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RX-8 1.3L Rotary Throttle Body Spacer

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Old Jun 25, 2005 | 07:21 AM
  #1  
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Question RX-8 1.3L Rotary Throttle Body Spacer

Huh?

http://wheelskin.com/Merchant2/merch...iliate=froogle
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Old Jun 25, 2005 | 07:32 AM
  #2  
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HUH!?

wtf is that ?
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Old Jun 25, 2005 | 07:35 AM
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See it a few times on this forum.

It's supposed to improve fuel-air mixture by increasing turbulences.
I would be VERY surpreised if it did anything at all. By the time the air reaches the port and the injectors, the turbulences induces by this "device" are long gone.

F
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Old Jun 25, 2005 | 09:38 AM
  #4  
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Who's going to be the first person to buy one and let us know how well it works?
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Old Jun 25, 2005 | 11:09 AM
  #5  
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"Dyno tests resulted in up to a 20 horsepower gain, while dramatically increasing torque, thus improving the fuel mileage."

Okay... 20 HP and dramatic increase in torque thus improving fuel mileage? I dont understand. -.-
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Old Jun 25, 2005 | 12:13 PM
  #6  
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Yeah, right

There ain't no way your gaining 20 hp with that piece of garbage, gaining torque and blah blah blah.
That is a massive pile of 90 dollar BS.
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Old Jun 25, 2005 | 08:43 PM
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where exactly do you put the thing?
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Old Jun 25, 2005 | 09:02 PM
  #8  
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it will not help on the Renesis.
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Old Jun 25, 2005 | 09:15 PM
  #9  
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This is a prime example of the form of marketing I am absolutely against. Up to a 20 hp dyno claim. First off, on WHAT ENGINE? It never said the Renesis!!! Second of all, how do we really know it made 20 hp on any engine? Where's the hard proof? Remember they didn't specify if there could possibly be a LOSS in certain circumstances! They just said up to 20 hp gain. How much can it possibly lose?

...produces air breakup and turbulence that yields greater fuel burn efficiency, which translates into the best performing and efficient product of it's type in the marketplace!

Best performing and efficient? In what way? Providing turbulence? Producing air breakup? What does that really mean? Last time I checked more turbulence was less power. Yes I know about fuel suspension but that is properly done with less turbulence than the manifold already has. How do we know it has better burn efficiency? Prove it!

Dollar for dollar there is nothing on the market today that can compare with the power increase you get with a Helix Power Tower Plus throttle body spacer.

Really?! If I spend money and get nothing out of it, how was that cost effective again? I guess if we compare it to other things for sale on the market that also do absolutely nothing that cost more, this statement might be true.

Fifty state legal. Carb approved. How do we know? Many products claim this but in truth haven't applied for such exeptions. They make the assumption that since they do nothing to affect emissions (you'd have to actually work for that to happen), they must not make any difference to carb. This is wrong. Does anyone honestly think that they would spend the thousands of dollars and the necessary time and effort to get an $87 piece of metal that does nothing certified? I don't think so!

I have no doubt that swirling the air can in certain situations be a good thing. Why swirl it before it splits off into 6 different directions though? What will this accomplish again? The air won't enter the engine in this swirl. The fuel injectors are located after these splits in direction too so where is the fuel mixture benefit? I don't see it. Marketing bs. Avoid at all costs.
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Old Jun 26, 2005 | 01:21 AM
  #10  
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Swirling the air will improves combustion. It atomizes the fuel.

We use it all the time at Solar Turbines. We are owned by Catapillar.

Our turbines generate electricty and sold all over the world. We are the leaders.

I'm just agreeing with you that swirling makes a big difference. Timing is important.

I'm not saying this item works. Haven't seen it or rsearched it.
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Old Jun 26, 2005 | 02:12 AM
  #11  
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The length of the intake path on a rotary is designed to take advantage of Helmholtz resonance. The entire design of the SDAIS/VDI intake has been tuned for performance at various RPMs. Adding a spacer to the intake path will throw off that tuning. I agree with RG, its much more likely to lose power on a Renesis than gain.

Although I was almost convinced by the diagram. Notice how the terms "Increased horse power" and "Increased torque" are related to specific surfaces of the device., i.e., the outside faces of the part. I guess the key to torque is the roundy part.


Instead of buying this, send me the $87 and I'll send you an email that says "Damn, your car is faster now!". That would be just as effective as this piece of crap.
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Old Jun 27, 2005 | 05:57 AM
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I doubled my horsepower! I bought a sticker that says "2.6 L" :p

Maybe I'll get one of them thar "Turbonators" next! :p

What I don't understand is how creating turbulent airflow is supposed to help anything. Why to manufacturers put in screens to smooth the flow and make it laminar ?
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Old Jun 27, 2005 | 07:43 AM
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Reminds me of that other device "Tornado Air" or whatever........
Claims to do about the same thing.
All kinds of claims. No hard proof.
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Old Jun 27, 2005 | 07:50 AM
  #14  
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Originally Posted by pcimino
I doubled my horsepower! I bought a sticker that says "2.6 L" :p

Maybe I'll get one of them thar "Turbonators" next! :p

What I don't understand is how creating turbulent airflow is supposed to help anything. Why to manufacturers put in screens to smooth the flow and make it laminar ?
The screen's purpose is to straighten the air flow prior to entering the Mass Air Flow Sensor for better accuracy. It does not make it laminar (that depends on the Reynolds number and therefore on air speed).
Turbulent airflow can promote fuel vaporisation and enhance combustion.

But that little plate is going to do nothing on our engines as all the turbulence energy would be dissipated before reaching the injectors. Such a device could MAYBE work on carbs and single injector systems.

Fabrice
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Old Jun 29, 2005 | 07:39 PM
  #15  
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I googled "throttle body spacer" and found out that it's popular to the Offroad trucks (jeeps and SUVs) crowd. I guess they really believe in its power benefits. Some are even making their own TBS.

AEM even sells TBS for Jeeps. Yup, the same AEM that promised to make the ultimate air intake for our RX-8s.
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Old Jun 29, 2005 | 07:41 PM
  #16  
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Originally Posted by Razz1
Swirling the air will improves combustion. It atomizes the fuel.

We use it all the time at Solar Turbines. We are owned by Catapillar.

Our turbines generate electricty and sold all over the world. We are the leaders.

I'm just agreeing with you that swirling makes a big difference. Timing is important.

I'm not saying this item works. Haven't seen it or rsearched it.
Razz, aren't you the guy that has the Tornado & claims it works ?
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Old Jun 29, 2005 | 08:23 PM
  #17  
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I was doing some research on this thing and I came across a forum where they Dynoed the helix tower plus on a V6 engine, They got 3Hp and 3lbs/ft out of it.

I wonder what would be the effect on our car?
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Old Jul 6, 2005 | 09:14 AM
  #18  
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Those things are junk, I wouldn't waste the money on it.
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Old Jul 6, 2005 | 10:00 AM
  #19  
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I shouldn't be suprised that people are still duped by this kind of stuff--magnetic fuel line molecule unrollers, swirl-inducers, grounding kits, etc. I should sell one of these! I don't think anyone has come out with a muffler blanket yet:

"Auto manufacturers purposely use restrictive muffler technology to quiet your car. I've designed a way to overcome this restriction while keeping your car's noise at a minimum. Keeping exhaust gasses warmer promotes high exhaust flow and lower backpressure, which allows your engine to run up to 10% more efficiently! And, they come in many designer colors to match your paint!"
Back on point... sure, you'd have to be a bit knowledgable to know that the "gains" from these items are below the margin of error for a chassis dyno. But that's not the point. The fact is if any of these things WORKED, car manufacturers would buy the patents or the entire company making the item in question. They'd be able to waste (up to) 10% more fuel and still meet CAFE guidelines while reducing emissions! Just like they said on the infomercial!

And then there's the testimonials! I knew this guy who replaced the muffler on his 1991 Honda Accord and insisted vehemently that he got 20 mpg MORE than he got before. He must have actually started driving the car instead of letting it idle in his driveway while it ran out of gas...

--Massive
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Old Jul 6, 2005 | 10:43 AM
  #20  
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Money that could be spent elsewhere on mods that actually do something constructive.
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Old Jul 6, 2005 | 12:27 PM
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I have decided to get into the performance and mileage enhancement market with my new "AeroStrakes".

They LOOK like the overpriced fender enhancements that Mazda sells, but don't be fooled by imitation. These babies increase your gas mileage by (up to) 10% and increase WHP by (up to) 5% (Your results may vary). GUARANTEED. Just read our testimonials!

"WOW, I ordered AeroStrakes and put them in my trunk because I'm too brain dead to install them. But I already noticed that my car starts right up and I'm getting better mileage, I think"

Remember, at only $400 each ($600 for the set!) they'll pay for themselves, eventually. Order now and we'll include the installation instructions for FREE! :D
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Old Jul 6, 2005 | 12:36 PM
  #22  
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do these comes in silver ??????????????????????
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Old Jul 6, 2005 | 12:47 PM
  #23  
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Yes, any color that you wish to paint them, in fact.
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Old Jul 6, 2005 | 12:49 PM
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Sweet :D
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Old Jul 6, 2005 | 03:04 PM
  #25  
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Is the effect cumulative? (i.e. more strakes = more improvement?)
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