Phenolic Spacer Question

[john]

I was wondering how an intake manifold spacer helps you make more power. I could only think of two ways:

-One, it would absorb heat???
This could help as it absorbs some of the heat going into the engine but I also
see it sucking in regualar engine bay heat.

-Two, it creates a longer path for hot air to travel and provide a better chance for it to cool off before entering the CC.
This sounds logical but why wouldn't we just extend the IC piping to take care
of this???

Please teatch me. Thanks, John.

[LightningGSX]

Its basically just an thermal insulator between the intake mani and the head, it helps keep the intake cool, by preventing heat transfer from the head/engine.

[john]

how does it prevent heat transfer? Does it absorb it or something?

[LightningGSX]

It insulates the intake manifold from the heat of the engine/head.Phenolic is a pressed together fabric material and resin.

[Alpine TSi]

It works, you want proof? I would be more than willing to show you how well it works anytime you wanted.

[john]

Originally posted by Alpine TSi@Jul 2 2004, 09:51 AM
It works, you want proof? I would be more than willing to show you how well it works anytime you wanted.
How would you be able to show me???

[Matt D.]

Originally posted by 92tsiawd84+Jul 2 2004, 11:53 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (92tsiawd84 @ Jul 2 2004, 11:53 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Alpine TSi@Jul 2 2004, 09:51 AM
It works, you want proof?&nbsp; I would be more than willing to show you how well it works anytime you wanted.
How would you be able to show me??? [/b][/quote]
Do a few pulls side by side with him. Touch your intake manifold, then touch his.

[john]

We have totally different setups. I think his FMIC would be more efficent than mine as I am on a larger turbo than him. It would be easier to cool down his intake charge than mine, especially since I am running lean and very untuned. I see your point though if we had similar modded cars.

Can a temp difference be spotted on a temp gun? Can you read the heat off the intake mani and get a noticable difference in reading the head or something?

[LightningGSX]

I don't think the difference in your setups would matter in this case.Without the spacer, your intake manifold is almost always gonna be considerably hotter than the intake air.You don't need a temp gun to check it out, put your hand on your intake manifold after you've been driving, you'll probably get burned.With a spacer(from what I've heard) your intake manifold stays cool enough to touch.The difference should be huge regardless of your turbo or intercooler.I'll be putting one on my almost stock 2G(14b, stock IC and boost levels) when they get the materials, you can check it out.

[Alpine TSi]

The key way I know it is working is when I can touch my intake manifold and it be cooler than my intercooler piping. That is the spacer doing its job right there.