EXP throttle body

[matty10]

this is my own personal review of the EXP throttle body fitted to my smart 450.

First of all it cost me about £50 off ebay then £14 for the spacer and gasket of SmartMods http://smartmods.co.uk/index.php?page=details&id=78 so i cant complain about the cost of this mod at all.

Fitting instructions for the throttle body can be found here http://www.evilution.co.uk/773

I personally found fitting my Mocal inter cooler pipe over the larger EXP throttle body a nightmare, there is such a large size difference over the standard item it has to stretch ALOT, but dont let this put you off keep at it and eventually it will go on (a second pair of hands might help).

Its also worth noting that you should place the 4 torx bolts through the holes on the throttle body BEFORE you fit the inter cooler pipe as once the pipe is on the thickness of it fouls the holes slightly, i found this out the hard way by putting the pipe on then realising the bolts wouldn’t go in as the pipe was blocking them.( it had to come back off **cry's in corner**)

once it was fitted i left the battery off for 10mins so the car could learn from scratch as it now has the potential for a lot more air flow (not sure if this is correct but its what i am led to believe)

When i drove the car for the first time with this beast in place i was gob smacked, i was hoping it would make a little bit of difference but it made one hell of a difference, so much more responsive and seems to have made my car a good amount faster.
im not sure if it will be the same kind of gains on everyone’s car as mine has roadster turbo free flowing exhaust ect ect but its well worth the money and effort in my opinion.

My car is now running 0-60 in 10.5 seconds before this mod it was 11.35 thats a good diffrence in my books.

[Big Performance]

Re: EXP throttle body

Thanks for the independant confirmation about how good it is and how well it works

[Evilution]

Re: EXP throttle body

Excellent post, glad you like it. Some people find the have idle problems but that's more likely to be the throttle body.

[zelyx]

Re: EXP throttle body

im totally gonna try this mod out sent a msg to kal about buying the XEP throttlebody posted here, will give feedback once its done

[matty10]

Re: EXP throttle body

my car did idle all over the place the second day but after i disconnected the battery and reconnected again it was spot on forgot to mention that but i though it may have just been my car lol :p

[sschmidt]

Re: EXP throttle body

any tips to get the silicone pipe on?

[matty10]

Re: EXP throttle body

any tips to get the silicone pipe on?

dip the end of the silicon pipe in boiling water until its nice and hot try and twist it onto the throttle body as much as possible (about half of the hose will go on the rest wont) then get a small screw driver and use it to prize the rest of the silicon over the lip.

this is were a second pair of hands come in handy but you will have to keep doing this over and over until you actually get it over the lip of the throttle body all the way round

Regards Matt

[JBW]

Re: EXP throttle body

- just got one of these beauties from flebay and a Smartmods spacer.I've stripped and cleaned all the electrics as per Kane's guide and also removed the redundant fuel rail/joiner.

It is now sitting on my desk,nicely polished and ready to fit - if the rain wasn't coming down in buckets here !

Quick question; the butterfly valve in the the throttle body does not close completely 'at rest'.I guess there is a 1/16'' gap showing.It will physically push to a flush close if I push it close with my finger.Is this a problem ?

When fitted and powered up , does the ecu close the butterfly completely or does it need to have a slight gap to allow for idling ?

Alternatively (and in my paranoia) have I got some **** in there somewhere and it's keeping the butterfly open a tad ?

I did remove the main cog for cleaning;could this have released the tension keeping the butterfly closed?

Any comments gratefully received before I struggle with the silicone hose;don't want to have to re-fit if there is a fault .....!

[zelyx]

When i had the original throttlebody off my smart i remember there being a gap.

I assumed it was for idling.

An engine gettin no air at all is not happy i guess

Sent from my LG-P990

[Evilution]

Re: EXP throttle body

it has to be slightly open the idle. I guess you'll see when you fit it.

[JBW]

Re: EXP throttle body

- thanks Zelyx and Kane;sounds as though the gap is meant to be there.

I'll report back once fitted and (hopefully) working.....

[Khalifa]

Re: EXP throttle body

Right, my story for fitting the XEP throttle body:

Once received, I cut the extra bit off, then used throttle cleaner to fully clean the innards, until all was shiny and dirt free.

The main pain was fitting the silicone pipe onto the bigger throttle body.
I used a blowtorch in a can thing, for short stints and from a distance just to get it to flex, then brut force.

Id advise getting a 51mm to 45mm straight reducer instead (quick google search)

When fitting, i'd suggest taking the intercooler pipe off completely to gain access to the lower bolts.

Tighten the bolts before fitting the jubilee clips, as they can get in the way, as there isn't much room.

Once fitted, and everything tightened up (don't forget to put the intercooler pipe back in properly) do the usual, of disconnecting the battery before starting otherwise it will idle all over the place.

Start the car and away you go.

No, my conclusions are:

Quicker Gear Change (as the throttle stay open minutely longer when lifting or changing up/down)
Smoother with less lag
Slightly faster

Now, all these changes are small, but the cost is small, and the improvements are worth it.

Moving forward, it might be worth getting a tougher spring for the throttle body, so it closes quicker, but I'm not sure about the cons of that.

SO in short, i've had a good initial experience, we'l see how it pans out.

Bad experiences may be due to a faulty throttle body, not connecting everything up properly afterwards, disconnecting or loosening something you shouldn't have etc.

Who knows, but i'll keep you posted with any updates. no news is good news.

FYI, I don't think this mod would suite a non-modified smart at all, so if you're going to do it, make it part of a bigger package or a remap at least.

[Khalifa]

Re: EXP throttle body

and THANK YOU to Kane for helping myself and everyone else take this mod forward.

[A18 BAU]

Re: EXP throttle body

Been in contact with John at Forgemotorsport, will post on here as soon as he come up with something.

[Evilution]

Re: EXP throttle body

I've already had a chat to Peter the main man at Forge quite a while ago about an upper IC pipe with a larger size internal diameter for the throttle end. He said as long as I think there is a market for it they will make it. However, as we haven't sold double figures of the throttle body spacers yet, I can't really say there is a market for it yet but I can ask him to see if he can do a small initial run.