range per tank full?

Yes, I have experienced a up to 3 mpg difference on highway. Most of my driving is highway driving to and from work. used to get 19mpg, now get 21-23mpg. Basically at $0.20 per gallon all you need to do to break even is gain mpg. Obviously if I drive my car hard my MPG will be crappy.

If you look at paying $3.70 for regular and get 20mpg you pay $0.185 per mile.

If you upgrade to premium and gain even one mile per gallon (21mpg total) you pay $0.185 per mile.

The cost of the parts and tune you just have to figure into the performance gains, you can't do those for MPG alone....it's not cost-effective.

 

[PSYKOSTEVO]

1