Good Reading for those of your who have been skeptical!

Installing a Vararam VR-1B is not particularly difficult and doesn't require a huge selection of tools. The installer will, however, need to work both beneath the front of the car and within the forward portions of the engine compartment from the top side, so having access to the Tech Center's lift made the job much easier for the center's manager, Dominic Conti.

We did our 0-60 tests with two people on board and used a Tesla Electronics "G-Tech Pro" accelerometer to measure our times. We got our best results, both before and after, with the traction control set on "Competition Driving" (which allows modest wheelspin without activating the traction control) and launching at around 1,200 rpm while slipping the clutch as we went to wide open throttle. Anything more than that, with the stock run-flats on a city street, would blow the tires away. We conducted the "before" tests just prior to installing the VR-1B. We deferred the "after" portions for several days since Vararam's instructions state that it'll take the C5's ECM 30-45 miles of sustained highway speed driving or 3-4 quarter-mile passes for the computer to adjust itself to the new, greater volume of airflow. However, the dyno results are corrected numbers, calibrated by the Dynojet's computer to compensate for variances in temperature, barometric pressure, and humidity, and our 0-60 tests were run on the same street, at roughly the same times of day, and the temperatures were very similar both days.

Remember, all of the above horsepower and torque numbers are measured at the rear wheels--in other words the power that is actually reaching the pavement. Conservatively, you will see a power loss of at least 15 percent between "crankshaft" or "flywheel" output and rear wheel power as the horsepower and torque work their way from the engine through the clutch, torque tube, transmission, differential, halfshafts and U-joints, and the hubs, wheel bearings, and rear brakes before ever getting near the tires and pavement. We picked up 11.9 rear wheel horsepower and 11.2 rear wheel lb-ft of torque with the car sitting still on the dyno, and netted a 0.46 second improvement in 0-60 acceleration. The horsepower and torque gains came on around 2,250 rpm and never dropped off. The improvement in acceleration is especially noticeable when you're rolling along the freeway at 70-80, pull the tranny back into Third from Overdrive and hammer it for a few seconds.

To sum it up, we'd have to say that the Vararam VR-1B works as claimed-the installation was straightforward, the quality of the components is good, everything fit, nothing had to be cut, and most important, the car hauls! It's nice when we get to test parts that do everything they're supposed to.

After driving the car enough to recalibrate the ECM, we strapped it down on our Dynojet once again, to see if our seat-of-the-pants perceptions of more power were for real. They were, with gains of 11.9 rear wheel horsepower (approximately 14.0 flywheel) and 11.2 lb-ft of torque at the tires (equal to about 13.2 at the flywheel--with the car sitting still). Zero to 60 acceleration time was reduced by nearly a half second (0.46 second to be exact), and the faster the car goes, the harder it pulls as more and more air gets crammed into the induction system. This is one of the best bang-for-the-buck add-ons we've come across.

 

You definitely have no argument here!

I know the thing works as you can see here.

Some people say but I think they may be the ones too lazy to install it .

VaraRam also has the best customer service I've ever personally seen or heard about.

***Got VaraRam?***

 

GREAT write up!!!!!!!!!!!! Would be neat to see how the Blackwing compares in the same test!

Congrats on the great mod!

 

Can any of you math whizzes convert these A4 rwph and rwtq numbers to what they might be on a MN6??

 

How do you drop your zero to 60 time by half a second and only gain 12rwhp and 13 rwtq on the dyno? Is that consistent? The dyno numbers seem a bit low for those zero to 60 gains. I really like the vararam though. I am thinking of converting from my blackwing this summer as a fun DIY project. Nice results!!!

 

Using 15% for A4 and 12% for MN6....

A4 RW to FW (%15):
11.9rwhp / .85 = 14fwhp
11.2rwtq / .85 = 13.2fwtq

MN6 FW to RW (12%):
14 * .88 = 12.2rwhp
13.2 * .88 = 11.6rwtq

Also, they stated these were numbers achieved when the car was on the dyno and not flying down the track/street; thus no "ram-air" effect is present.

 

You shouldn't post a write up like that without giving credit to who really did it. If I hadn't already read that on the Vararam website I would have thought you wrote it.


You picked it up at the bottom of page 32:

http://vararam.com/vr1b_article01.html

 

Lol! Busted! That's why I do my own stuff and don't post unless I'm 100% sure of myself. I'll have new numbers and slips for ya'll Friday night after my dyno tune tomorrow.

Edit: After further review of the first post he did not mean to imply he did the testing. Actually he did say "good reading" for those of you... he should of just put the reading in quotes.

 

I love the vararam, think it's the best intake out there, BUT.......nearly half a second in 0-60 test????

The Z06 is half second faster in 0-60 but has 50 more HP and lighter weight with wider tires???

Anyone else thinking the same thing???

I would like to actually see what the results were, not just hear the improvements......what did it pull 0-60 in?? what did it do in the 1/4 runs?? and what actual #'s did it put out on the dyno??

Again, I love the vararam.

 

Love mine! I definitely felt the SOTP difference. GREAT MOD!!!

 

Thought about switching from the Blackwing to the Vararam, just haven't pulled the trigger yet. I will say I have been happy with the Blackwing - just would like to know how much of a difference the Vararam would make.

 

JD- I went from a Blackwing to the Vararam and picked up 3 tenths and 2 MPH in the 1/4.

Mike V

 

Your time slips are very impressive, however my guess is the .5 seconds you shave were not solely due to the vararam. On that run your 60' was 1.65 which is outstanding, especially when looking at the other runs in that grouping. I think more than likely, through trial and error, you've found what RPM the car likes to launch from for best ET. A truer test would be to now make some passes with the stock intake vs the vararam. I'm sure the vararam does provide a nice gain, but .5 seconds would be a little much...........that would indicate about a 50 hp gain

 

Same here JD; I have reading every post on the vararam lately to try and decide whether or not to spend the money to go from a blackwing to the VR. It's odd that I've heard everything from NO GAIN / don't bother, to as much as 4 tenths over the blackwing
I'd still like to hear some more results

 

Thes subject line should have lit off a light bulb in your head that is was from Vettwebb.com and not I Maser Obie-one!