I've heard it's an "engineering nightmare". Please explain why. Overall, what are it's problems?

If it leaks, why?
If fit problems, why?
If hard to install, why?
If design is bad, why?
etc.
etc.
etc.
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1 loss of low end torque
Because of the shorter runners

 

Wrong.

Also, considering a hydraulic roller lifter will float valves in the upper 5K range, the SR still breathes well up there. Port the sucker and it gets even better.

Cons?

The first 2-3 R/R's will require a little more time.
It's really not as bad as it's made out to be here.
I could do it in my sleep almost.

Gaskets not readily available.

Some have said using a wet nitrous system with it can lead to pooling of the fuel in the upper box.
That's true of most any manifold however.

 

Just look at it, bolts everywhere!

 

Putting it all together correctly, if you're not familiar with all the little intricacies, can be a nightmare. Having small hands makes installation easier. Some of the little bolts are hard to grasp and install because they're in very tight areas.

I guess you could say the cost is a downside, but the HP and TQ gain makes it worth it. Plus, they look cool.

 

Makes it tougher to remove wiper motor cover and injector harness. Other than that, whats left to complain about.

 

It is prone to leaking because it has far too many gasket surfaces that need to be sealed. The machining quality is not the best which can lead to misalignment.

Besides that, there is no earthly reason why it should take so long to remove an intake. Even after some practice, it still takes too long. They took GM/Bosch's dumb 3 piece manifold concept and made it worse.

On the plus side, it is great for performance. I would never buy one, tho. Plenty of better choices from a cost and engineering standpoint.

 

It looks cool.
Reminds me of Pizza.
When you tell people you have a superram, it sounds impressive.
Chicks dig it.

Wait a minute there is no downside

 

• High cost
• Limited HP potential compared with other intakes (unlkely to exceed 350 RWHP without porting)
• Small sealing surfaces (runner to base)
• Poor gasket quality. Some gaskets have the EGR slots cut beyond the sealing surfaces
• Can be a challenge to get it to idle even with a custom tune
• Installation difficulty
• Runner to valve cover clearance issues in some applications
• Poor plenum casting finish requires lots of grinding/filing/sanding/polishing for reasonable cosmetic appearance.

Most of the deficiencies can be overcome with a little prep work before installation. Little things like grinding flats on the runners for valve cover clearance, cleaning up mating/sealing surfaces, building up thinner surfaces with epoxy, studding plenum or use of bolts from above or slotting the 1/4" bolts if installed from below, use of proper tools including a long 6 mm ball end socket for the runner to base bolts. Careful selection of runner to base bolts to ensure they aren't too long.

 

Is this true??? I hope not. I've been told by locals and forum members that with the right valve springs the factory roller lifters can rev to 6500. I'm planning on shifting mine at 6200 or 6300 and I still have the factory roller lifters with a CC503 cam, 1.6 rr's and the proper valve springs. Am I going to be floating valves?

 

Valve float shouldn't happen if you have the right springs, I wouldnt worry about that. Try not to miss many shifts though.

SR gaskets=bad. Better to use the Right Stuff everywhere.

Surfaces are not flat on some of them, so the gaskets wont seal anyway. Thus the use of liquid gasket materials.

Little screws going into the runners to plenum are designed for midget hands. Some people rectify it by modifying it to put them in from the top.

Valve cover clearance for the runners is bad as well. You have to use short covers.

 

Thanks for answering my question vader. I have an auto so I shouldn't overrev, and I have a Crane Hi-6 that I'm going to set the rev limiter to 6500 just in case. I have to play with the governor to get to shift automatically at 6300 that is the only time I'm afraid of overrevving it past 6500, so hopefully the crane will do it's job. I need to pm PeteK to find out what to do and maybe he can put me close on the governor on the first try. Again, thanks for the response.


Greggpen, as far as the superram, I stayed away from it due to the vacuum leak potential and the remove/install time. I'm awaiting shipment on a hsr with vette plenum. Was going to go miniram but it seems the hsr will be a little better suited to street driving than the mini. The superram sounds like a good street driven intake tho if you have the patience to learn it and work with it.

 

With a quick glance didn't see this yet: poor aluminium so its very easy to strip threads when torqueying (damn, cannot figure out the correct spelling, sorry) bolts. As there is quite little material its difficult to use helicoils so its chemical metal/welding time to fix it.

 

As others have said, pain in the azz to install.

But, saying that, a little prep work makes it all go easier. Notch some screws, do some grinding if necessary to ensure flat surfaces. It may take a time or two to get it set up so no vacuum leaks.

RPM potential? Pfft. Get good heads and a good cam. Mine is unported and since I just got mine back late October, I never had time to dyno it, but I have shifted first into second @ 6700 RPM @ 54 MPH. 2nd into 3rd @ 6700 RPM @ 82 MPH.

6700 RPM ain't bad. Now, saying that I probably wouldnt' shift there anymore cuz I feel it's past it's peak power. I'm definitely over 6000 RPM shifts though on an unported SR.

Either you have patience or have a mechanic with patience when installing.

 

I disagree. Have you tried to reinstall a SR that had used RTV for all the gaskets!?!?!

What a mess! If you install just don't ever plan on taking it off or you'll be scrubbing/scraping away at all that RTV.

I used a tip from forum member PeteK, I put a little vasoline on the each side of the gaskets and as I installed them. It makes them fill out and seal quite well. I have had no problems with this and it is sooo much easier. Also, you don't have to buy another gasket set when you reinstall.

The main key is doing things right. (get the plenum bolts started and decently on before you do the runner-baseplate bolts (leave those loose.))

Other than that, if you grind the runners just barely, you can fit tall valve covers, in fact there is much more of a problem with the wiper motor for clearance!

 

FWIW, Lingenfelter still sells the gasket set for 24.95, but I'm with Vader...Right Stuff the whole works. Everyone here knows how these things like to hunt for an idle if they have a vacuum leak; do yourself the favor and goop the hell out of it!
That said, yes...it is a horrible mess to install, but there are literally hundreds of threads on this forum on shortcuts to make it a little easier. And they do flow nice throughout the RPM range whether you go wild or mild...just my 2 pieces of 97.5% zinc, 2.5% copper

 

all of those summed up with user error.

If your handy, you can fix everything that is "wrong" with it.
If it is a bad cast, then I am sorry. Mine seems perfect, never had a leak.
never had hunting idle.

I have chased all threads in it with a tap.
Changed all bolts except the runner to plenum bolts. I used allen heads. So much easier (plus you can screw the bolts in by hand). Anti-siezed every plenum bolts except for the center 4 (read below)
the 4 bolts in the plenum between the injectors go down instead of up. (drill the plenum, tap the runner) this was always my hold up in stock form. use a little rtv to seal the threads.

Cut grooves into the valve covers sealing lip so there are grooves around the runners, they come right off.
install all bolts loose so you can wiggle the who sha-bang into fitting correctly, then tighten once the plenum and runners all have bolts in it.
Use RTV on the runners to base bolts, to seal the open water ports.
I use RTV on one side of my gaskets to hold them in place.
this does 2 things
asures I dont have a glob of glue in the flow path, and when you remove it, the gaskets say in place and dont tear. I have reused them.

made a few tools to deal with installing it.
I cut the allen wrench down so I can easily fit it under the plenum to tighten the bolts.

Made another tool to install the runner to plenum bolts. simple 2 small extensions, a universal joint with tape around it to limit movement (mainly keep it straight) and a small socket with a cut off allen wrench jb welded into it. I can get around the runners and rockers this way.

I never had a leak issue. ever. I must of pulled it 8 or so times due to other issues such as heads leaking. as a matter of fact my heads **** me off more then this intake.

 

Comp Cams Beehives --->> http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku

The right springs, FTW !

KW

 

Don't feed the troll.

.

 

If you read Bill Mcdonald's post, You will be gold. The only thing I have to ad is that if you run roller rockers, one will have to beremoved on each side to tighten the runners to the lower manifold. I still can't make a tool to go around them. Good luck, Joe