I was just looking for some semi-cheap bolt on horsepower.

I came across this item on AmericanMuscle.

BBK 78mm Throttle Intake (96-04 GT)

I'm a little puzzled because I was looking at the Throttle Body/Plenum Combos, and I noticed that above part. Its a "throttle intake". Then I looked at the pictures, which make me wonder, does this serve as a upgrade to both the TB and Plenum? Looking at the pictures it looks like there isnt even a Plenum.


I was also looking at a Spacer. Seems cheap for a few HP.

 

throttle body spacer doesnt do nuthin...

they say whenever you buy a bigger throttle body, ur going to have to port match it with ur upper intake manifold...

also they say that it isnt worth it but IMO it was worth it for me

 

spacer=junk, waste of money

you are correct, BBK designed that item to combine the TB and plenum in one piece, as most people upgrade both eventually anyway. As far as low-cost bolt on upgrades go, its the usual list. CAI, TB and plenum, cat-back exhaust, and off-road H- or X- pipe. Better breathing in and out. Those components combined with a good tune can be a healthy power gain.

 

I have a TB and plenum combo on my car. I got it so cheap I figured why not go for it.

 

throttle body and plenum combos are not worth squat on a 99-04 n/a car...maybe 5-8hp. I added a 70mm tb and plenum along with a JLT rai and didn't feel any difference to the car. If your going to do it I definitely wouldn't get the 78mm bbk unless you're planning on going with a power adder down the road. If you're looking for a cheap alternative look up the trick flow tb and intake combo's. They are 2 pieces unlike the bbk one but they offer a 70mm kit and they are only $250. Professional products are another cheap alternative which can be found on AM. I got my trick flow stuff from summit racing.

 

So my best bet would be to get a tb and a plenum separate??

As far as cheap bolt on's should i do a tb / plenum or get an x-pipe then work on getting a cat back? Just not sure what order to do these things in as far as cost vs. power

 

Gears will make the torque increase which will make a tb seem like a waste they give these cars such a launch its crazy

 

I would get the exhaust done b4 I would the tb. Neither gives u big power increase, but the sound is something u can tell a big change in. If I would have gone with the o/r h pipe. Just get on youtube and search for clips and find out what u like better.

 

yeah if you really want the tb/plenum get them separately in the 70mm size unless you're planning on going with a power adder down the road.

Before I did my supercharger, I did exhaust then gears then tb/plenum/jlt intake in that order. Exhaust makes the car sound better but again you won't get much hp from it. You won't get any hp from gears but you'll definitely feel a difference in acceleration. You'll feel the biggest difference with the gears.

 

As far as gears go what would you guys suggest? the 4.10's or the 3.73's?

Also, as far as installation goes, what does it cost on average? I've seen anything from $150 to $300

 

I'd do 4.10's to feel the most difference especially if your an auto. Unless your planning on going supercharger later...although I've got 4.10s and it's not that bad but there isn't much traction in first gear!

 

I would say exhaust first, mainly for the sound improvement, then hit the gears for the accel. I would stay with the 3.73's if you want to keep some relative decent fuel mileage, especially if you do alot of highway driving.

 

^ I disagree...4.10s are not going to cost you that much in mpg vs 3.73s. Maybe 1-2 mpg at most. I was getting around 20-21 mpg while I was daily driving this car with longtubes/off road x/magnaflow catback with stock gears. Switched over to 4.10s and continued to get 19-20mpg consistently.

When I was daily driving the car it was 75% highway at speeds of 60-70mph. Now you do have to take into consideration your driving style. If you are driving full throttle everywhere you go then obviously mpg will suffer.

 

Mid pipe for the dollar to power ratio is a good way to go on these cars. You gain some solid power and the car sounds better. Its one of the first things I did to mine was add an o/r H-pipe to the car.

 

will my car still pass inspection if i get an o/r H- pipe?

 

I see there are a few H-pipes on americanmuscle.com

Pypes (115.00)
BBK (159.00)
BBK Catted (349.00)

Why the price difference? Will it make a huge difference if I just get the Pypes one? I understand the catted one is much more because of the cats, I dont know why i would want to get that instead though. Which should I go for?

Also, this is a really easy install isnt it?

 

If all they do is hook the car up to a computer to check everything is working and you have either the rear o2 sensors turned off or use MIL eliminators, then yes you will pass. If they look under the car or do a sniffer test, then no you will fail.


Its a pretty easy bolt on using hand tools and some time.

 

Just realized you need long tube headers for an h-pipe.

My headers are stock, which means they are shorty?

So should I get an X-pipe instead?

 

U can get the h that bolts up 2 the factory manifolds.
http://www.jegs.com/i/Flowtech/387/53604/10002/-1

 

You were looking at the wrong ones. They sell them for shorty/ or stock manifolds or for cars with long tube headers.

You of course need the ones for stock or shorty headers.