Hey Guys..on a dual cone cold air intake ...one to replace the stock one..is there any tuning that needs to be done....???...I know it wont be at peak efficiency but should help the car breathe better...car and engine is still stock...just came across a good deal on a new one from a forum member that sold his car and it was never installed...

 

The answer is you are going to read a lot of different opinions on it and "it will depend."

The "it will depend" part is that the C5 will automatically adjust itself after a short driving stint. It will determine that there is a minor variance in intake and will adjust accordingly. If the variance is too much and it cannot adjust than yes some tuning will be required. Other issues that can compound it will be if you relocate the MAF, altitude you reside in, etc.

The opinion part - and here's mine initially - is that you're wasting your money on the dual cones. I know that there's a lot of cheap $60-$80 CAIs out there and their cheapness is not why I'm saying you're wasting money. You're wasting money because many of these style intakes have been tested and they do not significantly increase air flow to warrant their cost. At best they're fancy noise makers. Plus many of the dual cones actually have a lesser surface filter area than a stock C5 air filter does.

Ultimately if you are wanting a more cost effective increase in air, then you may look at modifying your air shroud or modifying your air box (the Z06 air box or a hacked stock box is a common upgrade). The stock air filter is HUGE - reminds me of a small house HVAC filter - and you can perform plenty of varying modifications to the stock box. Again, they too have varying degrees of success and power gain - if any. However, you typically pay nothing to modify your stock hardware. If you are unwilling to modify what you have on the car now then locating a used air box should cost you significantly less than the CAI.

Regardless of what you do - install this intake, make your own, whatever - I would recommend you purchase a front hood seal to help keep debris out. It's a good modification for C5s that should have been something GM did from the factory.

 

Good Info....Thanks...

 

What Velocity_Vette said plus...
-The twin cone intakes are thought by some to create turbulence and a potential loss of power
-Many of them are metal of some sort which holds heat in, not a good idea

 

Vararam !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Lot of hype out there re intakes. I may be wrong, but I think to this day, only K&N publishes actual dyno results for their CAI intake system. And the gain varies depending on year - the early C5's respond better than the later ones. Just be sure you do not blow a couple hundred bucks for a 4-5 hp gain - which you will not notice.

To the point about modifying stock - yes the filter is big, but the air path is tortuous. And importantly you need to get a better (less restrictive) air bridge and get rid of the OEM "concertina" connection.

After some research years ago, I went with a Halltech Stinger (replaced today I believe by the Venom). Solves the air bridge/connection bottleneck and uses a single large filter.

There's a huge amount of user experience online - use Google, it even finds things on this site that the "find" function does not.

 

Agreed, it's odd. Google using "Corvette Forum" included in your search words particularly... but even without, Google usually works better than the search here.

 

You can't get Dyno numbers on a Vararam without the car doing plus 40 mph, All I can say is I could feel the difference in the seat of my pants !!!!! Doug @ ECS and Chuck Cow seem to think it's the best out there !!!!!!

 

Dyno results with Vararam do not display actual performance gain. The average performance gain with a Vararam in the standing start 1/4 mile is a three tenths lower elapsed time. You are not going to gain that with a dual cone intake.

 

In what kind of car/motor?
I know nothing, but highly doubt that's possible by only installing a Vararam.
You'll take for example a 12.0 second Z to 11.7? No tuning, factory engine? Never mind a base model Corvette getting 3 tenths?

 

When you get down to 11.9 seconds ( under 12 ) with a C5, every tenth of a second will cost you around a 1000 dollars. To say a C5 with mods turning 11.9 without Vararam, and then install in it, would put you at 11.6 , is funny. Really funny.
Vararam adds no boost or forced air injection, the throttle body will only ingest available air, it will bring in more dense colder air from outside, but if that air is hot ( track air.. ) it will only add a slightly cooler air temp. It wont force any more air into the engine unless its done under pressure ( boost. ) there is no compression of air between the Vararam and the throttle body . About the best you could get with Vararam would be the difference in density between engine bay temps and outside air. Using simple dyno correction formulas : being @ 1.5 to 1.8 HP for every ten degrees of colder air. even if you dropped them temps of ambient air down by 50* degrees F, you are only going to see a 5 X 1.8 = 9.0 HP gain.. and 9 HP is not going to get you any where near 3 tenths of a second.
Bill aka ET

 

Shoot My Stock Vette Runs 9's in the 1/4 Mile.......Well at least at my Age that's what it feels Like.....LOL....

 

I took delivery of my car Jan. 98. I put this air intake on shorty after. There was not a lot to choose from at that time. I was not concerned about HP gains. Every magazine i read about the new C5 was the very restrictive air box that the C5 had. They were telling people that if it was ever redesigned that we should have ours changed. Well they never did. It is better than stock. This is K&N. The computer adjusted nicely.

 

BillIt looks real good Frank, and if you can get the air out a little quicker with a high scavenging and less restrictive exhaust system. there will be some gains over the stock box. Also it will lean out an already rich factory tune.
Bill aka ET

 

[QUOTE=Evil-Twin;1591593537]BillIt looks real good Frank, and if you can get the air out a little quicker with a high scavenging and less restrictive exhaust system. there will be some gains over the stock box. Also it will lean out an already rich factory tune.
Bill aka ET



I did also replaced the mass flow sensor with LS6 sensor & LS6 intake manifold, tunnel ram, PRT exhaust, Lower Tstat and tune.

 

IMO, the dual cone air intake, as well as something like a Blackwing, are not true cold air intakes unless you have opened the front end of the car to allow more outside, cooler air, into the air filter area. Otherwise they are simply pulling warm air from the under the hood, albeit at a better flow rate.

Something like the Vararam does have ducting that brings in cooler air and the general consensus here on the forum is that it produces one of the best performance gains for the car (the Callaway Honker is another good one where you cut the radiator shroud to get cooler air).

 

Yes. A base model LS1 powered Corvette dropping three tenths in the 1/4 from 13.4 to 13.1. You can doubt all you want. Then you can speak with the guys running stock Corvettes regularly and who have made the change and have picked up the three tenths with no other changes.

Or you can bolt on a twin cone intake and possibly lose horsepower and performance. I don't tell anyone how to spend their money. Their money, their choice.

 

 

YES, hands down the VARARAM is the best one out there. No question.

The twin cones look "pretty" for lack of a better word but depending on the model and manufacturer, most of them

are garbage. I have occasionally run into the "twin cone" that makes the air twist and really...really messes up the job

when you're trying to tune it.

My very sound advice is STAY AWAY from them. Even on stock cars with no tune. I'd rather see the stock

intake than a twin cone.

Chuck CoW

 

I added a single cone air raid dry filter with a new upgraded air bridge. I also drilled about 6 half inch holes in each of the fog light shrouds to increase the cooler air flow. Works fine for me.
You will have to make your own decision, I don't how you can much more rwhp.