So I got my Callaway Honker installed today. Took about 3 hours and was fairly straight forward. The worse part of the install, and most time consuming, was getting the radiator shield out and reinstalled, what a PITA. Anyway, the kit is very nice and well built, went together great, filter looks like it will do a good job. Everything sealed up nice and the MAF moves upstream closer to the intake.
As for how it runs. I had a Halltech Stinger before putting the Honker in. Took a quick drive with the Stinger, getting onto the freeway with the TC off, rolling start from about 5mph, would spin about half of first hard chirp going to second. I have a 6 speed, let off at 65mph, did some 3rd and forth gear pulls from about 55 to 75mph and went back home.
3 hours later went out with the Honker and did the same thing, temp reading was the same at 60 degrees. This time from the rolling start at 5 mph I spun all of first gear and had some serious wheel hop going to second, let up easy at that point brought it up to 65mph. I have Michelin PS2's BTW, stock coupe sizes. Did some 3rd and forth gear pulls that seemed strong, forth just pulled better than it had, less bog from 55mph, I dunno. Turned around and came home pulling first and second again with the same result in first, slipped the clutch a bit more for second avoiding the wheel hop and pulled real nice, let up.
Next up I will clear the computer so it can relearn with the new Honker in place. Saw a procedure on the forum a few days ago that I will run, thanks.
So, I am happy with the performance of the Honker. If nothing else the piece is very well made, with a nice filter and looks OEM to my eye. No codes as of yet, hope not to get any, and you can hear the air getting pulled in which I find intoxicating.

So that is my first impression and I will post in a few weeks with an update.

Darion



PS Stinger will go up for sale soon, only 600 miles on it, had to get that in.

 

Nice... it sure does look oem, one of the best engineered kits out there.

 

This thread ain't worth s@%t without pictures....

 

My Honke won't look OEM next spring

 

Will post pics tomorrow.

darion

 

there's plenty of threads with pics of the honker installed.

 

I swear to god you ought to have that woman come out from behind that Volks.

 

Great post - thanks for the info.

 

A few pics.







Darion

 

I tried 3 different brands before installing the Callaway honker. Picked up 36 hp on the chassis dyno (with the hood closed). Biggest difference I noticed at the track was how much smoother it ran at the higher rpm's (6500+). Highly recommend it.

 

Gotta love that Honker!!!

 

Anybody who have one of these installed have any abrasion problems on the hood blanket? Everything lines up great on mine and the pins are set all the way down on the radiator cover, but the accordion piece is start to fray my hood blanket a little from rubbing. Not a huge deal, but it has me wondering.

 

I just picked up my car from the shop today after having them install exhaust, honker and dyno tune.

I cant believe the difference these bolt ons made. The car is perfect......until I get used to the power.

And as far as I can tell, the honker doesnt rub the hood liner.

 

Yeah, the hoodliner on my 04Z has a worn spot in it. Seems to be the norm with the Honker. Although the Halltech Stinger I had on it before the Honker also rubbed the hoodliner, just not as much. Small price to pay for the improved performance. Every car I've seen with a Honker intake has wear in the same place. I'd prefer that it didn't rub the hoodliner, but honestly, I don't even worry about it anymore. To put your mind at ease, the Callaway folks looked at my installation (last year at Corvettes at Carlisle) and confirmed I installed it correctly.

Jim M

 

How can you pick up 36 hp on a chassis dyno when the honker is no more functional on a dyno (no ram air) than any other aftermarket intake system?

 

I am wondering if the hood blanket embroidered cover that Carmotorsports sells would correct the abrasion problem with the Honker? Maybe I'll try that. As far as horsepower gains go, I take it all with a grain of salt. If every single mod we purchased really gave you the advertised or speculated horsepower, we would all have about 560 to the rear wheels by now. (I think I even heard a couple of good coats of Zaino and a performance hood seal are good for 5) I can say the Callaway does make a difference though that you can certainly feel in the switch from a Blackwing. Never Dyno'd but I can be sure there was a measurable gain.

 

Here's a Vette Magazine article that reports on a C5 intake swap performed by MTI Racing in Georgia.

This dyno test session was completely independent; Callaway had nothing to do with it. Other than sending MTI the Honker, right out of stock - nothing special.

In summary:
399.8 rwhp with Blackwing
419.4 rwhp with Honker
432.2 rwhp with Honker + tuning

 

I believe he also stated "hood closed".

 

I installed the Callaway Honker after trying the Blackwing for two years and am very happy with the appearance, quality and performance of this CAI. I think its simply the best out there.

 

The Callaway Honker rocks! Im very pleased with it.