I know you all probably get these questions all the time but I'm kinda new to the site. I'm debating on which intake I want to go with. I hear people have been having problems with hydralock with the Vararam sucking water . . as far as that. . not heard too much. I'm kinda thinking the Vortex rammer air. Any help would greatly be apreciated. Also. . I want to do more mods this coming spring. . without topping $5,000. what do you all suggest?

 

Hydro lock can be a problem b ut it takes a real good rain to do it. I liked the blackwing when I had that on my vette.

As to mods, see my posting under General Tech on "What it Takes to Get 500 HP"

If I had a 5 grand budget, as was doing the work myself, I would go with headers, H pipe and cat back exhaust, a good heads and cam kit, FAST intake manifold, good tune at a dyno shop. If you pay for the labor that would all cost about $5K. Sholuld give 400-415+ at the rear wheels.

If you are doing the labor yourself the options are more varied. With $5K I'd almost be tempted to try: headers and H-pipe and a bargain cat back, heads and cam kit, and a stroker short block (402 or 408) with a programmer kit. To stay within the $5K budget you'd have to shop carefully AND sell your long block along the way, but I think you could barely do it. Should give 425-450+ at the rear wheels.

Another route is to just supercharge your car but I don't think a really good kit can be bought, installed, and tuned, for just $5K. I've done two and been close to two more and the lowest cost I ever saw was $6.5K.

 

I have already talked to LG and they have a header and cam kit that will run me about $4300 installed and they claim its right at 100 hp gain. I doubt thats at the rear wheels. . but I didnt know if I should go that way or not. I know I will lose some power but if I go with headers, I'm really thinking about leaving my stock z06 exhaust. I've talked to many guys who love the sound. . saying it's louder but not too loud. From what i've read LG has about the highest horse headers so thats why i got in touch with them but i don't know if I should go another route or not to save some money. Then after all that work. . do i worry about cluth, rear end, or any other problems? This is my first vette. I really wanna do some mods to it but I don't want to have a piece of junk when I go to sell the thing someday so i wanna do things right. SOOOO many decisions!!

 

As far as intake is concerned I currently have the Blackwing on my car and I like it. I don't have experience with any other intakes so I really don't have anything to compare it too though.

 

You should not have any problems with clutch or drivetrain with those mods, assuming you don't abuse the car. I had a Magnusen SC kit which eventually did 465 RWHP on my '02 ZO6 for two years before putting in the current engine. Ran it at the track some and drove it around town, and never had any reliability problems other than a lack of traction. For traction, Lingenfelter sells a min-tub kit and you can buy wheels that look stock but are 2 inches wider and run 345s on the rear if you want: helps immensely.

On the other had, I know someone else who had the same kit and same mini-tubs on an '03 vette and had constant problems with everything: but he was an idiot and abused the car -- I think he would have had the same problems even with a stock vette.

 

If you live in California, think twice about the Vararam, as it can be a royal pain to install/uninstall/reinstall for smog tests. If you live in a state that doesn't have visual inspections, then take a look at the following (grouped by cold air and non-cold air, but in no particular order) and my comments, if any:

Vararam: Brings cold air in through the fog light panel area to a panel-type filter. Owners have had good luck with system on the dragstrip, but plan on spending hours to install and a bit more to get everything lined up well. Downside: Eliminates engine bay-cooling air that would've come in from the fog light panels (Z06 or coupe/vert with opened-up panels), so the engine bay may end up being toastier, especially if you add headers later. $350-$400

Vortech Rammer: Brings cold air up from in front of the radiator and into an enclosed box. Its filter is quite a bit smaller than the Halltech Warhead or Blackwing unit. $250

Callaway Honker intake system: This one relocates the MAF so that it is just in front of the throttlebody. It directs cold air from underneath and costs about $500. I believe this unit is 50 states legal (smogwise).

K&N FIPK: This is more of a semi-cold air system, as the cold air intake opening is more of a slit. Its filter endcaps are carbon fiber. However, it is configured similarly to the Halltech Stinger-R and is 50-states legal. $350

Warm air systems: (Easy installation)

Halltech Stinger-R: Not only contains the massive Warhead filter, but also includes a larger-than-stock airbridge and smooth throttlebody coupler. For $239.00 or less, this system represents one of the best bangs for the buck. Fortunately, for about $40, you can add cold air induction. See my procedure at http://www.conceptualpolymer.com/corvette_c5_corner.htm

Halltech Stinger SSM – 2001-2004 C5 only (new!): This intake system features an even larger filter than that of the Stinger-R, TRAP, and Blackwing. $400

Blackwing: Includes just a large filter, but an excellent one at that. Its cost is close to that of the Stinger.

Volant Twin Cone: This system gives you more open filter surface area than any stock box does and is well suited to an engine bay that gets cold air in from the fog light panels, as the filters are more or less in the air flow path. $265

2002+ Z06 airbox cover: A larger opening allows more air to be drawn in through the filter. Expect up to a 5 RWHP gain from this simple swap. $50

Zip-tie: An easy and inexpensive mod (eliminates the OEM box’s upper lid), but its sealing ability is questionable at best.

How good are they? My experience has shown that most will bump up RWHP by at least 10. The advantage of having cold air is that power will not be "dialed down" under normally hot underhood (and intake air) conditions. You could easily lose 10 HP with a warm air system after engine bay temps rise during slow-moving conditions. Cold air prevents this from happening.

 

One problem with cold air systems is that it is effectively impossible for a tuner to adjust and tune the engine computer optimially for the car while it is on the dyno: when it is on the dyno it is not moving so cold ram air is not flowing into the engine as it is on the street. Therefore a "dyno-tune" tends to adjust it for only part of the cold air benefit (that just because it draws in cooler air, but not the the ram effect most also get at spend).

A good tunner can drive the car with a laptop on borad to monitor fuel air and ignition and then work on it afterward back at the shoip, gradually homing in on an optimal tune in two or three tries, but they often do not get the full benefit of the cold air calibrated completely unless you pay for their time, which could be a couple of hours. This is one reason that cold air once in a while gets a bum review from someone: for a few it just isn't tuned right or is incompatible with the tune they made for other mods, and they feel they did not get their money's worth.

 

This is true, although I have read of some dyno shops that have fans capable of blowing in excess of 100 MPH. I just wish I could find one......

 

Yeah, I heard that one local shop had such a set up and drove an hour to get there. They had a big warehouse ventilation fan with a 4-foot blade that blew air at maybe 20 mph. BS. I was honked off and drove straight home.

I don't think it is possible to duplicate both the air speed and the way the air flows over and into the nose of the car with a big fan, as long as the car isn't moving: remember on the vette it breathes from underneath, so the air is caught between a moving car and a not moving ground - not the same.

The tuner I used, Carlina Auto Masters in Durham (Jeff Creech, who races under the nick-name "The Milkman") puts a laptop in the car that monitors F/A ratio, ignition, etc., and then drivers the car on the street, or sits and moinotors while I drive. Then back at the shop he makes adjustments with LS1edit and we go for another drive.

This was the only way we got our Camaro dialed it. It has a ram air hood with a 20x2 inch opening a bit over one foot ahead of the maf, the air goes into a pressurized box, through a big K&N, and straight in - no rain baffles etc. Tuning it (on the go) made a noticeable difference in the high end, and it turns out we were trunning too lean so we would have burned pistons eventually, something a stantionary tune would not have caught.

(It is important to realize this is an extreme case, our ram air is going to work much better than most because of the location and the sealed box and the 11.5:1 compression -- I wouldn't worry too much in other cases, but realize this is why most tuners set F/A a bit higher than optimum -- just in case.

 

....very true. I guess the good news is that with a fan blowing on the car and the hood fully open, timing dial-back due to high intake air heat is less likely. That probably wouldn't be the case if the hood were left closed.