Airaid CAI now....Add BBK Throttle body?

Hey Griff,

My 01 has a Ford Racing 70mm throttle body and a KN air filter. I was told in the past that much bigger then 70mm on a stock engine is not worth it and can actually cause the opposite affects you may be looking for. Our motors come stock with 60MM. I did notice much better throttle response when I went to the 70MM though.
 
2001BlackGTvert said:
Hey Griff,

My 01 has a Ford Racing 70mm throttle body and a KN air filter. I was told in the past that much bigger then 70mm on a stock engine is not worth it and can actually cause the opposite affects you may be looking for. Our motors come stock with 60MM. I did notice much better throttle response when I went to the 70MM though.
Click to expand...

The throttle response likely has more to do with the tune than the TB itself.
 
That year Mustang, would greatly benefit form a good tune.
could see as much as 15-25 HP but equally important.
is how much better everything will respond.

Marc, I agree he should do run, so should you.
I know you do your work in Ontario, but you would really
enjoy the trip. Especially if Glen is leading :D
 
Thanks Everyone for your thoughts. My car is not engine modded except for the CAI. (I did get a tune and tuner after I did that) From the comments here and other research I did it appears a TB may not provide much effect until I did some other engine mods and opened the exhaust system up (stock exhaust now). Even if I was to change it, sounds like the comment earlier by 2001BlakckGTver would hold true -- for the 4.6L engine a 70mm TB/Plenum combination would be best.

Some links I found of interest:
http://www.paladinmicro.com/pmicro.php?frm=AccufabFlow01.htm Throttle Body and Plenum Sizing 4.6L
https://mustangforums.com/forum/4-6l-general-discussion/665634-throttle-body-confusion.html
https://www.americanmuscle.com/when-to-upgrade-mustang-throttle-body.html
 
Throttle body is only one part.
Making sure the air intake matches matters alot.
If throttle body is bigger, the air intake has to alow the air to make a difference.

JLT highly recommend. Massive TB is too much if mods don't match.
FIrst air intake, 2nd exhaust. MAF sensor and tune to match.

Ask or do the research, siple things to improve performance
will be air intake and tune, next is exhuast. best bang for buck.
After this it starts getting more expensive.
 
The idea is to think of the engine as a big air pump and a bunch of plumbing to route that air.
Plumbing before the air enters the engine, a path through the engine snd then plumbing once the air exits the engine.

All along the air’s path, the restriction to more power is always at the narrowest pipe or piece of plunging.

So one could have a large TB, but if it’s a small tube coming from air intake, the restriction is the intake tube, not the TB.

And, because air flow is critically important it is checked at several places by the computer.
Mass air sensor on entry, air fuel ratio and throttle mapping in the engine, and O2 sensors in the exhaust.
Because of all these checks, if you are buying or getting something that is advertised as not requiring a tune or is installed and does not throw engine check codes without a tune, you should seriously question the gains or benefits from these parts.

No codes means not much has changed to the air fuel mixture. Everything is still within the pre modification parameters. Basically these parts are not bringing much change.

When you are investing money, the need for a tune is a good thing.
It means there will be significant change.
Not just a placebo affect.

Trevor’s advice is good above.
Best initial bang for buck is CAI and tune.
Exhaust helps too but it has to eliminate restriction as mentioned above.
So a set of mufflers, cat back or axle back, is not enough.
Those don’t require a tune.
You have to think long tube headers and free flowing mid pipes to eliminate restrictions.
Those require a tune.
Otherwise you’re just changing the sound of the car, and not much or any performance gains.

It’s up to each individual to determine goals and then work and budget toward that.
Power is not cheap.
Just changing one piece somewhere in the system may not do much because all the rest of the restrictions are still in place.
Once you enter the rabbit hole, you may need to change the plumbing or air path from one end to the other to get meaningful gains and make that one piece in the middle matter.

Happy investing all.
 
Last edited:
67 AGAIN said:
The idea is to think of the engine as a big air pump and a bunch of plumbing to route that air.
Plumbing before the air enters the engine, a path through the engine snd then plumbing once the air exits the engine.

All along the air’s path, the restriction to more power is always at the narrowest pipe or piece of plunging.

So one could have a large TB, but if it’s a small tube coming from air intake, the restriction is the intake tube, not the TB.

And, because air flow is critically important it is checked at several places by the computer.
Mass air sensor on entry, air fuel ratio and throttle mapping in the engine, and O2 sensors in the exhaust.
Because of all these checks, if you are buying or getting something that is advertised as not requiring a tune or is installed and does not throw engine check codes without a tune, you should seriously question the gains or benefits from these parts.

No codes means not much has changed to the air fuel mixture. Everything is still within the pre modification parameters. Basically these parts are not bringing much change.

When you are investing money, the need for a tune is a good thing.
It means there will be significant change.
Not just a placebo affect.

Trevor’s advice is good above.
Best initial bang for buck is CAI and tune.
Exhaust helps too but it has to eliminate restriction as mentioned above.
So a set of mufflers, cat back or axle back, is not enough.
Those don’t require a tune.
You have to think long tube headers and free flowing mid pipes to eliminate restrictions.
Those require a tune.
Otherwise you’re just changing the sound of the car, and not much or any performance gains.

It’s up to each individual to determine goals and then work and budget toward that.
Power is not cheap.
Just changing one piece somewhere in the system may not do much because all the rest of the restrictions are still in place.
Once you enter the rabbit hole, you may need to change the plumbing or air path from one end to the other to get meaningful gains and make that one piece in the middle matter.

Happy investing all.
Click to expand...
Sound advice! Thanks!
 
Ohtobbad said:
cols air kit and tune are biggest, cheapest HP gains.
Exhaust not as cheap but can be very good gains.

After that HP can get expensive,
where you start telling wife fibs about
car part costs :ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...

Agree.

Also, for less money than a TB or exhaust work, under drive pulleys can free up to 10 hp for only a few hundred dollars.
Maybe 8, maybe 9, but not bad for low cost.
They change the speed of your belt driven accessories in front to free up power to the wheels.

And, because they have nothing to do with air flow nor what goes on inside the engine, no tune required.
A bit of an exception to the advice I gave earlier but probably cost justified.

For example they provide 2 to 3 times what a TB would give a stock engine at half or even 1/3 the cost.

Based on tests of the Ford Racing larger TB for the 3 valve 4.6 around 2007-2008 that showed approx. gains of only 2-3 hp with a CAI and mostly stock setup.
Cost of that TB at time was approx: $800.
Whereas a set of pulleys were around $250-300.

So getting 8 to 10 hp gain out of a $300 investment is better than a 3 hp gain out of an $800 investment.
 
If fuel economy becomes concern, those under drive pulleys mentioned above help on that front also on mostly stock engines.

Ok, it’s very marginal mind you, but the idea is same engine - same fuel burned but with less parasitic loss up front and that power sent to rear wheels actually helps fuel economy a bit.
Think of it as freeing up the engine.

Just putting that out there… ?
 
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