Airraid Throttle Body Spacer: The Verdict
Not sure if anybody knew him, but the guy that did that for me was Jamy from Akron Horsepower.
Not sure if anybody knew him, but the guy that did that for me was Jamy from Akron Horsepower.
I installed mine last night & I love that "whistle"

But there is something that I thought I should address:
You'll should notice that MonteSS8707 is set up different from mine.
notice his spacer is facing "upside down" I think! Someone help me out here:


Now on The Crusader's:

notice the the flat end faces up!!
Do you guys see the tip of that light green stock gasket?? Well thats the pointy part of our upper intake, Throttle body, & throttle body spacer as well!

This is a Hamburger pic for reference only. This pic of the TB Spacer is also upside down as well! (to stand it up!!)
I too have the AiRaid throttle body. And both Hamburger and AiRaid are pretty much identicle.
Any how, You'll see how the gasket "groove" comes into a point. Now on our upper intake, you'll notice that you will see the same point on the TOP of our intakes, not the bottom. So I just match it shape for shape!
Kept the original gasket on because it seems to seal better!! The AiRaid gasket may not be thick enough! 
Someone let me know if it's even this serious!! One would presume so! But just thought I give you guys more insight on this mod!! But anyway I could certainly feel a increase in power! I need to moniter the gas & see if any increase on that as well! But over all I like the "spool" sound & of course the power increase!
heres another tb spacer option this one looks different that the others
and another
http://cpwstore.carpartswholesale.co...y+spacer+42105
Last edited by Pauls325; Jan 26, 2009 at 05:09 PM.
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
as a matter of fact I will PM him now..... Last edited by 07carlocrusader; Jan 26, 2009 at 09:20 PM.
I notice that Motorvation kit has them too:
http://static.summitracing.com/globa...e/mvc-5022.jpg
06MonteSS / DiabLew Tune

2014 Camaro 2SS/RS - LS3, 6-speed manual, short-throw performance shifter, NPP dual-mode performance exhaust, 1LE front splitter, ZL1 rockers, Z28 Rear Spoiler, all paint-matched Red Rock Metallic, BMR strut tower brace, Cold Air Inductions cold air intake, Apex Motorsports, Inc. catch-can, Custom DiabLew Tune
www.diablewtune.com -- www.diablocustomtune.com -- www.diablocustomtunegm.com
probably used on the intended application trailblazers and envoys.
probably used on the intended application trailblazers and envoys.

But that spacer is not!!!
I logged a series of speeds, intake temp, throttle position, all sorts of stuff at specific points in my trip home from work. Will log the same under the same conditions tomorrow and see if there is any empirical evidence showing change (less acutal throttle positions and the like after the spacer was added). First impressions is that it pulls slightly better/harder at low/normal throttle positions, but if I can't measure it, gonna call shenanigans on it. Had two WOT bursts from 40-65 and will see if any time drops off from that. I know exactly where I dropped the hammer on it, so road flatness should not be a big factor.
We shall see. Install was a breeze (for doing in almost pitch blackness with a weak flashlight, took about 45 minutes) and I did NOT need the 3/8" hose with the stock intake.
I logged a series of speeds, intake temp, throttle position, all sorts of stuff at specific points in my trip home from work. Will log the same under the same conditions tomorrow and see if there is any empirical evidence showing change (less acutal throttle positions and the like after the spacer was added). First impressions is that it pulls slightly better/harder at low/normal throttle positions, but if I can't measure it, gonna call shenanigans on it. Had two WOT bursts from 40-65 and will see if any time drops off from that. I know exactly where I dropped the hammer on it, so road flatness should not be a big factor.
We shall see. Install was a breeze (for doing in almost pitch blackness with a weak flashlight, took about 45 minutes) and I did NOT need the 3/8" hose with the stock intake.
The only way more power can be made is if this thing allows the engine to take in more air, so you might want to compare IAT or MAT between the two data sets as well to filter out density changes due to temperature differences.
Just my .02, but if you are hearing a "whistle", to me that indicates that the spacer is creating turbulence. Except in the combustion chamber, turbulence is generally considered a bad thing, since it reduces airflow...
I just did a search on summit for this TBS and Hamburger's also makes a TBS for the trailblazer, which is the same throttle body as ours. It looks identical to the Airaid one, but $28 less.
Hamburger's:

Airaid's:

Anybody used the Hamburger's one yet?
I would say there is a benefit to it, in the low/medium midrange and up top, which increases my enjoyment of the car during normal driving and I believe you may be able to measure a difference in the quartermile, but it would not be anything more than driver skill (or lack thereof) would add/subtract on a track.
My next long highway trip, I will see if there is any economy benefit (I track my mileage very closely), might be with the smaller throttle openings needed at cruise, but I would expect it to be minor if anything.
I work on these motors all the time in the MC SS and the Impala SS at my work. I've never taken a good look at them in terms of performance mods though. Today I looked at mine and notice how bottle-necked the LS4 intake manifold is right after the TB flange. It is molded like this to clear the oil pressure sensor. I never realized how restrictive the manifold is until I found this pic on a fiero website (TiredGXP's ??):
Comparison of an LS4 vs. LS2 intake

Its rediculous how choked off it is, and so abruptly after the throttle body. I bet the reason we are seeing gains with the TB spacer on this intake is because of this restriction. It bottle-necks so close to the throttle body that the air can't build up any velocity, like a 3 lane to 1 lane merge in rush hour traffic. The spacer gives the incoming air an extra inch of playing room to taper into the restrictive intake, resulting in extra velocity. I don't think the funny patterns inside the spacer do anything for performance at all, just for looks.
I was considering this TB spacer, but now I'm going to look into swapping an LS2 intake before I go any further.
I just have a hard time with believing that a measly 9.5 cubic inches of air in the intake will give you a measurable amount of hp/tq!
Last edited by LS4SPEED; Jan 28, 2009 at 09:09 PM.



