[iceman350]

I saw a thread and have looked around about putting the 3.7 Acura TL intake manifold on 06-08 Ridgeline. I am thinking about doing this, but having a hard time finding a 3.7 intake. I can find some 3.5s though. Wondering if this flows any better than the stock Ridgeline intake? Has anyone done the swap and noticed much difference? I think another 10HP would be worth it since the manifolds are only about $100-$150 on eBay. A few 10HP mods here and there add up.

Before I install it, should I get it ceramic coated? I have seen mixed opinions about whether it will keep heat out or trap heat in. According to my OBD reader, the intake normally sits at about 120deg F in ~75deg temps.

 

[coolbob]

I'm sure someone with more knowledge can chime in and correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe there that modern stock intake manifolds is one part of a tuned system which optimizes the engine's output to match with things like valve timing, ignition advance, shift points, etc.

In my opinion, swapping a manifold that is tuned for a different application is unlikely to improve the performance of your RL. Perhaps a better experiment would be to optimize an identical RL manifold by port matching and polishing it then swap it to see if there is any improvement.

 

[Dnick]

Agree it's hard to swap/upgrade single components now-days w/o addressing the entire system it potentially effects....... and that is extremely difficult to do unless you are doing a ground-up engine re-vamp & have the expertise to address all of those elements.
Likewise trial & error can be extremely unpredictable for both good & bad outcomes.... and given that, can be a disappointing waste of time. (which I'm sure is why you're asking if anyone here has tried it)

Let us know if you find someone who has experimented in this area.

 

[iceman350]

I was just working off of this thread. Seemed to be someone who knows a lot more than I do.
http:// http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41424

 

[Dnick]

I was just working off of this thread. Seemed to be someone who knows a lot more than I do.
http:// http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41424

That link don't hunt......

 

[iceman350]

http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41424
Would help if I didnt paste the http after the http already there.
I should just stop typing today...

 

[speedlever]

I was going to say that jnc2000 would be the one who knows. So you have a good link and a good source there.

 

[Jonb]

It will swap and it will make more power it has been done to many honda 3.5l engines just not on an RL to my knowledge. If you search the web it is a pretty common swap on the accord forums. With the 3.7 manifold and port and polished intake runners there are some pretty good gains 20-25hp if I remember right. Problem is the cost, for the 3.7l intake and I believe you have to swap to the 3.7 throttle body, and ported and polished intake runners you are probably in the 1k price range. Most Rl owners are not willing to drop 1k and a weekend modding there truck, plus most don't have the capabilities or know how to do such a swap.

 

[iceman350]

It will swap and it will make more power it has been done to many honda 3.5l engines just not on an RL to my knowledge. If you search the web it is a pretty common swap on the accord forums. With the 3.7 manifold and port and polished intake runners there are some pretty good gains 20-25hp if I remember right. Problem is the cost, for the 3.7l intake and I believe you have to swap to the 3.7 throttle body, and ported and polished intake runners you are probably in the 1k price range. Most Rl owners are not willing to drop 1k and a weekend modding there truck, plus most don't have the capabilities or know how to do such a swap.

Any idea how much that kind of work costs?

 

[Jonb]

Any idea how much that kind of work costs?

If parts are 1k i would guess labor would be another $500-$750.

 

[iceman350]

I can get the manifold from a dismantler for $150. $500 might be ok for labor. I'd probably try it without machining to see if it gains any hp since most folks wouldnt want to spend that much for the labor. I would be curious what a simple swap would do.

 

[eurban]

In general, the Ridge seems to be a slug on the highway. That's my biggest complaint anyways. . . Engine is in top gear around 2K rpms or less. Will a different manifold do anything beneficial for the low end grunt that the Ridge desperately needs??? NOT LIKELY.

Perhaps it would gain some HP in the upper ranges of the rev band but for the portion of the powerband where the Ridge needs it most, it won't do anything helpful and it might even hurt.

 

[rollinhonda]

Perhaps it would gain some HP in the upper ranges of the rev band but for the portion of the powerband where the Ridge needs it most, it won't do anything helpful and it might even hurt.

Agreed, pouring money into a very useful and comfortable all around truck just to make it a little faster has no appeal to me at all.

Running premium over regular gas will get you close to 10 more hp at the top end. How exciting is that? well, at least that's a cheap mod.

 

[iceman350]

In general, the Ridge seems to be a slug on the highway. That's my biggest complaint anyways. . . Engine is in top gear around 2K rpms or less. Will a different manifold do anything beneficial for the low end grunt that the Ridge desperately needs??? NOT LIKELY.

Perhaps it would gain some HP in the upper ranges of the rev band but for the portion of the powerband where the Ridge needs it most, it won't do anything helpful and it might even hurt.

I don't really think the Ridgeline is lacking. It pulls my 5000lb boat fine and passes well. More power is more fun though. What are you basing the claim on regarding won't do anything helpful?

Agreed, pouring money into a very useful and comfortable all around truck just to make it a little faster has no appeal to me at all.

Running premium over regular gas will get you close to 10 more hp at the top end. How exciting is that? well, at least that's a cheap mod.

I run 89 octane and it runs a bit faster. Premium doesn't seem to add much over Mid. I think it adds more than 10HP when combined with a K&N. I am planning on testing with the Torque OBD app to confirm. I don't really see anything wrong with spending some money for more power. It will still be useful and still comfortable. I guess truists are truists though. To each his own.

 

[rollinhonda]

I don't really care what people spend their money on. Personally I would prefer starting with a platform designed for performance vs. utility, that always worked best for me.
But I also agree it seems to have enough power for what it needs.

 

[eurban]

I don't really think the Ridgeline is lacking. It pulls my 5000lb boat fine and passes well. More power is more fun though. What are you basing the claim on regarding won't do anything helpful?


I run 89 octane and it runs a bit faster. Premium doesn't seem to add much over Mid. I think it adds more than 10HP when combined with a K&N. I am planning on testing with the Torque OBD app to confirm. I don't really see anything wrong with spending some money for more power. It will still be useful and still comfortable. I guess truists are truists though. To each his own.

Honda chose the size of the intake tract in the Ridgeline for a reason. It wasn't that they wanted to leave power on the table or to be cheap or something. They were designing an intake for a 4k+lb truck rather than a sporty car.
It is highly likely that any power gains that you make with a larger freer flowing manifold will be at the upper portion of the power band and that you will also have a similar LOSS in power in the lower portion of the band. This is a pretty basic concept in engine tuning. Usually, there is no free lunch.

To me, on the highway, the Ridge feels pretty unresponsive unless you really mash the throttle. Heading up a hill, it is easy to loose speed unless you force a downshift with some serious throttle. This is a pretty common critique of the Ridge; I am not the only one. . . I can't imagine spending any money on a performance modification if it did not address this issue and most certainly wouldn't do so if it actually decreased low RPM performance.

 

[Dnick]

.... sounds right to me.

 

[rollinhonda]

Companies like Edelbrock, Banks, Motordyne, etc. etc. make good money selling intake manifolds, throttle bodies, ECU retuning for specific engines that have the potential for more power. They are engineered solutions not just 'bolt ons'.

Just going "port and polished" and larger throttle bodies, etc. will work in theory. But with today's modern engines you have to be willing to accept the side effects like driveability or reliability issues and still not have the gains you desire.

 

[Dnick]

Many times, those "race oriented" mods are aimed at increasing horsepower, and the 'package' of equipment "usually" allows more fuel to be burned to get that increased power. Most often these mods are aimed at Tim Taylor grunt-style power increases.... NOT fuel economy. So keep that in mind as well.
You can tweak for marginal gains (insignificant in my mind), but the real gains require more energy in to get more energy out.
Most HP modders are not concerned with fuel economy, and if that's your case, you can do all kinds of things.... up to & including forced induction options. That's a lot of cash..... and good luck passing emissions tests!

Personally, I think a lot of money gets spent in search of the "poor man's nitrous" so to speak. Chasing rainbows in my opinion.
..... that's not to say it isn't something that can keep a hobbyist pleasantly satisfied. In which case.... more power to you (pun intended).

 

[rollinhonda]

I picked up 35 ponies (280 to 315) in a 2004 Infiniti G35 and even a slight bump in mpg. It required an outlay of some $1600 for a new exhaust system, upper intake manifold mod and ECU tune. Everything was tailored and compatible. I was able to do everything with 'garage tools' except the 'tune' which was done on a dyno.
No harm to CA or Fed emissions either.
Was it worth it? Yeah, but had I kept the beast longer it would have been a better investment. I don't recall the increase in torque, but I could light those rear tires pretty easy stock. (Let's just say it is a huge advantage living a mild winter climate when driving a RWD car).

Of course, the net result was a decrease in mpg. But 'medically' related to my developing a unexplained twitch in my right foot.