I thought the same as many of you. This EconoAid throttle body spacer must be a joke

lukemuckraker

New member
As a previous fuel systems development engineer I read some comments on this forum and many others regarding testimonials from people who spent the money and installed the little sheet metal spacer at the exit end of the throttle body. In my case, a '09 Sahara Unlimited with SuperChip performance calibration installed on the 91 octane setting. I use this because it does provide noticeable performance and mileage improvement and as long as I use a good quality fuel like shell regular, I can get these performance gains without spark knock (which is extreme if the 93 octane calibration is installed).
Purchased the AIRAID throttle body spacer called EconoAid with is a very well made piece of sheet metal with resembles a radial fan blade. I was skeptical. But I like having fun with my Jeep. It only took about 20 minutes.
Road Trip!!! As soon as I got on the throttle, my ears told me something was different. There was a mellow growl from the engine. It was nice. There didn't seem to be much different in low end except for sound. Revs hit 4500 and then something happened which removed my skepticism. The tone of the air pulled through the K&N dropped like an octave and the RPMs jumped like a secret passing gear engaged. I was so impressed in this unexpected event, I on and off the interstate just to used the entry ramps to play with the thing. It was amazing!
Went back to the engineering books to find out what was happening and revisited vortex theory in fluids and air. I would love to do a video chamber test to verify my suspicions but I think AIRAID actually did the science and have developed a way to generate an irrotational vortex in the intake manifold which creates pressure gradients that create a low pressure core to pull air at higher velocity (tonal changes) and tangential velocity vector which has the effect of higher pressure to the intake valves. I will look into it more but it really does something.
 

I don't think there is any evidence supporting throttle body spacers as doing anything but making a whistling sound. If you have some dyno test results, I'd love to see it. Do you work for or sell Airaid?
 

I did try a spacer and took it off. Noticed the sound difference but nothing more. Power and mileage actually seemed to decrease some. Maybe I installed it upside down. �� Been doing research on the spacer and 9 out of 10 users think there are a waste. If anyone can prove different let me know. Thanks, Cam
 
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