I purchased a 3" - 3" Rubber Connecter from Ace Hardware for about $6.00 and I have just wanted to see what it would do for awhile... No major expectations, Infact I didn't really think I would notice ANYTHING considering I'm still using the stock LID...

The Installation took me about 20 minutes because first I had to literally microwave the rubber connector to get it to stretch over the Throttle Body... 1 Minute was enough and it flexxed easy... The way I installed it was taking off the entire lid, including the MAF put the Rubber Connector partway onto (but not TOO far back on it or it won't be long enough to connect to the MAF...) Then installed the MAF WHILE IT WAS STILL CONNECTED TO THE AIR BAFFLE... I made sure that the rubber was firmly around both metal surfaces and it was, I tightened the clamps hella tight and shook it alittle and it is so firm that I can stand on it...

Reconnected all the sensors and cranked her up, expecting to hear or feel nothing... Idle was exactly the same, but it wasn't until I started driving it that I realised. holy crap it DOES make a difference! I doubt if I gained anything more than half a horse power but, Throttle response is SO much better... I mean nigh instantaneous response whereas there's almost no lag from when you hit the gas pedal to when the car romps up... According to my fuel gauge, I'm also scoring a bit better MPG (usually by the 3/4's line I'm at around 120 - I hit 140 today.) It is no Super Charging affect by any means, but it definately was worth it because the stock baffle appears to be alot more restrictive than I thought...

 

i call

i don't see how it could improve gas mileage 15%, or make throttle response any better.

the major restriction in the intake is the stock lid...

gas mileage could be due to different driving, cooler air, inflated tires, lighter foot, fresher gas, new oil.

NOT a smooth bellows

sorry boss

 

I'm with Teke on this one. If it was that big of a difference, why didn't they upgrade that part on the 600hp ZL1's? Smooth bellows, Tornados, etc. are all just a ploy to suck a few extra bills out of your wallet. If you want it for the looks like I did, that's a little more justifiable. But, don't kid yourself about performance.

 

Where was I kidding myself? I never stated anything about gaining 5 or 10 HP, All I just stated was I did find a noticable difference... Why on earth would I want to B.S. over a $5 part? Come to think of it, why is 20 extra miles worth of fuel worth b.s.ing over?

How would you know that is a 15% increase of fuel milage when you don't know how many miles I score per tank to begin with?

I don't disagree with you there...

It has been between the 50's and 70's in GA this past week... I first filled her up on Friday and it rained all day, It was probably in the high 50's low 60's that day... No sunshine, I scored around 360 to that full tank of fuel... Crossing the 3/4's at around 120... I filled it up again Sunday when it was noticably warming, I would say around High 60's and Low 70's with Sunshine... Both occasions were performed 70% Street and 30% Highway... My tires are inflated at 35 PSI all the way around and have been for the past Month. Lighter Foot? I drive like a grandma to begin with. Fresher gas? I just filled the fricken car up on Friday, and Latest was Sunday... it was as fresh as you could get... New Oil? I'm about to change it today, I'm 1k Overdue...

 

in my experience....limited as it may be in comparison to some...you have to get in the ballpark of 10+ hp gains before a mod is "felt"

and usually "throttle response" is a subjective thing.

but hey...as long as you're happy...that's what counts

 

I've got a Fernco coupler. It didn't make a bit of difference except being stiff and not allowing much flex from when the engine torques over. This puts strain on your lid.

I put the stock bellow back on.

 

yeah, i could hardly feel any difference when I put in my 9:1 355 and vortech over stock...

 

Smooth bellow is mainly an appearance mod. It's not unheard of to gain 1 or 2 rwhp but it's also not unheard of to gain nothing. Even "IF" it gained 5 rwhp you're not going to feel that. I mean come on, 300 to 305 rwhp (or more realistically 300 to 301) is not enough for the butt-o-meter to register it.

It's one of those pychosomatic experiences. You want to believe the gain is there so bad that your brain is tricked into believing it. But in most cases it gains little to nothing and is often a mod that people skip.

 

When I said performance, I was talking about overall performance (including the increased throttle response you said you noticed). What I was getting at was...this improvement you noticed is probably just in your head. We're not trying to pick on you. But if we give full credit to threads like this, it will encourage people who don't know better to do things to their car that'll give them "mad power" in their heads and not in reality. The next thing you know, we're the new ricers. Maybe that's a little dramatic, but that's what I see happening everytime a thread like this pops up.

As for the math skills....given a fixed starting point and end point (ie full tank and 3/4 tank), teke figured your 15% savings by dividing 140/120 (your numbers). Pull out your calculator and you'll see it's 1.1666666 or an improvement of 16.66666%. He just rounded it off to be simple.

The problem is, there's no measure for improved throttle response unless you have some technically qualified equipment hooked up to the PCM logging some validating data. Also, using the gas guage as a measure of improved fuel economy isn't exactly what I'd call accurate. How do you know the gas pump shuts off at the same point each time you fill up? You can actually get a variance of ~0.5 gallons or more between fill ups depending on how you pump your gas (ie - stop at first click, top off, etc.) Then, there's all of the variables like wind, road conditions, hills, no hills, etc. It's just not accurate....

Yes, this is a thread about a bellows - a $5 "part." No, it's not that big of a deal. In the end, we're just trying to avoid the hype that these threads can generate...so don't take it personally.

 

"According to my fuel gauge, I'm also scoring a bit better MPG (usually by the 3/4's line I'm at around 120 - I hit 140 today.)

140 - 120= 20

20/120 = 0.16666

0.166 x 100 = 16.6%

i shortened it to 15%....basic math boss


"Fresher gas? I just filled the fricken car up on Friday, and Latest was Sunday... it was as fresh as you could get"

i didn't mean in YOUR tank....i meant in the GAS STATION. for all you know the gas was from the bottom of the tank, and who knows how old. and vise-versa for this fill up.

and where you "cross the 3/4 line" is not exactly an accurate assessment of mileage. run 3 or 4 tanks through it, tracking the mileage for each and average it. then come back.

 

 

Ah - Makes sense now... Sorry for going off alittle ...

 

 

I agree with everyone that it is for the most part it's an appearance mod , but if you decide to go with a wet shot of nitrous, the smooth bellows gives you a better surface to install your fogger nozzle to. Just something to think about!

 

bah...richard...you should know...nitrous is for pussies