VARARAM install/review
02-17-2008, 04:19 AM
#1
Tech Contributor
Thread Starter
VARARAM install/review
PICTURES BELOW
Some time ago there were some dissenting opinions about the quality of the vararam. For those that dont know what it is, its a cold air intake that replaces the stock air cleaners assembly and has a scoop that reaches down to the front center grill section of the car.
Track supporters routinely see up to 3 tenths off their 1/4 mile ET and 3mph. Still with such an excellent performance record, some pople didnt like the build quality of the unit with complaints including: poor choice of plastic making it feel like a toy, poor gasket where the upper and lower parts meet allowing debris to get into the intake tract, and poor fit with difficulty in cutting the existing shroud or installing a precut shroud.
I bought my vararam for a completely different reason than most, I wanted to control the IAT sensor's irratic behavior and heat soak issues by having it moved off the upper radiator hose and having the air cleaner assembly draw cold air to keep cooling the unit to near ambient temperatires. For those that dont know what it is, the IAT is the intake air temperature sensor and it is located in the MAF sensor which is connected to the stock airbridge. As the ambient temps rise the car cant run as much timing so this sensor is referenced to see how much timing should be pulled on a hot day. The stock set-up could vary +40 degrees on a stop at a traffic light. Scans with HPtuners showed that the IAT could reach 120 degrees even if its 60 degrees outside the car. The real issue was the amount of time it takes for the sensor to read ambient temp.
VARARAM: What are you made of?
The unit's build material falls into the plastic nylon category but is distinctly different from the stock unit. The MAF sensor mounts to the vararam using 2 silicone couplers that act as a buffer to the heat transfer from the plastic to the IAT which is in the MAF sensor if you didnt know already. The plastic is chosen for its heat loss characteristics and wont break or crack. It is resistane to oil and heat damage. Many plastics will eventually dry out but this type of material actually gets softer when it warms up. It wont warp unless we hit the 400 degree mark. This heat soak issue that is had with the stock air bridge and direct connection to the MAF which sits on top of the radiator hose is fixed on 3 fronts:
1-the plastic doesnt conduct heat the same way
2-the MAF is insulatoed from dicrect contact with the plastic housing with silicone coplers
3-The MAF is slightly raised off the radiator hose
The cold air drawn in from the outside actually resulted in IAT temps that are rarely more than 10 degrees over ambient and the heat soak at traffic lights is non-existenet. The heat doesnt make it there and what rise you do get in temps scanned dissipate in 30 seconds. 1/4 mile track guys that see gains with this unit are seeing some of those gains because the IAT isnt pulling timing as much. This explains why the vararam like so many other units doesnt dyno much more even if a fan is blowing cold air into the unit yet has striking gains at the track. 3 tenths would make you think its 30hp but how do you measure it? While staging at the tree, if you scan you will see the timing loss and hence some of what you gain is really what you didnt loose. Sounds like philosophy class and just as confusing....metaphysics.
WHATS WRONG WITH A HOT IAT?
In this screen shot from HPtuners, the IAT sensor is instructed to pull timing from the engine in hot weather as it well should. The issue is that an artificially heat soaked IAT pulls the timing even if the temps are 60 degrees outside because the heat around the stock set-up allows the IAT to read up to 120 in some instances. Here in this screen shot from HPtuners, you see the timing pulled is 8 degrees at temps over 122 which the car regularly hits on a 70 or 80 degree day. When you start to move frm a light, the IAT takes 7-8 minutes to read normal. The vararam fixes this issue. It wont go more than 10-15 over even sitting still for 2 minutes at a light. It falls back to normal in seconds. That alone made me like this CAI. Of particular importance to my car is that the IAT circiut, and my add on, is how my nitrous system pulls timing for the nitrous shot. The IAT which is a resistor reads a certain value and by chenging it upon momentary triggering of my system, my car uses the IAT resistence to both pull timing and add fuel by IAT tables. When I release the trigger, the timing goes back to normal and the fuel returns to N/A optimum. I didnt have to mess with nozzle angles to get the a/f to be a safe level and I can change it at will in the tune. If the circiut doesnt function, the solenoid wont fire and I'm safe. The danger here is that if I have a heat soaked IAT the car shifts the cells to the right for the timing pull and could then hit a cell that doesnt have timing values to correspond. Ca VA? While this will all be covered in the N2O thread, I know someone is curious and I will say that te A/f without the circiut is the commanded a/f fuel so the 75 shot will register as a 12.8:1 PE. The circiut functions when triggered not when armed. In short, the Vararam is a gift from the gods with respect to safe operation of my system. (I am a Christian and dont beleive in other gods)
Since 8 degrees can be 25hp it shows that some gains from the unit have nothing to do with gains rather than simply eliminating losses.
GASKETS AND DEBRIS
In a simple single sentence: The gasket has been revised and is 5 times as thick making for a great seal. Further the air filter is on the intake side and not on the scoop side so if there were a leak, nothing bypasses the filter.
THAT SHROUD IS A PAIN IN THE
Getting the shroud out is fairly straight forward and many different air cleaner options have a required hole to be cut in this part. I found the simple mod of cutting the shroud's corners as seen in this picture makes it go back in much easier. I had it back in within 5-6 minutes plus fasteners.
N2O anyone?
I revised my nitrous system to work with the new air cleaner assembly using a 2 nozzle set-up. The angles of the nozzles make tuning a/f ratio very easy and you can see the angles created by the vararam make them shoot right at the MAF. Note: My N2O system uses a home made circiut to adjust fuel and spark only on the shot and reverts to normal N/A operation without giving up performance off the laughing gas as opposed to on. I didnt have to angle nozzles to get my a/f dialed in since the circiut does it for me but I wanted to show the ease of using a dry shot on this set-up made easier with the vararam's inherently advantageous positioning.
Please excuse my sloppy work here as its all about to come out for OEM looking rewiring into a clean wiring harness. Also please note I switched the MAF sensor out for the Z06 unit and the vararam billet 100mm maf unit. I dont have revised pictures but this is the new unit left next to the old unit.
As a mention for tuning, N2O and suggested saftey ussing nitrous there will be an educational thread talking about some of the system specifics my car has and the thoughs I pondered when chosing to go this route. The thread will appear in tech and not FI/nitrous snce its a pitch to show how nitrous can be a simple small safe shot and yet maintain maximum N/A performance. When I get the strength to go scan the operation of the system, i will post up all the secrets and how to's. You can have 480rwhp with manners and 550-600 when you need it up top. Please dont be fooled, nirous isnt like other forms of forced induction. A 75 shot is 90hp and 150rwtq so the 550rwhp would go with 600+rwtq.
Some call N2O torque in a bottle.
Hey BTW, you like my home polished TB? Yeah, I got it going on.
Originally I wass going to get a halltech killer bee from a forum member selling his Z06 version in the for sale section but getting parts from halltech proved to be difficult since the man thought I was only trying to 'steal' his connector for the Z06 MAF. He claimed that I would not be able to buy one and that his was targeted by major tuners. I bought the connector for 6 bucks and you can see it is on the MAF sensor in the picture. This billet MAF housing is actually the one you get with the Z06 or LS3 vararam units. I did the conversion for getting rid of restrictions in the airflow. The MAF swap is a thread in itself and will apear soon complete with tuning shots, wiring changes, and performance scan shots.
Some time ago there were some dissenting opinions about the quality of the vararam. For those that dont know what it is, its a cold air intake that replaces the stock air cleaners assembly and has a scoop that reaches down to the front center grill section of the car.
Track supporters routinely see up to 3 tenths off their 1/4 mile ET and 3mph. Still with such an excellent performance record, some pople didnt like the build quality of the unit with complaints including: poor choice of plastic making it feel like a toy, poor gasket where the upper and lower parts meet allowing debris to get into the intake tract, and poor fit with difficulty in cutting the existing shroud or installing a precut shroud.
I bought my vararam for a completely different reason than most, I wanted to control the IAT sensor's irratic behavior and heat soak issues by having it moved off the upper radiator hose and having the air cleaner assembly draw cold air to keep cooling the unit to near ambient temperatires. For those that dont know what it is, the IAT is the intake air temperature sensor and it is located in the MAF sensor which is connected to the stock airbridge. As the ambient temps rise the car cant run as much timing so this sensor is referenced to see how much timing should be pulled on a hot day. The stock set-up could vary +40 degrees on a stop at a traffic light. Scans with HPtuners showed that the IAT could reach 120 degrees even if its 60 degrees outside the car. The real issue was the amount of time it takes for the sensor to read ambient temp.
VARARAM: What are you made of?
The unit's build material falls into the plastic nylon category but is distinctly different from the stock unit. The MAF sensor mounts to the vararam using 2 silicone couplers that act as a buffer to the heat transfer from the plastic to the IAT which is in the MAF sensor if you didnt know already. The plastic is chosen for its heat loss characteristics and wont break or crack. It is resistane to oil and heat damage. Many plastics will eventually dry out but this type of material actually gets softer when it warms up. It wont warp unless we hit the 400 degree mark. This heat soak issue that is had with the stock air bridge and direct connection to the MAF which sits on top of the radiator hose is fixed on 3 fronts:
1-the plastic doesnt conduct heat the same way
2-the MAF is insulatoed from dicrect contact with the plastic housing with silicone coplers
3-The MAF is slightly raised off the radiator hose
The cold air drawn in from the outside actually resulted in IAT temps that are rarely more than 10 degrees over ambient and the heat soak at traffic lights is non-existenet. The heat doesnt make it there and what rise you do get in temps scanned dissipate in 30 seconds. 1/4 mile track guys that see gains with this unit are seeing some of those gains because the IAT isnt pulling timing as much. This explains why the vararam like so many other units doesnt dyno much more even if a fan is blowing cold air into the unit yet has striking gains at the track. 3 tenths would make you think its 30hp but how do you measure it? While staging at the tree, if you scan you will see the timing loss and hence some of what you gain is really what you didnt loose. Sounds like philosophy class and just as confusing....metaphysics.
WHATS WRONG WITH A HOT IAT?
In this screen shot from HPtuners, the IAT sensor is instructed to pull timing from the engine in hot weather as it well should. The issue is that an artificially heat soaked IAT pulls the timing even if the temps are 60 degrees outside because the heat around the stock set-up allows the IAT to read up to 120 in some instances. Here in this screen shot from HPtuners, you see the timing pulled is 8 degrees at temps over 122 which the car regularly hits on a 70 or 80 degree day. When you start to move frm a light, the IAT takes 7-8 minutes to read normal. The vararam fixes this issue. It wont go more than 10-15 over even sitting still for 2 minutes at a light. It falls back to normal in seconds. That alone made me like this CAI. Of particular importance to my car is that the IAT circiut, and my add on, is how my nitrous system pulls timing for the nitrous shot. The IAT which is a resistor reads a certain value and by chenging it upon momentary triggering of my system, my car uses the IAT resistence to both pull timing and add fuel by IAT tables. When I release the trigger, the timing goes back to normal and the fuel returns to N/A optimum. I didnt have to mess with nozzle angles to get the a/f to be a safe level and I can change it at will in the tune. If the circiut doesnt function, the solenoid wont fire and I'm safe. The danger here is that if I have a heat soaked IAT the car shifts the cells to the right for the timing pull and could then hit a cell that doesnt have timing values to correspond. Ca VA? While this will all be covered in the N2O thread, I know someone is curious and I will say that te A/f without the circiut is the commanded a/f fuel so the 75 shot will register as a 12.8:1 PE. The circiut functions when triggered not when armed. In short, the Vararam is a gift from the gods with respect to safe operation of my system. (I am a Christian and dont beleive in other gods)
Since 8 degrees can be 25hp it shows that some gains from the unit have nothing to do with gains rather than simply eliminating losses.
GASKETS AND DEBRIS
In a simple single sentence: The gasket has been revised and is 5 times as thick making for a great seal. Further the air filter is on the intake side and not on the scoop side so if there were a leak, nothing bypasses the filter.
THAT SHROUD IS A PAIN IN THE
Getting the shroud out is fairly straight forward and many different air cleaner options have a required hole to be cut in this part. I found the simple mod of cutting the shroud's corners as seen in this picture makes it go back in much easier. I had it back in within 5-6 minutes plus fasteners.
N2O anyone?
I revised my nitrous system to work with the new air cleaner assembly using a 2 nozzle set-up. The angles of the nozzles make tuning a/f ratio very easy and you can see the angles created by the vararam make them shoot right at the MAF. Note: My N2O system uses a home made circiut to adjust fuel and spark only on the shot and reverts to normal N/A operation without giving up performance off the laughing gas as opposed to on. I didnt have to angle nozzles to get my a/f dialed in since the circiut does it for me but I wanted to show the ease of using a dry shot on this set-up made easier with the vararam's inherently advantageous positioning.
Please excuse my sloppy work here as its all about to come out for OEM looking rewiring into a clean wiring harness. Also please note I switched the MAF sensor out for the Z06 unit and the vararam billet 100mm maf unit. I dont have revised pictures but this is the new unit left next to the old unit.
As a mention for tuning, N2O and suggested saftey ussing nitrous there will be an educational thread talking about some of the system specifics my car has and the thoughs I pondered when chosing to go this route. The thread will appear in tech and not FI/nitrous snce its a pitch to show how nitrous can be a simple small safe shot and yet maintain maximum N/A performance. When I get the strength to go scan the operation of the system, i will post up all the secrets and how to's. You can have 480rwhp with manners and 550-600 when you need it up top. Please dont be fooled, nirous isnt like other forms of forced induction. A 75 shot is 90hp and 150rwtq so the 550rwhp would go with 600+rwtq.
Some call N2O torque in a bottle.
Hey BTW, you like my home polished TB? Yeah, I got it going on.
Originally I wass going to get a halltech killer bee from a forum member selling his Z06 version in the for sale section but getting parts from halltech proved to be difficult since the man thought I was only trying to 'steal' his connector for the Z06 MAF. He claimed that I would not be able to buy one and that his was targeted by major tuners. I bought the connector for 6 bucks and you can see it is on the MAF sensor in the picture. This billet MAF housing is actually the one you get with the Z06 or LS3 vararam units. I did the conversion for getting rid of restrictions in the airflow. The MAF swap is a thread in itself and will apear soon complete with tuning shots, wiring changes, and performance scan shots.
Last edited by SpinMonster; 02-17-2008 at 05:19 AM.
02-17-2008, 08:03 AM
#2
Team Owner
Member Since: Aug 2006
Location: Portrichey FL
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St. Jude Donor '13
I sure noticed a gain after my Vararam install on my 06 a6! At speeds 45mph and greater the VR really shines, makes hot summer driving seem like winter. The Vararam will give you a true SOTP gain without question!
02-17-2008, 08:27 AM
#3
Burning Brakes
Another great post by Spinmonster!
I'm in between vettes, and have been reading a lot and planning what to do with my next one. I've learned more usable info from Spin's posts than I have from all the rest, reading magazines, talking to other LSx owners, and any other sources.
I hope to sell my 400 rwhp M6 T/A next month and buy an 08 Z51 auto. Now I've got a plan for my first round of mods and feel good about it after getting the story laid out by Spin.
I'm going to jump in and buy HP tuners, too. I think I can get enough help and info here to get started with it and not kill my shiny new LS3.
Thanks Spin, and keep it up!
I hope to sell my 400 rwhp M6 T/A next month and buy an 08 Z51 auto. Now I've got a plan for my first round of mods and feel good about it after getting the story laid out by Spin.
I'm going to jump in and buy HP tuners, too. I think I can get enough help and info here to get started with it and not kill my shiny new LS3.
Thanks Spin, and keep it up!
and the tb looks great
02-17-2008, 10:18 AM
#7
Safety Car
Member Since: Sep 2006
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St. Jude Donor '08
Spin, nice write up
. The shroud is a pain in the A$$, after fighting with it for an hour, i gave up and just cut it in place and put a piece of cardboard behind it to protect the condenser. Cutting the shroud in place saves a ton of time.
. The shroud is a pain in the A$$, after fighting with it for an hour, i gave up and just cut it in place and put a piece of cardboard behind it to protect the condenser. Cutting the shroud in place saves a ton of time.
02-17-2008, 12:05 PM
#9
Safety Car
Glad to see your rehab includes great posting. This should be a sticky for those wondering about the benefits of a Vararam over other CAIs.
02-17-2008, 01:31 PM
#11
Instructor
Great post, superb info on the benifits of the Vararam CAI. Just made my choice a LOT easier...
Best of luck with the REHAB Prayers are with you..
Best of luck with the REHAB Prayers are with you..
02-17-2008, 03:29 PM
#13
Safety Car
Good review Spin! As you may recall, when you and I tuned my car I had my Cold Box mod installed. Since then I've put in a Scanguge II so I can monitor IAT's constantly. I agree, that is a most important number. For those that already have another brand of intake installed and don't want to make the change to a Vararam, the Cool IAT benefits can be gotten with some simple changes. A 3 sided shroud and a Vett-Air can do a similar job at keeping the IAT's in check. Mine now run within a degree or 2 of ambient, and as Spin mentioned, if they heat up a bit at a stoplight, they come right down immediately as soon as the car starts rolling. Coot that intake and avoid the timing pull!
02-17-2008, 07:17 PM
#16
Tech Contributor
Thread Starter
As I said, I added a series resistor to the IAT and it is shunted out by a relay that isnt engaged. In other words if the relay doesnt fire, the system only reads the IAT resistence. My nitrous activation switch that fires the N2O from the t-handle shifter(not the system arming switch) engages the relay applying power to the relay and cuts the shunt out of the circiut and the PCM reads my series resistor (10K) plus the IAT itself which may be 3k. The relay is only open when it is powered and hence on the shot itself. When I release the firing button, the relay tunrs off and the IAT resistence is reading the IAT only again.
The net resistence on the shot is then in this case 13k which corresponds to a really cold weather reading and in those cells, I put negative timing numbers so it pulls that amount of timing. Unlike prior versions of this system (I wasnt the first to think of it but I didnt know that at the time while eating dinner I kept spacing out on my girl and designing this all in my head.), mine compensates for actual ambient temp changes in that the IAT is still being read and increases the net resistence so on a really hot day the PCM would want to pull timing just because its 95 degrees out. The hotter day would have a lower resistence and that moves the row the PCM sees on the shot to the right of the colder row and pulls the 3 degrees I want due to nitrous and the 2-4 for the hot day.
This IAT measurement also is read by the fueling command and tells the PCM to reference the IAT vs injector flow rate and the mutliplier on that table tells the PCM the injectors are smaller and they then dump more fuel in a predictable manner. In this case I have it set at .92 or 8% richer for the N2O to be shot with an 11.8:1 air fule ratio. When I release the firing button, the fueling instantly returns to normal injector flow rate and thus my commanded PE of 12.8:1.
Many people make the car run richer on the dry shot by pointing the nozzles directly at the MAF (which must be screenless so frost doesnt accumulate on it and blocking the reading and leaning you out ) but that could damage the MAF by super cold air under pressure. I point the nozzles away from a direct shot and the car just reads the increase in air and still maintains the 12.8:1 shot.
No freezing MAF, no fuel solenoid to fail and lean you out for engine death, and no fuel puddling in the intake manifold for a nitrous backfire to blow of the hood of the car and make the engine look like what we did to Bin Laden's caves. If my bottle pressure falls or goes dry, the worst thing that happens is I run at 11.8:1 and 3 degrees less timing which by the way, is the way the car comes from the factory tune wise.
Best of all: The car has a max N/A tune even when my system is armed and I'm hunting. When it fires the changes are made computer fast for 2-3 seconds and I release the firing button to return to the max settings again.
Harris speed works makes an active circiut that does all of this from the MAF/IAT too but as I said its an active circiut. If it fails so does your engine. My circiut isnt active....its passive meaning if it doesnt work the N2O cant even fire. The same relay that releases the shunted resistor also sends the ground to the solenoid to fire. No firing of the solenoid if the IAT resistence doesnt change. Its the safest N2O system you can have. In fact, I cant think of anything that can go wrong. I just knew fuel solenoids fail or leak and both will cost thousands in damage.
So thats why I have those timing values in the left columns. Sorry you asked?
Last edited by SpinMonster; 02-17-2008 at 07:44 PM.
I've seen the resistor solution, but never set up to be variable or trigger operated.
02-17-2008, 10:07 PM
#20
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CI 6,7,8,9,11 Vet
St. Jude Donor '08
I JUST installed my VARARAM in my 06 Coupe! Man,,,,that shroud was a BITCH! I almost caved in and cut the OEM shroud. After I recomposed and decided that the OEM shroud was coming OUT, I pulled, ripped, twisted and yanked and the OEM Shroud came out! WOW!
That was fun!
I'M Glad I RECOMPOSED and removed the OEM Shroud in tact! Installing the VARARAM cut shroud was easy!
I love the new look!!! It was raining when I finished up the project SO,,,,I wont have a SOP review until the weather clears up. As soon as I get a chance to do a road test, Ill let you know how it stacks up
Bill C
BC
WOW! That was fun!I'M Glad I RECOMPOSED and removed the OEM Shroud in tact! Installing the VARARAM cut shroud was easy!
I love the new look!!! It was raining when I finished up the project SO,,,,I wont have a SOP review until the weather clears up. As soon as I get a chance to do a road test, Ill let you know how it stacks up
Bill C
BC