Techrep - one last question...

Why did you pruchase the throttle body spacer and how much did it improve your MPG and or hp?

BTW - that is one really nice truck. Love the custom grills!

 

It too came with DYNO results...I guess I wasted another $85 Right ??

 

Unfortunately, yes.

There are losts of posts here and on other boards about TBSs.

Basically they are worthless.

 

A CAI that you can install in all factory positions without any other modifications are going to give only minimal gains. However, if you get a CAI that is much larger in diameter that requires a tune such as a JLT intake with a SCT tuner you will absolutely achieve horsepower and torque gains along with throttle response and shifting improvements but that is a $600 expense as well. Trucks are like cars these days with many available mods and ways to customize so "a waste of money" is relative since guys are going to buy what makes them happy and each truck is going to respond differently to certain mods. A guy in Maryland with sea level or below air may feel and gain decent numbers with a CAI where a guy in CA might not get or notice a damn thing besides more hot thin air entering the motor.

 

I feel the same way.. If ford knew that a different intake design that resembled an aftermarket intake was more effecient especially when mpg and power is a huge selling point and they've spent millions on engine and drivetrain research.. I'm sure they'd use it.. But something I don't agree with is that little intake hole in the airbox that's smaller than the rest of the intake...???????

 

Remember, it's not just air volume, it's also velocity and turbulence (or lack thereof)...

 

No intake is going to give any more power nor mpg increases unless there is a supercharger connected in it somewhere. The same goes with exhaust systems. The power you feel is the extra noise providing a placebo effect

 

I'll agree that many gains especially in when dealing with exhaust is a mental gain. However, I am certain that there is a gain in exhaust, not the manufaturers claim of coarse but something has to happen when you put say a Magnaflow or Borla "straight thru style muffler" in place of the stock trash can that sits under the truck. With the intake, you have to do it with a tune because re-routing and/or increasing the velocity significantly and having a tune to recognize and calibrate the new reading works wonders on a modular motor....a K&N FIPK or whatever they are called isn't worth it to me but a CAI with a custom tune is defiantely where it's at and they are proven.

 

Keep in mind though that the 09/10 air intake flows better than the 04-08 one. Plus the factory setup is a TRUE CAI taking cool air from the outside the engine compartment, not hot air from inside the engine compartment as most aftermarket CAI's do. An aftermarket CAI on an 04-08 might give you better "seat of your pants" feel when you first start driving, but the heat soak after a few miles will kill any benefit you got from it and it usually ends up robbing power at operating temps. A throttle body spacer is in the exact same boat. You can feel a difference with cool, dense air, but as it heats up the air becomes less dense and it can actually create more turbulence which robs power. Do some research before you go throwing money at stuff, plenty of info out there proving that what you read in those ads isn't always true.

 

Well not to rain on your parade since your so good at math...I also have a degree in EE but a masters instead, and a Minor in math and physics. The Reason is pretty simple why ford doesn't spend $200 extra per truck to do this....if you are manufacturing 10,000 trucks a year and add an extra $200 expense to them, that is $2,000,000 in revenue you just passed up. So there is your explanation. Think of the big picture when you ponder things! Not to say that air intakes will increase gas mileage, but also part of the reason why companies don't print specs on gas mileage increase is also simple. There is no way to determine how people drive. YOu may gain more power so your foot would be in it more and then your gas mileage will go down. Therefore, if the company specs that you will gain 2mpg, then rightfully people could send their product back. Companies don't want their product back. It would create heartache for them, so they just say it may increase gas mileage. Plus for people it is too hard to offer a money back gaurentee when you cannot ever actually measure you driving perfectly to determine gas mileage. You may do more stop and go one gas tank then another, so even though you have a meter in your truck that says you are averaging this mpg, next tank it will be different. Even if you take an average over 10,000 miles, it is very tough to have a good experiment to verify these gains. Just figured since you were giving people a hard time that I would just set some things straight.