Review: new Ballistic Speed Parts 92mm throttle body
03-17-2014, 11:11 AM
#1
Review: new Ballistic Speed Parts 92mm throttle body Just got one of these guys and finally had some decent enough weather to get it on the car. I bought it to replace my older Fast 90mm that I bought used years ago. I couldn't find much information on it so thought I would take a gamble and let everyone know how it did.
The car has always had some idle issues that I was trying to tune over and mask and after smoke testing the engine during a valvespring swap and confirming for sure it wasn't a vacuum leak I really wanted to try a different throttle body as the Fast's are notorious for being hard to tune idle.
It comes in black anodized coating which I like better than the polished look of the Fast since nearly everything under my hood is black or unpolished aluminum.
All the sensor holes and bolt holes lined up perfect, the blade spring is firm but not too hard to rotate, and the blade to housing seal looks pretty good. You can hold it up and see just a little light but no wide gaps. At first it felt like it had a slight hang but once I rotated the blade a few times it thinned the coating where it was dragging and now works perfectly smooth.
This TB is 92mm but fit my 90mm intake with no issues.
Notice the large IAC opening on front which is nice. The exit on the rear is larger than the Fast was stock ( I had ported mine to try to help cold start)
Got it installed and after 3 quick tries I got the blade set screw adjusted to proper idle. By this time the engine had a little heat in it, but started perfectly every time other than the typical idle flare which must be in my tune. I noticed when it happens the timing flares to the 30s then settles down and the car idles properly, thinking my cranking VE table is the culprit there.
Once that's over the car idles perfectly and throttle jabs result in a quick return to desired idle with no overshoot or surge. On my first test drive I quickly noticed the car was returning to idle coming to stops much quicker than before. This was something I was most concerned about as with my Fast it seemed I had to crack to blade too much to keep it from surging, which led to a high idle hang that did not go away until the car came to a complete stop for around 5 seconds.
While cruising, letting off lets the RPM fall to the 1200rpm range almost instantly and as the car slows they continue to drop so that by the time the car comes to a complete stop it's chugging at the set 900 rpm idle in gear. I have park idle set to 825rpm. I could likely easily drop the in gear idle some more now but it runs so good I don't know if I will bother it for the sake of a little extra cam lope.
It has been too warm to see how it acts a seriously cold start, but from 58* and warmer it's displayed very good behavior. I am fairly certain clean up of the cranking VE table will get it close to stock behavior. It is cold today so if I go home for lunch break I will fire it off and see how it does.
My only problem with it is that there is not a mechanical throttle stop. The aluminum block which acts as a spring rest and idle stop is just a hair too short to stop the blade from over rotating WOT. This wouldn't be an issue with a more stock setup. I am using a modified Chevelle pedal and Lokar throttle cable, the arm on my pedal was previously heated and bent because I couldn't get WOT with the stock ls1 throttle body before bottoming out on the floor preventing a proper downshift. I intend to run a TIG bead over it and grind it down to get a height measurement then have a buddy machine a new piece for me (it bolts to the housing).
Overall I am very pleased with the purchase and I would definitely recommend the tb to anyone who is in the market but might not want to drop a LOT more money on the other go to brands. They sell these things for under $300 shipped new which makes them cheaper than most used options.
If anyone has any questions about anything I didn't cover or photograph let me know.
The car has always had some idle issues that I was trying to tune over and mask and after smoke testing the engine during a valvespring swap and confirming for sure it wasn't a vacuum leak I really wanted to try a different throttle body as the Fast's are notorious for being hard to tune idle.
It comes in black anodized coating which I like better than the polished look of the Fast since nearly everything under my hood is black or unpolished aluminum.
All the sensor holes and bolt holes lined up perfect, the blade spring is firm but not too hard to rotate, and the blade to housing seal looks pretty good. You can hold it up and see just a little light but no wide gaps. At first it felt like it had a slight hang but once I rotated the blade a few times it thinned the coating where it was dragging and now works perfectly smooth.
This TB is 92mm but fit my 90mm intake with no issues.
Notice the large IAC opening on front which is nice. The exit on the rear is larger than the Fast was stock ( I had ported mine to try to help cold start)
Got it installed and after 3 quick tries I got the blade set screw adjusted to proper idle. By this time the engine had a little heat in it, but started perfectly every time other than the typical idle flare which must be in my tune. I noticed when it happens the timing flares to the 30s then settles down and the car idles properly, thinking my cranking VE table is the culprit there.
Once that's over the car idles perfectly and throttle jabs result in a quick return to desired idle with no overshoot or surge. On my first test drive I quickly noticed the car was returning to idle coming to stops much quicker than before. This was something I was most concerned about as with my Fast it seemed I had to crack to blade too much to keep it from surging, which led to a high idle hang that did not go away until the car came to a complete stop for around 5 seconds.
While cruising, letting off lets the RPM fall to the 1200rpm range almost instantly and as the car slows they continue to drop so that by the time the car comes to a complete stop it's chugging at the set 900 rpm idle in gear. I have park idle set to 825rpm. I could likely easily drop the in gear idle some more now but it runs so good I don't know if I will bother it for the sake of a little extra cam lope.
It has been too warm to see how it acts a seriously cold start, but from 58* and warmer it's displayed very good behavior. I am fairly certain clean up of the cranking VE table will get it close to stock behavior. It is cold today so if I go home for lunch break I will fire it off and see how it does.
My only problem with it is that there is not a mechanical throttle stop. The aluminum block which acts as a spring rest and idle stop is just a hair too short to stop the blade from over rotating WOT. This wouldn't be an issue with a more stock setup. I am using a modified Chevelle pedal and Lokar throttle cable, the arm on my pedal was previously heated and bent because I couldn't get WOT with the stock ls1 throttle body before bottoming out on the floor preventing a proper downshift. I intend to run a TIG bead over it and grind it down to get a height measurement then have a buddy machine a new piece for me (it bolts to the housing).
Overall I am very pleased with the purchase and I would definitely recommend the tb to anyone who is in the market but might not want to drop a LOT more money on the other go to brands. They sell these things for under $300 shipped new which makes them cheaper than most used options.
If anyone has any questions about anything I didn't cover or photograph let me know.
03-17-2014, 11:22 AM
#3
I just couldn't justify spending over $400 on one when I already had the Fast. The Godspeed ebay junk has nothing but bad reviews so that option was out, and trying to find a used Nick Williams, Edelbrock, Holley, etc for a price close to this was a chore.
I've seen these things go on sale too but I just wanted to give it a whirl so the car is ready for serious cruising as soon as the weather breaks.
I've seen these things go on sale too but I just wanted to give it a whirl so the car is ready for serious cruising as soon as the weather breaks.
03-17-2014, 11:26 AM
#4
I hear you on the weather. In mid Missouri, on Saturday, it was 80 degrees, and when I woke up Sunday, it was snowing and ***** cold. I blame that damn Al Gore.
I'm glad that TB is working good for you. It's really nice to know there is another option out there that doesn't break the bank and is better than some of the more expensive ones.
I'm glad that TB is working good for you. It's really nice to know there is another option out there that doesn't break the bank and is better than some of the more expensive ones.
Trending Topics
03-18-2014, 08:33 AM
#8
Fired up the car on 3 different cold starts yesterday from: 48*, 54*, and 58*
Everything worked like a charm, it idles at the set idle I have for each coolant temp cell in the tune which is the easy part, but the impressive part is even when it's started cold like that throttle blips don't cause surge which is something I fought a lot with the Fast tb and ended up having to port the IAC opening and exit to allow more airflow to stop.
Color me impressed.
Everything worked like a charm, it idles at the set idle I have for each coolant temp cell in the tune which is the easy part, but the impressive part is even when it's started cold like that throttle blips don't cause surge which is something I fought a lot with the Fast tb and ended up having to port the IAC opening and exit to allow more airflow to stop.
Color me impressed.
03-18-2014, 06:24 PM
#9
I guess my real question should be "Can I bolt this to an LS6 and the Fast 90?"
As I currently have the LS6 and am considering a fast in the future.
03-18-2014, 06:46 PM
#10
Unfortunately, no. The LS6 and other factory LS1 intakes have 3 bolts attaching the TB, while the fast intake and 90mm throttle bodies use a 4 bolt pattern. Also, the LS2,3,7 use the 4 bolt pattern, and this TB will work with those intakes.
03-18-2014, 08:04 PM
#12
Sorry, I wasn't very specific. As 79_T/A stated, our throttle body works on all LS2, LS3, & LS7 Intakes, also Fast 90, Fast 92, Holley Hi-Ram, Edelbrock Pro Flo, and any other 90mm+ intake with the four bolt pattern (Except the Fast 102).
03-18-2014, 08:08 PM
#13
07-01-2014, 02:18 AM
#15
I've had hanging idle issues with my fast 102/92 setup. Taken it back to my tuner twice. Coming to a stop it hangs at 12-1400 and I usually slip the clutch to bring it back down to idle at 900. Woulda been nice to try one of these out on my ls3 intake
07-01-2014, 07:47 AM
#16
TECH Senior Member
iTrader: (96)
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Turnin' Wrenches Infractions: 005
Posts: 24,241
Likes: 0
Received 79 Likes
on
70 Posts
Nice to see new products continue to come out. But under $300 makes me think 275ish, and the PTMs are 375ish right? $100 more for something proven with a good vendor to stand behind them (tsp) seems like a no brainer.
07-01-2014, 08:07 AM
#17
Did anyone ever find out if these guys are still in business. I'm referring to another thread where a guy was trying to buy one of these, but the website was down and they were not answering their PM's or phone. Guy tried for a long *** time too. Any news????
07-01-2014, 10:24 PM
#18
Did anyone ever find out if these guys are still in business. I'm referring to another thread where a guy was trying to buy one of these, but the website was down and they were not answering their PM's or phone. Guy tried for a long *** time too. Any news????
08-07-2014, 09:43 PM
#20
The throttle blade in my Ballistic speed TB doesn't seat well on the top, and allows too much air flow in; can't get it to idle right. Any way to get a replacement blade and see if I can get a better fit before I buy a nick williams unit? Unfortunately I didn't get in at the black friday price and I'm already out $250+ on this one...
)-:
)-: