integrale4wd said:
hello,
I did a search on phenolic spacers and from what I have seen that it gives a gain horsepower. Well, what does a phenolic spacer do? Where it is connected to? Does it give it better pick-up or better long-run? And who makes them for our cars? please write back!!!
Thanks,
Anthony
I think Sean's site covers most of this, but I'm bored at work and have some time to burn
The idea behind phenolic spacers is to thermally isolate the intake manifold from the heat of the cylinder heads. By doing this, the intake manifold theoretically runs cooler than the rest of the engine. Because the manifold is cooler, it transfers less heat to the air inside it. Cool air is denser than hot air and packs more oxygen per unit volume than hot air, at the same pressure meaning more power can be made. In a nutshell, the phenolics are intended to keep the intake cool, allowing the engine to make more power.
For the V6, there are two of them and they mount between the intake manifold and the cylinder heads. If I'm not mistaken, Sean is having them CNC milled so they are pretty darn good quality.
I think phenolics are a good idea, but you have to realize they have limits as to how much cooler they can keep the intake. If you find yourself sitting in a traffic jam in Death Valley during an August heatwave, the manifold and phenolics will heat up just as much as with no phenolics and you won't see any benefit. When traffic starts to move and air starts moving through the manifold, the manifold will cool down and more power will be available again. So heatsoak can/will still occur, but it will take longer to occur "seriously" and will go away (moreso than with no phenolics I guess) when the engine starts gulping more air again.
