kerryt1

I have never liked the appearance of the stock accordian-style air bridge. It's easy to remove and install, but that's about it.

I spent a little time researching aftermarket ones, but was not really keen on their appearance...or price. I also gathered that there was no performance benefit.

When Vararam released their new C5 power duct, I decided to give it a try because it was the cheapest I'd seen, and I have had a good experience with my Vararam system thus far. In my opinion, they also made the most legitimate airflow improvent claim I've seen from stock-style duct.

I took the car for a drive this morning for comparision's sake, and then installed the duct and drove this afternoon. The ambient temperature was only 1 degree different, so I think it was a valid comparison.

The Good:
It looks much cleaner than stock.
The induction noise under load is slightly louder and has a better tone.
I like the MAF sensor being relocated to the front of the throttle body.

The Bad:
I don't like the red silicone couplers, a choice of black would be nice.
The use of a silicone hose inside a hose on the aft side of the MAF sensor.
I don't care for the Vararam logo being printed on there, but I understand why it is (I covered it).
Relocating the MAF sensor leaves a lot of extra harness; it's tought to find a tasteful place to conceal it.

All in all, I think it's a good piece and probably worth the price. It's definitely the best value available for this type of component. I might try and find some black couplers at some point, but it's a low priority.

EDIT:

I had a question about throttle response, and I had intended to address that anyway. I did notice some improvement, but I also cleaned the MAF (which was really dirty) the throttle body, and the K&N air filter. The improvement is probably a combination of all of these. My car only has 18k miles, so I'm sure everyone could benefit from cleaning.

rws.1

Thanks for the review.
mine is still un-installed.
any issues attaching the MAF to it.
Another post I read said they could not get it to attach.

JerryX

Good review!


Those red couplers have to go.

cookrent

Need to put mine in, maybe this weekend

71vetteinva

What's your impression of the Vararam's overall quality? The performance seems to be there, but I've read that the filter doesn't seal very well to the airbox. Perhaps this issue has been addressed with the new green air filters?

kerryt1

I read that post as well, but mine went right on with no problems. The tightest fit was getting the coupler on the forward end of the duct.

I think that improvements could be made for sure, but I think they are generally on the right track with their designs. I had a "ram air" system of theirs on my 2004 Silverado; it worked well, giving me a much better throttle feel and maybe a little in the SOTP dyno, lol. I ended up getting rid of it because it was ugly an didn't look anywhere close to OE. The C5 intake is good from what I can tell, althought it was on the car when I bought it. Mine has a foam gasket around the filter (which is not green) and seems to seal ok. I have been thinking about getting a better rubber gasket to ensure sealing. I was satisfied with the power duct.

khblair

i just bought the vararam power duct... where can i get blue couplers?
i hate the red

also - am i correct measuring a 3.5"ID x 2"long piece
a 4"ID x 1"long piece
and a 4"ID x 4"long piece

also got the vararam - is that coupler 3.75"ID x2"long?

Turbopower87

What's wrong with the red couplers? You have red FRCs... seems to be the best choice to me (although I would ditch the red FRCs lol)

Camjamsdad

Built well. Fit like crap. I ended up doing some extensive customization to get it to lay down in place. No gain in SOTP. It did smooth out my idle extremely well. The red goes well with my Torch Red car. Overall I'm happy with it, just be sure to keep tightening the clamp at the MAF cause it has to mold to seal well.

J S Machine

I know your post wasn't directed towards me, but if you all don't mind I do have some input.

I bought my vararam about a year ago. Mine is the B2, the one with the green filter. From day one I was not impressed at all with the quality of their products. While they work, they are simply not very well built parts and they are friggen nuts with where they set the price.

I did some extensive rebuilding and honing of mine while I had my car apart from a wreck. I just got through with this the other night. I completely sealed both of the lower tunnels with some good gasket silicone. There were holes in some of the cracks where the pieces are riveted together that were simply unacceptable. I do realize that this probably had no effect on flow or function, but the it is just the fact that it is built like crap.

If you don't read anything else in my post believe this when I say it: Whoever came up with this intake system is making a friggen killing. There is probably not even $30-40 in materials in this thing, and just think, they sold for around $500 when they first came out

I did some resealing of the inside of the airbox portion, and a good bit of checking. I am absolutely positive now that nothing is going to get through the voids that were almost surely there before. I never did trust the sealing of this thing when I first put it in, but I was so ready to get my car back together and try it out that I just forgot about it.

I am sure that everything is sealed well now.

As far as the red couplings go, I don't mind them because my car is black and I have red calipers. It kinda fits.

I do think that the vararam air bridge part looks good, but they won't get that much money for it from me.

I do hope that yours works out