I can't really blame the move to Texas, can I? I've been here for six months now.
But, work has been extremely busy and after work I have not had time to get any projects done. But last week on what felt like my first day off in a while, I got my first mod done on the Scion FR-S.
That Mod is a Throttle Body Spacer.
Yes, you can consider it a mod. Other will say it is not a mod because it does not produce results on certain cars. But I can conclude it does respond well to the FA20 engine provided.
First Lets talk about the principals of a throttle body spacer.
What is a Throttle Body Spacer and what does it do?
A Throttle Body Spacer is a piece of metal that is placed between the throttle body and air intake piping. This adds "space" between the intake and throttle body modifying the airflow route into the intake manifold. You cannot order these from the manufacturer as these are aftermarket, many cars on the road today have these available for purchase. The claim for this item is to improve fuel economy, horsepower, and torque by allowing more volume of air into the intake. This mod is fairly cheep and easy to install to gain a small amount of performance.
Spacing in Operation
The throttle body opens and closes when the accelerator pedal is pressed, which allows air to enter into the intake manifold, making its way into mixing with fuel. As the Throttle is open, more air is brought into the system, with the addition of the throttle body spacer, more air is brought into the motor. This takes some work off your engine as it doesn't have to work so hard to bring in more air into the combustion chamber.
Pros of Adding a Throttle Body Spacer
Depending on your engine; may it be carburetor, fuel injection, boxer engines *Hint Hint IT WORKS!!!* and most multi-port fuel injection engines will benefit from this modification in the following ways
- Ventiuri or swirling effect *more on that in another post* which helps atomize the air going in the system.
- Better Fuel economy of somewhere between 1-3 or maybe more depending on supporting mods.
- A small gain in Horsepower
- A small gain in Torque
- Leaves the Stock class in engine mods
As I stated earlier in this post, not all engines respond well or respond at all to a throttle body spacer. Some Throttle body spacers have ridges or ports in them to induce swirling, a technique used to suck in more air efficiently like a tornado. some spacers shrink to create the venturi effect like how carburetors do. But because of the design of the engine the throttle body may end up just being a dress-up piece. In rare cases such as a badly designed throttle body spacer will cause a check engine light.
Warranty Concerns
There should be nothing to worry about here as this allows the engine to produce more power using less work. Your warranty should remain intact.
"Do you think this will fit on my Honda?"
*Mighty Car Mods joke* Yes If you find the spacer designed to match your Honda's throttle body and manifold port.
Conclusion
To be honest, I was really reluctant to purchase a throttle body spacer and put it on my own car because, I wasn't sure it was going to work. There aren't so many spacers being produced by well known aftermarket companies for the FRS/BRZ yet, but I was looking on ebay and saw a nice designed spacer and won one in a bid saving $10. To my surprise, I got it in the mail a week later, installed it in less than 30 mins and was out driving it around. It does feel different and there was a huge notice in the fuel economy area. It now leaves me wondering what will happen when I toss on some supporting intake mods. Throttle body spacers are a small affordable handy upgrade for those willing to make a small power gain in their vehicle.
Results
After taking a trip to Wichita Kansas, my normal Highway MPG went from 32.3 to 34.4-35.3MPG *based on the built in Avg. MPG reading after a reset before and after taking the trip*
While my total tank distance, driven until the gas light comes on went from 342 miles to 360 miles coming from a high compression motor with a 12.6 Gal. fuel tank, that's not bad. But thanks to the new Corvette, it could be better. That's what a tune is for! :P
Keep on a lookout for part two in video form as I go through the steps on installing the throttle body spacer.
