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Guys,
I was looking at replacing the Manafold/Plenum for extra HP. Only one I've seen is Accel, though everyone I've talk to is that they're crap, anyone care to shed some light on the matter? Does anyone know anyone else who makes it for the L-98?
I haven't heard many complaints about the Accel intake. I've had mine on my car for about two years. It seemed like a quality piece to me and it gave a decent gain. Just don't expect a huge HP increase. I'd opt for bigger runners and port your plenum while you're at it. I would think all the aftermarket bases (TPIS, Accel, Edelbrock) are going to give similar gains.
If you are going to go with a 'bigger' cam, better heads, and other performance upgrades, I would forget the Tuned Port style intakes and build your set-up around a shorter runner style intake. The TPIS Mini-Ram is an excellent power maker, and not much more expensive than buying the 3 or 4 pieces needed for a good Tuned Port assembly. The Holley Stealth Ram is also known for decent gains, it is fairly inexpensive, but will probably not fit under the stock C4 hood. There are several arguments out there pitting the torquey, long runner Tuned Port style intakes against the higher revving, short runner LT1 style intakes. Most EXPERIENCED GM EFI motorheads will have to admit that the fastest cars out there, whether blown, nitroused, or naturally aspirated, have a Mini-Ram (TPIS), a single plane/straight runner converted carb intake, or are a LT1/4. Whether we want to admit it or not, L98/LB9 tuned port injection is 'old school' and quite dated.
Guys,
I was looking at replacing the Manafold/Plenum for extra HP. Only one I've seen is Accel, though everyone I've talk to is that they're crap, anyone care to shed some light on the matter? Does anyone know anyone else who makes it for the L-98?
Thanks,
Bill
I just purchased it thru Summit. It's a quality piece. I purchased the Super-Ram Intake w/Runner kit AND the Plenum. Good quality. The only caveat is that you "might" have to grind (Dremel Tool) a little material to get your fuel rail to fit. I haven't finished fitting evrything yet, but I do like it alot more than the std TPI. The entire package is supposed to yield appx 20-25 RW-HP (all other things being equal). Though not quite as much as the Mini-Ram from TPI, this setup is supposed to give that gain across the operating band... in other words from off-idle up to 4500 RPM where it should still continue to make power for another 700-1300 RPM where the std TPI would have already given up.
I would say that it all depends on what you expect out of it and how you drive your car. If you drive your car like I do and only expect to deal w/the Ricers from light to light, the SR is what you want. If you're looking for all-out high rev, drag racing, high rpm performance, look elsewhere. Since I spend all of my time light to light, it was definitely the right choice. Like performance heads, you need to pay close attention to flow areas that are seen most (like at .100 since the engine sees that area twice; once when the valve opens and once when it closes). It will only see max lift once. Likewise the SR. If your engine spends more time in the 1200-4000 or 5000 rpm, why go w/a setup that only begins to really make power at 3500 or 4000 rpm?