NFB: Bigger throttle body question

[ryan34]

O.K. i posted this in another thread but want it to get more looks so i'm creating its on thread.

Will putting on a bigger throttle body hurt in anyway? My friend has a Dakota R/T 5.9 with a K&N extreme airhait, flomaster catback, 180* thermostat, and soon to be jacobs ignition, and soon to be Mopar performance PCM(just for it to get to the house). Now his stock throttle body is 48mm and now he has a 52mm throttle body. (It was free from his brother who also has a Dakota R/T and didn't need it anymore.) Well we want to put it on of course but will it hurt his performance in anyway? I've heard that it can but i don't know how putting more air in will hurt it. Even if its a minor gain he wants to put it on, just not if its gonna hurt the performance. Thanks guys, Ryan

[Squat13]

first off, the problem with the 5.9 RT is the Intake manifold. Its based off an old 1964 two piece intake that had 33 inch runners. those things die out at about 4000 RPM. befor I even thought about a TB I would throw a new Intake on that 360. HR mag did a build up once and gain I think 15 HP after they threw a cam, headers, TB, Exhust, and programming, because the Intake's long runners.

[ryan34]

He is gonna get the M-1 Intake Manifold, as soon as the funds come around. But like I said that the throttle body was free. And as long as it doesn't hurt performance he wants to put it on. But i'm not sure if it hurts performance by going too big too soon.

[Squat13]

It shouldnt, But dont expect any gains, may even lose some tq off the line. That motor really needs an intake, cam, and bigger valves.

[ryan34]

anyone else want to chime in with anything??

[Squat13]

Im telling you Intake and valves.

[ryan34]

Im telling you Intake and valves.

I understand that, but I wanted to know if it would hurt power. He doesn't have the money for the other things and this throttle body was FREE. He already has it in his posesion. Now you say he may lose some torque. Now he has PLENTY of torque, like 345 ft/lbs(factory rating) but no kind of hp (250h.p., factory rating). Now he has that K&N extreme airhat and exhaust so its slightly more now. Is that torque loss worth the horsepower gain?

[Joe 1320]

The other side effect of adding a larger throttle body is a jumpy throttle response. The power delivery is a little less smooth, small throttle imputs are translated into a larger reaction. While overall power gain is small, the feel of the throttle becomes harder to slowly and progressively add power.... if that makes sense.

[DarkEnhancement]

A larger T.B. on a stock engine will show no real performance gain; you will notice a difference at ¼, and ½ throttle, but that’s only because more air is coming in, and acting as if the engine is at ¾ to W.O.T.; basically your tricking yourself. And, at W.O.T. you will notice no real gain.

Too much air can harm performance, not likely it will happen in your case "by installing a larger T.B.," but I’ve seen so many Honda/Acura owners, install a C.A.I with a larger T.B. and actually get too much air, and the engine performs worse.