Bought a vararam. Having second thoughts
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Joined: Nov 2014
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Bought a vararam. Having second thoughts
Hey guys, I'm in Canada but I ordered a vararam b2 and air bridge from summit. Hasn't been shipped yet... but now I'm looking at all the issues... thinking I should switch to the blackwing just for simplicity... Are the vararam still throwing that many codes ? My car is a stock 2000 FRC.. ordered intake , will order long tube headers X pipe and exhaust in spring put it all on at once and retune..
Hate to sound like one of those guys. But I am haha.
Hate to sound like one of those guys. But I am haha.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 2,804
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From: Northville, MI
Most of the issues occur with the early versions (circa 2000), current versions are just follow the directions and little to no problems. After adding the LT headers and driving about 100 miles it would be good to get a competent scan/log and retune the PCM. Just adding the true cold air (drawing outside ambient air vs engine bay air) will lean out the engine slightly but most C5 were tuned slightly rich anyway.
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Joined: Sep 2013
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From: Cape Coral, Florida
I bought a Vararam about 5 years ago and the fit was HORRIBLE !!...sent it back and got a Blackwing !!...excellent fit and no “lean” codes !!...the PCM will adjust !!
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2008
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From: NSL UT
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Drifting
Joined: Mar 2018
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From: New Jersey
I have an 04 and the Vararam is giving me lean codes for bank 1 and 2. If you getting it tuned it won't matter anyway. Have not really ran it too hard so since it's running too rich. So I'm actually not sure how much better the vararam is. Now that the weather is getting worse I don't drive it much. I probably won't tune it until I put on a set of headers.. I had Z06 fog light vents installed before I installed the Vararam and noticed the the sir intake temps were at ambient as long as the car was moving.
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I ran a Blackwing on the last two C5s I owned. Both were a perfect fit and no codes thrown at all.
The Blackwing is not a true cold air intake like the Vararam, but it does work well.
The Blackwing is not a true cold air intake like the Vararam, but it does work well.
Racer
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 431
Likes: 22
From: Chester Illinois
Just installed a vararam on my 2000. It was a PIA. It took many hours, cuss words to the engineers and it still does not fit right. Right side fit pretty good but left side still does not fit right. Left fog light does not lign up with the hole, Finally just gave up on it. Thinking about installing the stock setup and burning the vararam
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,409
Likes: 34
From: St. Louis Missouri
The Vararam draws outside air only from in front of the bumper, I've had mine on the car for over 10 years with no issues ever. Stand in front of the Car and you can actually hear the Air sucking into it.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 2,804
Likes: 358
From: Northville, MI
For the boulevard cruiser, you will not notice any appreciable difference between a true cold air intake system and a closed hood air filter. However if you do track, time trials, autocross, drag race, etc. there is a difference. Lap times and time slips will show the real results. If I were just a cruiser, I would save my money and enjoy the Corvette the way it came, being I exercise my Corvette to extremes I want the best possible performance for the class I run in.
One of the biggest problems with aftermarket air cleaners is going to a smooth coupler. After many discussions with a few software engineers (who developed the C5 PCM software) I found out only 96kb of the PCM could be altered by tuning and the remaining was unalterable--including the accordion style coupler. I was informed the air going into a cylinder was not smooth but pulsated by the opening and closing of the valves and to maximize the limited ability of the 16 bit computer running the engine management, it was looking for the turbulence of the coupler and making changes to the engine management system based on that turbulence.
One of the biggest problems with aftermarket air cleaners is going to a smooth coupler. After many discussions with a few software engineers (who developed the C5 PCM software) I found out only 96kb of the PCM could be altered by tuning and the remaining was unalterable--including the accordion style coupler. I was informed the air going into a cylinder was not smooth but pulsated by the opening and closing of the valves and to maximize the limited ability of the 16 bit computer running the engine management, it was looking for the turbulence of the coupler and making changes to the engine management system based on that turbulence.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 2,185
Likes: 641
From: Garland TX
I installed mine, it really wasn't that bad, just a little tedious, but does not take a rocket scientist to figure out. Just search for install instructions for tips on here and you will find multiple threads that will help you tackle the job.
