intake spacer question
- Thread starter schiccc
- Start date
88stangmangt
Active Member
you wouldnt notice anything maybe a hp at most. Is it 3/8 or 1/2 i plan to use a 1/2 inch spacer and a saleen bread box intake heat sheild blanket with my set-up they claim wiht the spacer/blanket 5-8 hp.
HO93LX302
Founding Member
I have a 3/8" spacer on my trick flow track heat intake and I can't notice any difference.. I only installed it because the intake would not clear the aeromotive fuel reg..
HO93LX302 said:
Had the same problem. Except I am running a Trick Flow Street Heat intake and a Kirban AFPR. The EGR valve kept bumping against the fuel regulator. Needed to get a spacer. I would assume it adds a few horses. If you feel the intake it is actually very noticeably cooler than it used to be. And cooler intake is better!
Michael Yount
Mustang Master
As a practical matter, most spacers are used to provide valve cover clearance. Theoretically, they do 2 other things. First, they increase the intake runner length which (theoretically) should increase torque at lower rpms, and decrease power at higher rpm, perhaps also shifting the power band lower. Additionally, they provide thermal insulation (theoretically) keeping the upper intake from being heated by the engine below it as much as it otherwise might be.
As a practical matter, in a street car, heat sink will still occur, maybe a bit slower, but the upper intake is eventually going to get as warm as did before. Where you might see a thermal difference is in an autocross or drag race situation where you can ice the intake between runs. The spacer may allow you to keep that upper a bit cooler - and a cooler intake air charge makes more power. As for the change in runner length, I don't know of anyone that has actually tried to dyno and see what happens with that. But you can see, in theory, the thermal piece works to help peak power, the runner length increase hurts peak power. Result of both in practice - who knows.
At the end of it all - people use them primarily to gain physical clearance. Unless you're icing between runs, I wouldn't count on any appreciable performance difference; and even so any difference will be marginal - the kind of thing done in tightly controlled rules class racing to get every tiniest advantage.
As a practical matter, in a street car, heat sink will still occur, maybe a bit slower, but the upper intake is eventually going to get as warm as did before. Where you might see a thermal difference is in an autocross or drag race situation where you can ice the intake between runs. The spacer may allow you to keep that upper a bit cooler - and a cooler intake air charge makes more power. As for the change in runner length, I don't know of anyone that has actually tried to dyno and see what happens with that. But you can see, in theory, the thermal piece works to help peak power, the runner length increase hurts peak power. Result of both in practice - who knows.
At the end of it all - people use them primarily to gain physical clearance. Unless you're icing between runs, I wouldn't count on any appreciable performance difference; and even so any difference will be marginal - the kind of thing done in tightly controlled rules class racing to get every tiniest advantage.
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