New Era TB port

[Hardymon]

The short version: Got my TB ported by New Era over the holidays. Blazing fast turnaround, great service and surprisingly noticeable improvement over stock for the price of about a tank and a half of the good stuff! Strongly recommend it. Before/after pics below.

Over the holidays I returned home to Rochester NY, home of New Era Performance's shop, to visit some family. I brought my throttle body with me in my carryon, which actually got me stopped by airport security on the way home; apparently a throttle body looks like a bomb in an x ray even after I told them what it was, but I guess I can't fault them for trying to do their job.

The important thing is that I got it back, got it installed and have been driving with it for about a week now. There is a surprisingly noticeable difference!

I haven't had a chance to really wind it out yet, and I probably won't be on a dyno for a while yet, so I can't speak too much for the top end or actual numbers, but the car feels a bit torquier and pulls much smoother in the low to mid range. It also seems to lug a little less when I'm creeping in parking lots or rush hour traffic in 2nd or 3 gear.

I'm not saying that the car is a rocket compared to how it used to be, but in conjunction with the Volant cai I put on a few weeks ago, there is a clear difference. If nothing else, acceleration and daily driving feel crisper, silkier and just a little bit stronger. The engine noise while accelerating is also just a shade more aggressive now.

Having said all of that, I was also extremely pleased with the customer service that Mike from New Era provided. The turnaround on the porting was less than 24 hours from the time I dropped it off at the shop to the time I picked it up. He also provided some good advice for some of the future upgrades that I'm planning. All in all, Mike and the crew at New Era were very professional in their dealings with me, and I'm very pleased with their service and work.

I would strongly recommend this mod, both because it's really tough to beat performance per dollar wise and because of New Era's awesome service.

I've included before/after shots, you can see how course the factory work is. What you can't really see is that in the area between the ground portion and the smooth part near the butterfly, there was just a tiny bit of a lip on the bottom half, which I can't imagine was great for air flow.

In the bottom picture you can see how much material was removed, and that it is now one smooth continuous surface from the front all the way through to the backside of the TB. Thank you Mike and the crew at New Era!