Cold air intake - Recommendations
Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 6,366
Likes: 249
From: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
I've had a Honker on my car for a long time and it is a great piece. The quality is like OEM. It's trouble fre and adds great power. Also something to consider is the ease of maintenance, which happens to also be good with the Honker. One additional point about the Honker. There are probably some very good reasons to relocate the MAF closer to the throttle body. Callaway designed their intake like this first. The C6 came out with the similar set-up afterwards, so if GM copied them I'm sure there was a significant reason.
Administrator
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 66,408
Likes: 2,060
From: Bel Air (by way of Fort Worth, TX) Maryland
St. Jude Donor '12 thru '21
I've had a Honker on my car for a long time and it is a great piece. The quality is like OEM. It's trouble fre and adds great power. Also something to consider is the ease of maintenance, which happens to also be good with the Honker. One additional point about the Honker. There are probably some very good reasons to relocate the MAF closer to the throttle body. Callaway designed their intake like this first. The C6 came out with the similar set-up afterwards, so if GM copied them I'm sure there was a significant reason.
Advanced
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 50
Likes: 0
We had the Breathless Performance Vortex cold air intake on our 2001 vert. Over time, the plastic cracked and it was no longer a true "pressurized ram air system". We replaced it with the Vararam B2 system and our gas mileage actually improved by 1MPG.
We found a vendor on the internet that was selling the B2 system for $267.00.
I like the Callaway Honker, but $500.00 for the part is simply too much. The Vararam does just as good a job for less money.
The cut radiator shroud from the Vortex installation had to be replaced with a stock unit during the Vararam install.
Everyone seems to state that the Vararam is difficult to install. If you are an adequte "do-it yourself mechanic", it really isn't that bad. You do need jack stands or a lift and a little patience, along with the proper tools.
We have had both of our Vettes on a dyno at MTI Racing in Marietta. What is interesting is that a true ram air system is not affected with the hood closed on the car while being dyno'd. I witnessed a drop in power, simply by closing the hood, on a car that had the twin cone filters underneath the hood with no ram air source from outside. Cold outside air simply makes more power than hot air from underneath the hood.
I had the Vararam B1 system on my 2004 Z06 with the foam filter. After seeing the quality of the improvements with the Green filter and the new top airbox on the B2 system, I ordered the B2 upgrade package directly from Vararam for @ $100.00. This is a kit that came with the new filter, top assembly and gaskets.
Ram air is the way to go. We have been very happy with Vararam both on the street and the track.
We found a vendor on the internet that was selling the B2 system for $267.00.
I like the Callaway Honker, but $500.00 for the part is simply too much. The Vararam does just as good a job for less money.
The cut radiator shroud from the Vortex installation had to be replaced with a stock unit during the Vararam install.
Everyone seems to state that the Vararam is difficult to install. If you are an adequte "do-it yourself mechanic", it really isn't that bad. You do need jack stands or a lift and a little patience, along with the proper tools.
We have had both of our Vettes on a dyno at MTI Racing in Marietta. What is interesting is that a true ram air system is not affected with the hood closed on the car while being dyno'd. I witnessed a drop in power, simply by closing the hood, on a car that had the twin cone filters underneath the hood with no ram air source from outside. Cold outside air simply makes more power than hot air from underneath the hood.
I had the Vararam B1 system on my 2004 Z06 with the foam filter. After seeing the quality of the improvements with the Green filter and the new top airbox on the B2 system, I ordered the B2 upgrade package directly from Vararam for @ $100.00. This is a kit that came with the new filter, top assembly and gaskets.
Ram air is the way to go. We have been very happy with Vararam both on the street and the track.
