Hi to all I just bought a 01 black Z06 and want to put an after market air intake system on but was wondering what to put on. I am looking at the vararamm or the stinger? whats everybody using and why?

Love the car and this forum is awesome.

Steve

 

I've got the Vara-Ram, and like it a lot. It does well for me.

 

Been there and done both. I had a haltech tric, looked great, but, same exact ETs as a vararam. I went back to a varara as with a fast 90 and NW TB, the angle just was not right on the lower piece. Both are great IMO and I would try a stinger one of these days if it was torch red to match the car. Either way, you will be in good shape.

The Vararam is a PIA to install, but it does work. The Stinger is way easier to install and the quality is very good and looks are top notch. Good luck man and how bout some pics of yuor ride
Dave

 

I went with the Vortex and it seems to work well............It was easy to install.....Anyone of the intake systems will be better than stock ..We need pics........................

 

We had done quite a bit of dyno and track testing and have found the Vararam to work awesome. Installation is not that difficult.

It will benfit from some tuning changes as it does more a significant amount of air.

Howard

 

I have the FAST, NW TB, and Halltech Stinger-- fit and finish is pretty nice
The ease of the Halltech comes in handy when pulling off the intake rsystem, makes everything run smoothly

 

I have the Callaway Honker and love it. The fit & finish is like OEM and the intake made a bunch of power.

 

I am going to go with the Haltech Stinger...

 

I went with the Honker...

Do some searches for VaraRam and Honker in the general forum and you will find lots of reading and debate on the subject of the best air intake...

 

I went with the Honker as well and I enjoy it. Noticed a difference and can definitely hear the whoosh from it every time I accelerate!

 

And then there is me... I just had to be different I guess. I had the Vararam but could not get it to seal well at the filter. Every time I checked it I had grit at the throttlebody. I tried everything including making a custom weather striping. I left the bottom half in and re-installed my stinger. I'm not getting the advantage of ram air but I have a great filter and good cold air intake.

 

I just recieved my Honker, but will not be able to install it or drive my car until spring. Quality appears to be very good.
I was going to buy a Haltech because of ease of install and price, as I believe the Honker is overpriced. However, when I analyzed the different designs, I decided to splurge on the Callaway.
I have yet to see any definite proof, or dyno/power numbers, that any ONE cold air intake is superior over another (proper tuning is usually involved, too many varying mods and testing procedures). So I don't think you can go wrong with any of these three popular CAIs, that have been used successfully by countless members of this Forum.
With that being said, I like the design of the Honker because of its lack of obrupt transitions. The Honker's wide, narrow filter connects to a housing of the same size and shape. Then this housing sweeps towards the engine, gradually funneling down to the size of the MAF sensor, which is now located just ahead of the throttle body. I prefer this design as opposed to the large oval wraparound filterhead that has to flow immediately through the MAF sensor which is a much smaller round opening, then change to oval over the radiator, then change back to the round opening prior to entering the TB.
I am probably over-complicating the simplicity of the CAI, but this is the logic that helped me make my final decision. I am on a tight budget and can't afford to buy overpriced hyped-up parts, or afford to second guess myself and have to do something twice. I am happy with my decision, silly or not, and can now move on to my other mods.

 

Thank you very much for selecting the Callaway Honker.

You've described the design advantage perfectly. The system is capable of flowing more air than other systems because it has an unobstructed, uni-directional air path, with smooth transitions to avoid turbulence. Eliminating the air bridge and moving the MAFS next to the throttle body allowed our engineers to simplify the air duct shape and maximize flow.

Here's an exploded view of the Honker for C6's. It's very similar to the C5 version.



Here's an article from Vette Magazine that described a dyno test performed by MTI Racing in Marietta Georgia. Callaway did not participate; it was an independent test. This test doesn't compare two cold air systems as you suggest, but it compares two aftermarket systems. We'd love to see one of the magazines cover a shoot-out comparing popular CAI systems.

To summarize the Vette Magazine/MTI Racing test results:
Baseline - 399.9 rwhp with aftermarket performance intake system;
Added Honker - 419.4 rwhp, no other changes;
"Tuned" PCM calibration - 432.2 rwhp.

So, Honker plus tuning added 32.3 hp, at the wheels (calculates to 37.4 bhp, flywheel), over a very popular, underhood aftermarket intake system. (According to our testing, the baseline aftermarket intake performs better than any other non-cold-air C5 system that we've tested. We used this intake in Callaway C12's, before the Honker was developed.)

 

I went with the Halltech Stinger. I was going to use a Vararam, but with the way it floods here in Louisiana I did not want to chance it.

 

I'm just curious if anyone has installed a Callaway Honker on a 2004 Z06 and didn't throw any codes without tuning?

 

I installed the Vararam right after getting my Z. A bit of a PITA to install, but it does seem to work, seat of the pants feel anyway.

 

I installed on my 01Z with no codes....

 

We don't receive reports of triggering DTC's. Have you? What are they?

 

mcv,
I have a question for you about the info on the website. It gives part #'s etc for the 02-04 Vettes, but excludes the Z06. Why? Is it the #'s that are different or is the whole intake different for the Z06? What are the gains for a Z06 if not the same as the LS1 engines?
Thank you, John

 

I don't own a Callaway Honker intake yet, and have concerns since the 2004 PCM programming is different (leaner by default at WOT from what I have researched). Several 2004 Z06 owners have reported codes regarding "engine run - lean" condition just from installing CAI's, whereas this usually doesn't impact 01-03 Z06 owners.

I just wanted to see if any 04Z owners had installed the Honker without programming to see what the results were. I do plan to buy this intake, but my car is warrantied and I don't want to risk re-programming if I can help it. Thanks.

Steve T.