donZ

Vararam or Airaid which one would you prefer and why, for a ls2
Thanks for any input

LEAVINU

Visually the Vararam is the clear choice to me. The quality is not all that but the design lends to the performance in my opinion. Not scientific at all but you asked.

let er eat

If it's only between the 2 then vararam hands down...

BadAV

Do you want the best performance, with lower quality (fit/finish), or do you want slightly less performance, with good fit/finish? That's pretty much what it boils down to. I'll give up a small amount of performance for the better fit/finish, and less likelihood for water ingestion, so I'll take the Airaid. I had a Synthamax Airaid on my 07 and never had any problems with it.

let er eat

The airaid kits are a waste of money, all they do is suck the same hot air the factory intake does. There's no provisions for any type of ram affect either.

timd38

I had them both, plus a K&N, but now have a Halltech Killer Bee and wish I would have started with it. Quality of the fit and finish is far superior to those two.

BadAV

Not necessarily true, since you can open up the bottom of the air dam and let air in. That's what I did with my 07. It's a pretty cheap, easy mod that is totally reversible. And on a daily driver car, the Vararam is pretty much wasted. That's the main reason I'm staying with the OEM intake on my GS. I will probably open up the bottom of the air dam at some point.

let er eat

With that train of thought anything other than stock is a waste.

Also the LS3 and ls2 factory intakes are much different in form and function.

JoshBarber

Go with a Vararam. The noise it makes sucking down air is great and I did not have huge issues with the build quality. Had to make some minor tweaks with a dremmel but nothing show stopping

BadAV

I'm well aware of that; my response about my 07 was a direct reply to the OP's question since it was an LS2. Part of the reason I am not doing anything with my 12 GS is exactly because the newer LS3 GS intakes are very good as designed by GM, and the card type MAFs are more susceptible to throwing codes from turbulent airflow.

CMY SIX

K&N baby!

HOXXOH

There are really only two choices. Vararam or stock. Anything else is a compromise.

donZ

Vararam it is...
who sells the pre cut shroud ?

AssTyme

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

C6David

I just switched out my airaid for the vararam. Havent gone back to the track yet though.

xBoostx

I did the same exact thing, the Vararam needs tuning as it takes so much air in / to take full advantage of it's great design, also I did away with the frame to snorkel hardware as I didn't want to any longer deal with it every time I remove it, though it works fine.

I put a simple 1/8 x 1 1/4 aluminum flat bar hanger I made on which to rest the front of the filter area main body so to remove and install all I do is remove the throttle body connection and lift up the whole intake in one piece, when is time to install I just lay it on top of the hanger connect the t. body done. Anybody who needs a pix of the hanger just text and ask for it 305*457*3066 David.

09_BSM_Z51

I just installed Vararam last week, the newest model fit together fine. No major issues whatsoever. Cutting the shroud is the worst part, but it's 60$ for a replacement so it's not a big deal to me. Z51 Oil Cooler Bracket fits fine, it's a tight squeeze but I had no trouble. Once you get everything together it becomes easier to take on and off. I have seen much worse installs from more popular manufacturers. It works, car has no drivability issues. Made the car easier to drive at low speeds (6speed manual) and it's got more grunt and power throughout the entire rpm range. Probably needs a tune, but from the first drive the effects were immediate. As the computer has relearned it's only getting better. I still don't need a dyno tune, but I might have Diablo make a custom tune after dataloging.

Boomer111

If going with long tubes then get the Vararam, otherwise probably a waste of $$. Put the $$ in a tune and get results you can feel.

The Vararam and headers did wake the LS3 up significantly.

Problem in California not CARB legal, hence back to stock with a tune of course.