I see that Mid America and a few other places offer an ACCEL High Flow Intake as well as High Flow Runners. What would be the point of putting these on when a mini - ram would give you more power and more rpms. Isn't the idea to get these long runners off the L98 engine?

 

Depends on your type of driving really. The long tubes provide amazing low-end torque, and not everyone wants a high RPM screamer.

 

So for the stop light derby and the VERY occasional day at the track, which would work out better? I'm not looking to make a race car, just a respectable one that can hold its own.

 

I'd say it depends on the cubic inches you're going to be running.

 

Again, that's pretty dependent on how you like to drive. Personally I like higher-revving engines so I'd lean more towards the mini-ram. However if you like more low-end torque then get a nice upgraded TPI setup.

 

You could make MR/LT1 into good stoplight cars with the right combination.

Depends on where you want your power.

 

I've owned an L98 trans am with a cam and some other light mods. It had great power down low, but my vette with the miniram crushes it. Of course my engine is much stouter, but its not like you have no bottom end, I can break em on the street at under half peddle with the miniram.

 

Miniram, 180cc heads, ZZ4 cam and a GREAT tune, gives me 1.80, 60' times and 12.8 ets. Its not too bad on gas either.

 

Mine has bigger heads, a sollid roller cam, and a 383 bottom end. No track times for me though, at least not yet.

 

More cubic inches still make a Miniram set up torquey, but with more rpm up top. My former Miniram 383 was a torque monster by virtue of the fact that it had high compression and more cubic inches. Pulled hard from 2500 up to 6500 where I would usually shift. I bet if you put a Miniram on a 396, it would pull just as hard as any modified "torque monster" at any rpm. Since my 383 is now carbed with a smallish 650 dp, I think it is a torque monster again. Whooooo!!!!!

 

I have the mini-ram with an aluminum flywheel with 3.73 gears and I can tell you for a fact that most TPI cars will have their hands full off the line, or anywhere before the next light. Unfortunately, on a cold night recently the rear decided to come around on me in second gear, so I will be out of commission for a while. But my point is: I feel no torque loss at all with the 3.73 gears and you are in the power band in NO TIME at all with my set up.........I like the miniram after having the Edelbrock base plate/runners.....no comparison, but that's my opinion....

 

I think a MR is a better all around intake, but you've got two issues to deal with on an otherwise stock L98. You'd need a cam to get to the higher RPM band & a MR won't pass emissions.
You'd probably want to do some head work too, but you could get by with what you have...... kind of......

Think about what you're willing to do & how far you're willing to take it, pretty much everybody who runs a miniram will have a H/C package too.

 

Ahhh, now we're getting to the meat and potatoes of this thing... I'd prefer not to open up the motor. As of right now, it's got a few leaks around the front and rear of the intake as well as the distributor seal. So I figure if I'm taking all this stuff off anyway to address the leaks, it's a good time to replace it with something better. So assuming that I don't want to replace the cam or do any headwork...would either intake system be worth the money or should I just fix the leaks and call it a day. It's a bone stock L98 with L/T headers and an exhaust, 6 spd trans, 3:45 rear.

 

IMO, if you're not doing heads cam, and this is stoplight to stoplight, the First seems to be popular these days, haven't seen any dyno numbers on them or know much about them. Do research, call them. The Accel base and ASM runners are pretty proven.

Don't expect much, but ti will help.

 

Why won't it pass emmissions? Is this based on a Peoples Republic of Kalifornia visual inspection, or will it really not pass a sniff test?

 

There's no EGR.........it won't even get to the sniffer


Wow, an M6 & 3.45s........I bet it cooks off the line! Why not just do a 100 shot fogger and call it a day? You'd blow the doors off C5 Zo6s stoplite to stoplite. If it's street driving and onramp fun, that's what I'd do

edit: actually, that's what I did for a few years until I did the new motor.

 

The super ram is the best all-around intake for performance but the worst in terms of installation and potential leaks. It provides a hump of HP from 3500 to 5500 rpms with the max at the 1/2 way point. I would add about 30-40 hp up there.

The LT setup uses the same base (as the superram aka SR). Larger tubed runner (than stock) are placed on top. They are actually significantly larger (30%) in cross-sectional area. And, the added hump of power is from 3k to 5K with 25-30 hp gain (especially with headers!)

The miniram (MR) adds all the power up top. You might gain up to 50 hp from 4000-6000 rpm but you will lose about 25hp up to that point.

For a stock, street car, the SR or LT runner setup are usually recommended. The "First" intake is another emerging option for the street. If you plan to do heads/cam in the future, the MR becomes the better option.

Gears add a lot to the selection. Because you have such high stock gears (3.45's), the MR is not such a bad choice. You also probably have 4-1 headers which help most in the mid-upper rpm range. So, the MR and your headers are complimentary in there target improvement range. With high gears, you can zip into the power band (upper rpms) fairly quickly and stay there. OTOY, you will also "stress" your motor more -- as you will may tend to run it at higher rpms lots more often. (Lower gears are more often matched with the LT runner setup).

Do a search on my userid. I've researched the crap out of intakes this winter. No other member has asked as many questions on this particular subject. Also, look at this intake shootout from 1995. Look at the hp curves and where the power exists for each intake. Draw them on a single graph to overlay them. Then go out driving and observe where (rpms) you usually run. It should help you decide where you might want more power -- cause you can't have more "across the board" w/o head & cam.

Another option might be mega-ported SLP runners. This intake is between the stock and LT runner (in terms of tube-size) -- but is still big enough for a 350 (vs the 305 as originally designed behind our stock TPIs). Port velocity will remain a little higher for low-end performance, mid-range should be enhanced due to 20% larger runners, and high-end should be helped due to the 3" shortening of runners. In reality, I suspect it should be VERY similar to the LT runner setup with a slightly better low-end (2k - 3.5k) rpms.

No intake will add much more two tenths in 1/4 mile performance. The longer-tube intakes will add it to the 1/8 mile times -- making it a faster than stock LTx cars in this distance. And, that is "street" range. By the end of a 1/4 mile, the LTx car will catch up. The short-tube (MR) style intakes will add it to the last half of the 1/4 mile run -- making it VERY similar to an LTx car in performance/feel.

Regardless of intakes you choose, also consider tuning your motor. I've heard of people gain similar times JUST with a good tune. Combining a tune with an intake might get you close to .5 second improvement. 1.6 rockers would also help.

gp

 

It's very hard to pick an intake.

Cubic inches and your HP goal is a HUGE "must know" when picking an intake.

I myself have been in miniram's with 383, and there is no loss of torque. I have been in cars with Superram's, Steathram's, TPI's, and Miniram's. I have always been impressed with the 3 inch runner design. After riding in a 383 and a 350 with a Superram, I made up my mind quickly that I would never want a Superram intake on my car so I sold mine.

Different strokes for different folks. The ease of installing a Miniram is also a huge bonus. I dont want to get into a pissing match. For me the Miniram is where it's at. I am building a big stroker motor. I am sure it will perform well, and I will have more torque (approx.460rwtq) then I know that to do with.

A few years back I drove an LT4 which was stock. It went really well, and that was stock cubic inches with a short runner intake. A miniram will work on stock cubic inches from 350 and on......

 

It's not an issue of "lost torque", it's where the torque occurs in the rpm range. That statement can be very mis-leading to stock-motor shoppers of alternative intakes. Look for 5SpeedC4's comments about recently putting a MR on a stock C4. He observed a lowering of low-end performance. (And, yes, better top-end.)

These are your "money" statements. I would add "where" your HP goal should land -- is a HUGE "must know".

From my perspective, saying low-end torque is adequate on your 383 is meaningless because it's not the same motor anymore. It's WAAAAY better!!! The OP said he didn't want heads/cam. He wants to remain stock. Please understand I'm not trying to start a pissing match, just commenting from the OP's point of view (which is currently mine as well).

OTOH, I think it's reasonable to say if you're happy with the low-end performance of an LT1 motor, then you'd probably be happy with a MR on an L98 with the configuration of car owned by the OP. The LT4 is a little more of a stretch in comparison.

 

Performance wise, what is the difference between a MR and a LT1 intake? I know the LT1 intake has to be modified to work, just wondering if they do exactly the same thing.