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Phenolic spacer kits are a huge hit with the Nissan crowd right now because they produce results. In a nutshell, phenolic spacers thermally isolate critical parts from one another, reducing temps and increasing power. An example of these parts would be the throttle body from the intake manifold, or the intake manifold (or supercharger) from the intake plenum.

In my quest to make safer power, I often find myself researching what others have done. I've been watching the Nissan enthusiasts (mainly with the VQ35 and VE30 crowd) and I've seen a lot of rave reviews about phenolic spacers on those engines. They just plain work. So why not get something going for the 5VZFE (and maybe some other engines too)?

I shot an email out to Aaron over at Nissan Works to chat about the kits he offers and if he'd ever be interested in producing a kit for us Toyota guys. As with any good businessman, Aaron said if the interest was there that he would seriously take a look at producing the kits for us. Take a look at what he's doing currently: http://www.nissanworks.com/Phenolic_Spacers.html

If this is something you would consider purchasing for your rig, please respond in this thread. Aaron said he would join YT once I sent him the link and pop in to check things out and answer questions. Pricing would be somewhere in the $150 to $290 range (roughly).

He is going to need a guinea pig vehicle or two out of North Carolina to help with R & D if there is enough interest. Keep that in mind.

What do you say guys?

(Example) Maxima SE kit with coolant bypass mod:

 

Bump. No thoughts on this?

 

i would be interested in that upgrade, any performance upgardes that are effective, cheap and easy to install is Kewl in my book..

count me in!

Peace

 

Interested. Pricey for some spacers though! Well, I guess everything costs a lot these days.

Amazing that just isolating parts would in turn cool everything down.

 

not worth that much.
i sell honda spacers (one 4 cyl only) for around 35$ each (check my site in signature) and basically youd need like 3 spacers for the 5vz, so thats sub 100$ considering the tb spacer is much smaller.
then add some bolts for about 20$ and shipping and youre looking at a complete kit that would be less than 125$ shipped.

i can get them done at that much more than likely if theres a market, my supplier makes the honda ones himself, and all i would need would be all the stock gaskets we'd want to remake as phenolic, a few prepayments, and then itd be rolling.

 

i am interested, but for the 3rz

 

perhaps after I see the performance gains others get

 

if there really is a difference--i would be interested--would like to see some numbers on the nissan V-6's though

 

Go to www.nissanworks.com, click on Products and scroll down - links to the Dyno PDF's are on that page. These are a little goofy though because (for the 2002 and up Maxima) peak HP gain is only 1hp and torque is 10 lb ft @ around 4400 rpm. I wonder how much these gains really affect vehicle performance (say 1/4 mile or 0 to 60 times....)...

 

In bold is a bit of a problem. Manufacturing spacers to the gaskets often results in less than ideal airflow. Manufacturing to actual parts, such as the TB or IM/SC'r inlet on the other hand, results in precise tolerances and unimpeded airflow. Anyone that has examined various OEM gaskets on pretty much any engine can attest to this; they often "slop" over a bit and allow for quite a bit of movement until the parts are fastened together. That means the gasket(s) can be secured a bit "off." I don't know about you, but that's the last thing I want in a phenolic spacer kit. I want a precision fit, and that's exactly what Aaron has promised (and delivered to the Nissan crowd), not to mention 125 hours of R&D going into each new kit along with documented results of the kit on each test vehicle. I like what I see. Personally, I'm willing to pay a little more for that kind of kit.

 

This is the same as the "throttle body spacers" right? If so, I understand the consensus is that they don't produce any results on the 3.4L.

 

if I see times change, and some numbers, im definitely down!

 

Nope. Totally different. The TB Spacer you're thinking of claims it "swirls" the air and atomizes fuel better, improving power. It didn't do anything for the reduction of heat transfer, which is the main selling point of a phenolic spacer. The TB Spacer doesn't work because it can't swirl air into 6 different intake runners.

 

I'd be interested if the product works (makes more power).

 

Sounds Like something I would be Interested in too!!

I can see the benefits to this kit, Bottom line engines worst enemy HEAT, we all know a cooler engine performs better! These just stop heat transfer between parts.

 

If there are some real dyno results, count me in for the 5VZ-FE.

 

thats why you take the gaskets then match them to the item theyre used on, this allows for a much more "portable" mock up product.

theyre just the basis.

 

Those spaces seem to be big on the VQ nissan motor as stated before, the Infiniti G35 with an intake spacer yeilds 15-20 dyno hp. I believe the way our intake manifolds are made there would not be a huge increase.

Maybe the guys that are s/c would see an increase but not on a stock engine with minor bolt ons.

If you would like to check out G35 dyno numbers check out
www.g35driver.com

 

Please explain why you think this. Do you have any data showing a properly designed phenolic spacer that failed to show a power increase or temp reduction? I have yet to find any (and I've looked all over). What we do have, however, is a lot of data supporting that phenolic spacers work on V6 engines of various intake manifold designs.

And by no means am I trying to be antagonistic here; I really do want to see some data showing a phenolic spacer that failed to show any positive gains if it exists.

 

I have no data to support my opinion. I'm just looking at the design of the VQ intake manifold on my G where the air enters the manifold and drops into each cylinder port, similar to a 4 cylinder motor.

The 5vz intake manifold enters the manifold then is routed around a curve and then dropped into the intake ports.

I think it would benefit us more to have better designed intake manifold. Now by no means do I understand the toyota intake manifolds since I come from the honda world. Though like everyone board I'm always looking for a way to improve my truck.

If these spacers work like they do in the honda and nissan world then by all means I will look into getting a set for myself. But until someone test it and can show gains I don't think it will help our 5vz.