Nothing’s worse than a wasted weekend, but nothing’s better than a weekend where you accomplish something. So how about this – an easy weekend project that will add an extra 16 horsepower to your vehicle…
You don’t have to be a genius in the garage to complete this weekend power project; it’s so simple even a wrench-rookie can do it. All you’ll need are a few simple tools like screwdrivers and a basic wrench set, and couple of inexpensive performance parts; an aFe Power throttle body spacer and an aFe Power air intake system.
Day 1: Fitting the New aFe Power Parts
The aFe Silver Bullet throttle body spacer improves air/fuel mixture for better combustion
For the basis of this project we used our 2011 Jeep Wrangler. A bit of searching on 4WheelOnline.com’s website and we had ourselves an aFe Magnum FORCE air intake system and an aFe Silver Bullet throttle body spacer. The Magnum’s specs reckoned a gain of 10hp and 11lbs/ft. of torque, the Silver Bullet boasted a 6hp and 14lbs/ft. torque increase. That’s a total of 16 more horses under the hood and 25lbs/ft. of grunt. With 4WheelOnline.com’s crazy low prices we got the lot for around $300.
10.00am. Tools and parts laid out, we read through the instructions and had a look at a couple of aFe’s helpful YouTube videos. Well prepared we removed the old air intake system and the throttle body. There’s something very satisfying about throwing the old intake away, knowing we’d never need it again!
Coffee time!
10.45am. That was simple enough, now to fit the throttle body spacer and reconnect the throttle body. Spacer seated perfectly and the throttle body slid back on with ease. Bolts tightened and we were already half way through the project! Definitely coffee time.
11.00am. Drank coffee.
11.30am. Coffee taken care of, time to fit the new air intake. Forgot to put the intake box’s hose clamp on the hose when we attached it so had to take it off again, but apart from our own mistake everything went in easily. Tightened all the hoses and realized we’d completed the job and it was only just after noon!
The aFe Magnum FORCE stage 2 filter increases air intake by 58% over factory version
12.10pm. Take the Jeep for a test drive. Throttle is definitely quicker to respond and the engine feels more urgent. Smiles all around!
12.45pm. Think we’ll have a relaxing afternoon and go for a road trip tomorrow.
Day 2: Enjoy the Extra Power
9.00am. Because we live in Florida we decided to load up the Jeep and head for the beach. Good time had by all!
Update. The engine definitely runs smoother since adding the aFe components. Throttle response is sharper and there’s noticeably more grunt at lower revs. And of course the engine bay looks great with that shiny spacer and slick looking new intake. We’d say it’s the best three hundred bucks we’ve ever spent.
More horsepower, more torque, more FUN!
By John Bone
Posted on August 15th, 2013