Vararam and water ingestion... fact or fiction?
03-22-2015, 12:40 AM
#21
Safety Car
glad to get some additional owners experience. I know little about the product, but do know that water doesn't compress, so never really looked past the problems. Now I see, I had a faulty understanding of the product, driven by fear of a blown everything in the rain while my adoring girlfriend cries her little eyes out from failure of leadership.
03-22-2015, 07:36 AM
#22
Safety Car
Member Since: Sep 2007
Location: Sunniest city on Earth
Posts: 4,169
Likes: 0
Received 21 Likes
on
20 Posts
Absolutely... I think the question though, is about water being ingested only by driving rains or down pours on highways... not actual standing water... I feel we can ALL agree if you drive in a foot or more of water your asking for disaster. But, I can see the air dams pushing a wall of water to the front of the bumper even in 5 or 6 inches of water, which might cause some problems. I really don't want to be the one to find out "exactly" how deep the standing water has to be to cause serious results.
03-22-2015, 08:13 AM
#23
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
glad to get some additional owners experience. I know little about the product, but do know that water doesn't compress, so never really looked past the problems. Now I see, I had a faulty understanding of the product, driven by fear of a blown everything in the rain while my adoring girlfriend cries her little eyes out from failure of leadership.
it is hard to see when your crying your own eyes out...
I'm not paranoid, am I, no I'm not, well, maybe I am, it is food for thought and I will be more cautious in future inclement weather events.
03-22-2015, 10:39 AM
#24
Le Mans Master
I have driven in some downpours and never had an issue.
If you are driving in foot deep water you will have an issue, but normal driving I can't believe there will be any problems.
I caught some downpours on a trip to the Tail of the Dragon. This picture is from that trip.
If you are driving in foot deep water you will have an issue, but normal driving I can't believe there will be any problems.
I caught some downpours on a trip to the Tail of the Dragon. This picture is from that trip.
03-22-2015, 09:09 PM
#25
Safety Car
You maniacs drive your cars in rain? You guys do recall that water created the Grand Canyon right? If water can carve a scar up to 6000 feet deep into Arizona, imagine what it's going to do to your Corvette?
The key to the vararam is to put it on and stop worrying about it. Mine has seen some downpours without hydrolock.
The key to the vararam is to put it on and stop worrying about it. Mine has seen some downpours without hydrolock.
03-24-2015, 11:17 AM
#26
Melting Slicks
an engine can ingest a ton of water without you realizing a thing. Doesn't necessarily mean no damage done just because you don't see immediate consequences. Go for a drive in heavy rain for 30 minutes at highway speeds with a vararam, and take out the filter afterwards. If it's wet, your engine is ingesting water. Although engines are designed to be able to handle some water, that water is passing through a dirty filter and bringing dirt into the engine. It's not water ingestion you need to worry about. It's the water bringing dirt into your engine. I have a hard time believing that driving for 2 hours in the rain going 70mph down the highway, that the filter would not be pretty soaked with one of these intakes. Especially going down the highway with all the mist that is created from other cars, and other cars and semis splashing up puddles. I would not buy one because I drive far distances pretty frequently in the rain. The moral of the story is that just because your engine doesn't die or bog down does not by any means indicate whether or not water is being ingested. You can smoke cigarettes your entire life without passing out or dying, but it certainly decreases your lifespan. My $0.02.
03-24-2015, 11:41 AM
#27
1/4 mile/AutoX
an engine can ingest a ton of water without you realizing a thing. Doesn't necessarily mean no damage done just because you don't see immediate consequences. Go for a drive in heavy rain for 30 minutes at highway speeds with a vararam, and take out the filter afterwards. If it's wet, your engine is ingesting water. Although engines are designed to be able to handle some water, that water is passing through a dirty filter and bringing dirt into the engine. It's not water ingestion you need to worry about. It's the water bringing dirt into your engine. I have a hard time believing that driving for 2 hours in the rain going 70mph down the highway, that the filter would not be pretty soaked with one of these intakes. Especially going down the highway with all the mist that is created from other cars, and other cars and semis splashing up puddles. I would not buy one because I drive far distances pretty frequently in the rain. The moral of the story is that just because your engine doesn't die or bog down does not by any means indicate whether or not water is being ingested. You can smoke cigarettes your entire life without passing out or dying, but it certainly decreases your lifespan. My $0.02.
03-24-2015, 11:47 AM
#28
1/4 mile/AutoX
Kinda funny the post above this one (at the moment) is how many don't drive their vettes in the rain ?????????????
03-24-2015, 01:58 PM
#29
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
an engine can ingest a ton of water without you realizing a thing. Doesn't necessarily mean no damage done just because you don't see immediate consequences. Go for a drive in heavy rain for 30 minutes at highway speeds with a vararam, and take out the filter afterwards. If it's wet, your engine is ingesting water. Although engines are designed to be able to handle some water, that water is passing through a dirty filter and bringing dirt into the engine. It's not water ingestion you need to worry about. It's the water bringing dirt into your engine. I have a hard time believing that driving for 2 hours in the rain going 70mph down the highway, that the filter would not be pretty soaked with one of these intakes. Especially going down the highway with all the mist that is created from other cars, and other cars and semis splashing up puddles. I would not buy one because I drive far distances pretty frequently in the rain. The moral of the story is that just because your engine doesn't die or bog down does not by any means indicate whether or not water is being ingested. You can smoke cigarettes your entire life without passing out or dying, but it certainly decreases your lifespan. My $0.02.
at the very least it would make it run crappy and possibly throw some codes if the MAF was seeing some water? Possibly ruin the MAF.
03-24-2015, 02:06 PM
#30
Melting Slicks
That's correct. It's an air filter, not a water filter. Water will loosen the particles, and into your engine they go. Take your air filter out of your car and spray it all over with a water spray bottle until it drips into a glass. Just take a look at how much it "filters" the water. It doesn't. It makes it dirty. It's an air filter made for air. Imagine that.
03-24-2015, 02:09 PM
#31
Melting Slicks
I am a LONG way from being a Bill Curlee or Evil Twin, but wouldn't any water getting passed the filter, also have to get passed the MAF...
at the very least it would make it run crappy and possibly throw some codes if the MAF was seeing some water? Possibly ruin the MAF.
at the very least it would make it run crappy and possibly throw some codes if the MAF was seeing some water? Possibly ruin the MAF.
03-24-2015, 03:35 PM
#32
1/4 mile/AutoX
That's correct. It's an air filter, not a water filter. Water will loosen the particles, and into your engine they go. Take your air filter out of your car and spray it all over with a water spray bottle until it drips into a glass. Just take a look at how much it "filters" the water. It doesn't. It makes it dirty. It's an air filter made for air. Imagine that.
03-24-2015, 04:14 PM
#34
Melting Slicks
That's fine by you. I'd like to have one too, but due to the driving conditions I subject the car to, I can't have one.
I've worked with everything from commercial size aquarium systems to professional show quality African cichlid aquariums for over 15 years, and I've seen just about every type of filter media you can think of from reverse osmosis to de-ionizing resin chambers to water polishing media. I've also used just about every type of car filter from oiled filters, dryflow filters, nanofiber filters, foam filters, and paper filters. One thing I can tell you is that no automotive air filter I have ever seen is even remotely close to the type of filter media you use for water.
Water is a solvent, and it will loosen dirt from your filter. Water filtration requires much denser media (typically multi-stage) and requires steady positive laminar flow in order to function efficiently. Air filters for cars have much larger voids because they require more flow. Dirt and other particles do not dissolve in air, so it is much easier to filter out the larger particles. When water is introduced to an air filter and is allowed to pass through, it dissolves the soluble substances in your filter into tiny little pieces too small for the coarse filter to catch, and into your engine it goes. In the case of an oiled filter, the oil is only there to trap the particles. The particles do not dissolve in the oil, and plenty of them remain on the surface ready to be dissolved by water. In fact you probably run an even higher danger with an oiled filter because they hardly even filter anything. The voids are enormous. When exposed to water, it could loosen literally chunks into your engine. That's why no OEM uses an oiled filter... because they barely work.
I've worked with everything from commercial size aquarium systems to professional show quality African cichlid aquariums for over 15 years, and I've seen just about every type of filter media you can think of from reverse osmosis to de-ionizing resin chambers to water polishing media. I've also used just about every type of car filter from oiled filters, dryflow filters, nanofiber filters, foam filters, and paper filters. One thing I can tell you is that no automotive air filter I have ever seen is even remotely close to the type of filter media you use for water.
Water is a solvent, and it will loosen dirt from your filter. Water filtration requires much denser media (typically multi-stage) and requires steady positive laminar flow in order to function efficiently. Air filters for cars have much larger voids because they require more flow. Dirt and other particles do not dissolve in air, so it is much easier to filter out the larger particles. When water is introduced to an air filter and is allowed to pass through, it dissolves the soluble substances in your filter into tiny little pieces too small for the coarse filter to catch, and into your engine it goes. In the case of an oiled filter, the oil is only there to trap the particles. The particles do not dissolve in the oil, and plenty of them remain on the surface ready to be dissolved by water. In fact you probably run an even higher danger with an oiled filter because they hardly even filter anything. The voids are enormous. When exposed to water, it could loosen literally chunks into your engine. That's why no OEM uses an oiled filter... because they barely work.
03-24-2015, 04:33 PM
#35
1/4 mile/AutoX
My background in includes 10 years managing over 140 construction equipment from bulldozers to 100 ton cranes with the filters mostly out in the open they did not shut down because of rain. With all that we have gone back and forth you have answered the topic the filter is made to filter air(then) so whether it’s the factory filter or aftermarket it will not stop water ??????
03-25-2015, 11:02 AM
#36
Melting Slicks
My background in includes 10 years managing over 140 construction equipment from bulldozers to 100 ton cranes with the filters mostly out in the open they did not shut down because of rain. With all that we have gone back and forth you have answered the topic the filter is made to filter air(then) so whether it’s the factory filter or aftermarket it will not stop water ??????
Last edited by SaberD; 03-25-2015 at 11:04 AM.
03-25-2015, 08:43 PM
#37
Drifting
Not really sure how this is a real topic. Everyone knows you cannot drive Corvettes in the rain. Therefore, no worries about ingesting incompressible water. Geeez. What's the next post about ? Rainbows, fairies, and pots of gold ?
03-26-2015, 09:02 AM
#38
Le Mans Master
I hate to think how many engines were ruined by water ingestion years ago when mechanics held throttles open and poured a cup of water down through the carburetor to "clean" the carbon out of the combustion chambers.
03-26-2015, 10:03 AM
#39
Supporting Vendor
My 97 had a vararam AND a centri-blower. Drove it through the heaviest of texas downpours with no problems.
The ONLY time you'll have water issues is if you drive though standing water up to the intakes.....but if you do that, you have perception issues.
The ONLY time you'll have water issues is if you drive though standing water up to the intakes.....but if you do that, you have perception issues.
03-26-2015, 10:20 AM
#40
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
Fact:
1 The Vararam will increase HP
2 Driving in the rain will not effect the performance of the Vararam
3 If your stupid enough to drive in standing water that is more than 6 inches deep... then the Vararam may be down the list of your problems.
Fiction:
1 The Vararam has caused hydro lock driving in the rain.
2 The Vararam will make 40hp
3 You can drive in DEEP water and not expect LOTS of problems...
1 The Vararam will increase HP
2 Driving in the rain will not effect the performance of the Vararam
3 If your stupid enough to drive in standing water that is more than 6 inches deep... then the Vararam may be down the list of your problems.
Fiction:
1 The Vararam has caused hydro lock driving in the rain.
2 The Vararam will make 40hp
3 You can drive in DEEP water and not expect LOTS of problems...