bhvrdr

Review of Phenolic Spacer:

I received my Phenolic Spacer in the mail yesterday from Evolution Tuning. The product is very durable looking and comes complete and ready to install. The spacer includes two OEM gaskets and the solid Phenolic Spacer which is to reside between the gaskets. It measures approximately 8mm in width with both stock gaskets. It is much wider than the Power Gasket and therefore comes with lengthened manifold bolts.

Installation was straight forward. It did not look like the intake manifold would come off of it's mounting studs without removing the solid coolant tube, but this was not the case. Yanking hard enough worked just fine and the install went off without a hitch. Total install time should be about an hour. The manifold support rod did NOT have to be modified in any way.

Results:

Testing Conditions:
During the morning I did a baseline data log of the vehicle at 10 minutes idle and a second log with the vehicle traveling 1.5 miles in third gear traveling systematically between 50mph and 60mph. Ambient temperature was read at 74 degrees via the vehicle thermometer which tends to read about 5 degrees high (the vehicle thermometer was used for both the before and after logs so its accuracy is not an issue).

I waited until the evening for the ambient temps to drop back down to exactly 74 degrees so test conditions would remain comparable. Again, a 10 minute idle was performed followed by the same route taken in third gear for 1.5 miles.

Baseline Log:

1.
RPMs: vehicle idled at 760rpms
Water Temps: 81-84 degrees Celsius
Intake Temps: 35-36 degrees Celsius

2.
RPMs: vehicle traveled at 3500-5000rpms for 1.5 miles
Water Temps: 96-100 degrees Celsius
Intake Temps: 30-32 degrees Celsius

Phenolic Spacer Log:

1.
RPMs: vehicle idled at 760rpm
Water Temps: 81-84 degrees Celsius
Intake Temps: 35-36 degrees Celsius

2.
RPMs: vehicle traveled at 3500-5000rpms for 1.5 miles
Water Temps: 96-100 degrees Celsius
Intake Temps: 30-32 degrees Celsius

Conclusions:

The Phenolic Spacer made absolutely no difference with relation to intake temperatures when measured at the intake temp sensor located 2 inches inside the manifold. When comparing the two logs it was startling how similar they were. I actually had to keep looking at the date and time in the title of the logs to be sure I wasn't looking at the wrong one. I have read positive reviews from others who have installed this and have seen the logs posted. In those other logs the second round of testing was done in lower ambient temperature and lower engine temperature conditions and this likely accounted for the difference of intake temps. The one thing positive I can say about this product is that it appears to be extremely durable and I would find it doubtful that it will deform as other imitations of the Phenolic Spacer have shown to do.

Limitations of this Test:

The intake manifold itself did indeed appear to be cooler with the phenolic spacer installed. The intake air temperatures are measured inside the intake manifold, but not very far inside. It is hard to determine if temps taken deeper in the manifold might not show more favorable results. Other data that would be nice to have is dyno data to see if indeed the cooler intake manifold temps translated into cooler intake air temps and less performance loss. Perhaps timing logs might also shed some light on this issue. With this in mind, more testing is indicated

Cheers! Mike

<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/57072/phenolic-1.jpg">
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/57072/phenolic-2.jpg">

Vonbimmer

Excellent review.. Very scientific and interesting to see no net difference.

bhvrdr

Thanks. I found it pretty interesting as well :/

QGMika

umm.. your injectors are a bit leaky?

bhvrdr

Nah, its pretty common to see that amount.

PiosQ

Definitely will have to look at the timing logs. Keep me posted. Did you notice any gains on throttle response? Thanks for all info.

Pedro

bhvrdr

Maybe it's worth the small amount of money and easy install. It's one of those "might as well" kinda things. Take care. Cheers! Mike