Mine CAME warped and then the foam peeled away and let dirt into the engine with under 15K miles of use. Never buying one again.

 

I installed a Vararam this past Fall (have the newer style upper part) and I did my own modifications to it before I installed it to ASSURE the top and bottom pieces sealed tight and the filter housing wouldn't allow any unfiltered air through. I just wasn't comfortable with how it was attached with just two rubber latches....yeah, I'm a bit ****. I took 4 - 3" long thin (#8) machine screws/nuts and made studs that went through the upper and lower pieces as well as the filter (the Green filter already has notches through half of it, so I just used a small file and continued those notches through the whole width of the filter). I took some thin 1/8" thick aluminum strips (to disperse the load) with nuts to hold the filter in place and then attached the lower unit with aluminum strips (to disperse the load, as the lower piece is made out of thinner plastic than the upper). I then snugged up the nuts which compressed the whole filter box assembly, making it essentially one piece. I applied some silicon grease to the rubber filter seals, which actually seals on two sides of the filter instead of just a single side. The thing is not going anywhere now and is sealed tighter than Fort Knox.

I think the unit is well built (at least the one I got with the updated top piece), just that the installers need to have a bit of common sense when installing it. There were quite a few things I did that made the whole install better. I also made my own oil cooler bracket, so the oil cooler is mounted sturdy instead of to a flimsy piece of plastic.

 

Sorry.. you can't use the words VaraRam and quality in the same sentence.

 

Yes I can.
And even if you can't, I can assure you that you can still use 'Vararam' and 'PERFORMANCE RESULTS' in the same sentence.
Here, try it with me: Vararam delivers solid performance results.

See, that wasn't too hard.

 

If you want quality and performance look at bpp vortex. I got mine in carbon fiber.

 

No, it really wasn't.

But then again you haven't picked leaves off your MAF screen yet

 

If you are looking for the combination of best quality, performance and price, then the clear winner is: "free air mod".

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-t...gle-bolts.html

 

You're 100% correct on that...after 15 months and thousands of miles with my Vararam on the car, there still aren't any leaves (or gum wrappers, or twigs etc. etc.) there.

 

That method does work, no denying that, I had that set up just prior to my Vararam install but I had taken it even a tiny step further.
While it may not deliver 100% of the results of any of the CAIs mentioned above, it's clearly the best 'cost to performance' ratio air inlet related mod out there for these cars.

 

When and from whom did you get your unit??? Call me at 866-507-2648 and I will help you!
Thanks
Steve
Vararam Industries!!!!

 

Steve,
I will give you a call, while I think the performance is great I still have the big gap on the back of the unit and for whatever reason that sealing foam does like to "walk" out of place.

 

I installed a Vararam in my '06 6 Speed Vert 3 weeks ago. Fit and construction is definitely top notch. I have no issues and it looks great under the hood. And the performance is even better!

 

Had the Vararam. Installed it, removed it, sent it back.

Bought the Callaway Honker. I don't race so giving up .1 - .2 second at the track doesn't concern me. Cooler, better air flow than stock and the peace of mind knowing I'm getting 100% filtered air is worth it IMO.

Plus, I don't continually have to check CAI to make sure it's sealed.

 

Wow! I don't believe when you pay the long green to purchase an application-specific system that you should have to "modify" it to make it function as originally intended! Crazy!

 

You're not giving up .1 - .2 seconds at the track.

 

I had those problems and more with the older style on my LS3. The screw together mod is something I haven't done yet, but will soon along with an angle mod to straighten out the warping. I'm still using duct tape as the rubber clamp replacement. The pic shows why that was necessary. No way would those clamps work. The duct tape looks like crap and I have to replace it often.

 

Had to add that for the Vararam Kool aid drinkers. Otherwise, there would be another 30 posts on how much faster they claim it to be.

 

Since you brought up Callaway-You guys should really make a PRE-CUT SHROUD available. Why even, dare I say, Vararam now has one as an option. That why I got an Xcelerator instead of a Honker, cuz, you guessed it, they had a pre-cut shroud available too.

 

Call me at 866-507-2648 and we will help you with your unit!!!
Thanks
Steve

 

Check out a few of my "installed pics" from 3 weeks ago. Although it may be difficult to show all of the fit and finish, you can see it's all secure. The "rubber clamp" system is a bit odd, but it is very secure and the fit is very tight and secure. I only wish the template for cutting the shroud was a bit more accurate as I ended up trimming about 2 inches too high on the shroud. Other than that, no complaints. FWIW, I've heard that their more recent version is much improved over what they used to manufacture.