Mod Spotlight: Phenolic Spacers

I've been thinking lately that having a section where I can rant about some of the mods that I think are really cool would be a great idea. So today I'm starting the new topic "Mod Spotlight".

My very first rant will be about these little things that I found when researching how to replace valve cover gaskets. (And also rotating intake manifolds). They are called Phenolic Spacers and are made (It seems) exclusively by Grimmspeed. Now in case your wondering what the heck a phenolicamagigy is, its a gasket that you place underneath your intake manifold to raise it off the hot engine block. The advantage of this is to lower the intake air temperature and increase the density of the air your engine is comsuming. During tests Grimmspeed has reported a temperature drop of up to 44 degrees when using the 8mm spacer. Now it all sounds just dandy doesn't it? But how much power does that free up? Well according to Grimmspeeds website it raises HP by 1% for every 5 degrees dropped. Thats a whopping 22.5HP to my Legacy out of a tiny spacer! The 8mm version of the spacer can be had for only $80 (while there are 3mm versions, I can't find one for my Legacy). Now with a bit more math I figure that means you gain about 1 HP for every $3.50.

In conclusion we have a mod that is cheap, raises hp (always good), lowers intake temperatures and is extremely easy to install. Thats a quadroople win!

If your like me and just can't wait to get your hands on some, check out Grimmspeed's website to order.