Every now and then people ask about the Helix TB Spacer from Summit racing for the 3.4L. I was always one of the people who were quick to defend it, claiming I noticed a difference on my 98 Tacoma. Now that I have a 96, I decided it was time to put the TB spacer to the test.

The kit, here is what you get:



The design, what it looks like:



And the real reason I figured I would get a HP gain from this part...take a look at the gasket design. The stock gasket is in a "D" shape, restricting airflow. The new gaskets, included with the kit, are perfectly round and not restrictive. Take a look:



The test data is attached. I have yet to compile gas mileage data. I did reset the ECU after the install, and all testing was done with the cruise control set at 30MPH in 3rd gear, and then slamming the gas to the floor all the way to 70MPH. This will give us a good indication of any power increase across the power band, if any.
$100 well spent? You decide.

I will do a write-up on the install and submit it to Corey. For the time being, you be the judge.

Installed:

 

So....basically according to your readings better off spending $$$ elsewhere....

 

What about throttle response from a standstill? I've had my spacer for a few months, and honestly haven't noticed a huge difference, but just wondering if your test might miss an effect at the low end?

 

Well, from a standstill would involve burning the clutch, thus becoming very subjective. An automatic would be good to test this theory.

Slamming the gas in 3rd gear at 30 starts out at a really low RPM, I think 2K to be exact, so to answer your question, I guess I dont know. If there was any significant increase, the data would have shown from 30 - 70, IMHO.

I am going to do this same test on the same road for the ISR mod. Now that's where we should see a good increase. Most people report a low-end torque increase. We'll see. I am just waiting for gas prices to drop so I can do this mod again. I will only run premium.

I will post that data too.

 

Yes. I would put the money toward headers, or invest it. However, if the gas mileage increases significantly, then it might be worth it, but that may take a few years to pay for itself.

 

Well, at least someone has finally put it to the test and gotten some real numbers for discussion. I'm not ruling out that it works, at least for some vehicles. It probably depends on how well the air-intake was engineered in the first place. I think they say that a Jeep saw a huge increase. Oh well, live and learn!

 

Mad Chemist:

I agree, Jeeps and most American cars do see significant increases. Most of these vehicles have TBI, so that may be why. While American engineering is improving, I feel it is still behind most Japanese designs (I work with both American and Japanese engineers, so I can accurately say that).

Yeah, I guess I will live and learn. It makes a cool whistle sound, but not for $100. I should have bought and installed a gazoo instead.

 

I bought one of those from Performance Products and someone told me that it wouldn't do much for my 3.4L. He actually said people were calling it the Power Toilet, or something like that. I sent it back to them.

 

You chose wisely.

 

I was sceptical when my brother in law put one on his 01 Taco with the 5VZ. And I never thought anything much about it until the other day when he told me he had taken it off soon afer he put it on becuse it was giving his ECU some crazy reading and was actually hurting performance.

My thought is look at it. On a carbed engine those are put under the carb best I can tell and it works because it's doing what it is supposed to. Inside it has a "rifled" or "screw" type threaded pattern in it. This is supposed to start the air to spin like a sideways tornado......look beyond the throttle body now on your 5VZ.....the intake plentum, see how it's all curved and split into seperate tubes.....that tornado effect is totally lost when it hits that. Toyota designed these engines right it's just a matter of getting the right amount of fuel/air in and the right amount out. These do nothing for these engines.

 

Yep, not only the "power toliet", but a "money toliet".

Gadget

www.GadgetOnline.com

 

Well, sort of... If you look into the intake on say a typical American V8 (like the Ford 360 I'm rebuilding right now), it still bends the air all around in there. Basically by the time you get it past the valves, the spinning is done and it's straight flow anyway. The only place I can see this helping would be with better atomization of the fuel, but that would happen in the carb itself I think.

Where the carb spacers work well (especially, as it happens, the plywood ones) are insulation. Carbs are natural heatsinks strapped to the top of the motor. Well, what's bad about that? It thins out the air and heats the fuel, and on a nice hot day can cause vapor lock. The spacer keeps the carb considerably cooler thus creating a more dense charge to the engine. For a carb engine the spacers work great - the ones that spin the air are worthless. Helix spacers or anything like that on Toyota FI engines are also worthless, though the less restrictive gasket is a plus. But I think you can always "modify" the stock gasket can't you?

 

Well, since the stock gasket is metal, I would say yes. But, I hear that newer model TB gaskets do not contain the "D" shape of the older ones. I also hear that the SC TB gaskets do not contain the "D" shaped gasket either, but those were $22 and 2 weeks for delivery.

The gaskets that came with the TB spacer are not metal.

I am sure there was a little power gain due to the gasket improvement, but not enough to register during testing.

 

I really like to see dyno #s since I've yet to see worth while gains for the $$$ with any of those things that "twist" the air and supposedly make power.

 

People will sell anything and claim anything to make a buck these days!