How have you guys made out with your Vararam intakes? Any problems with driving in the rain? Are you happy with it? Difference in power felt?

Thanks guys

 

I like my Vararam a lot, it does the job it's intended to do and does it well. And yes I am very happy with the stellar track (and street) results that it has been able to help generate/support.
I don't drive my Corvette in the rain too often but during the time that I have there has never been a problem.
As with any aftermarket cold air intake system (or even the bone stock one), you just have to exercise some logic and forethought when traversing areas of deeper standing water while at speed.

 

My STOCK 2005 LS2 (A4) ran 12.34 @ 112 mph...After Cartek finished installing a Vararam CAI, Tune, & Kooks, I ran 11.98 @ 117 MPH and was "DEEP STAGED" on that run...!

I wouldn't use any other CAI .. Vararam is "Tops" as far as I'm concerned...

As for water ... I don't care how hard its raining, it will never get enough water into the Vararam intake to Hydro-lock your engine... HOWEVER You can get yourself into trouble if you try driving "Through" a deep puddle of water (I'd guess 4" or more...

Personally I have driven in such heavy rain I had to put my wipers on HI.... and never had any problems with how the engine ran, but had heard how people have Hydrolockd their engine by driving 40 mph through a deep puddle of standing water..

Drive with your head, remember rain (falling water) will never get hard enough to go up your Vararam, but standing water 3 or 4" can kill your engine.....

Just my .02 Cts.

 

I've put a solid 90k miles on mine!!! The only thing I watch out for on mine is the car wash. If you use a touchless car wash, the machine will spray right at the front bumper and it made my car idle funny. I was once drove through a flooded spot during a storm. My car shut off and I had to push it out of the street and flooded spot. I didn't know the area that well, or I would have went a different way. I came back the next day and started it. That was 60k miles ago.

I'm not sure what it ran before the vararam, but after my best run was 12.33 in a 2008 auto.

 

You guys sure have better eyesight and depth perception then I do. I have never been able to look at a muddy puddle of water and calculated it's depth, especially driving at it at 50 miles per hour. How do you do it?

 

100% If I'm in my Vette and don't know "EXACTLY" where I am on the road and there is a puddle I'll send the wife out in-front of me with a yard stick, calling out how many " deep the water is ..

Or I told her if the water goes over her ankles to "STOP" right there, and common back to the car (but not to get in) she would be all wet, so I have her sit on the trunk lid on a towel as I back up...

Only problem now is if it even looks like rain she refuses to ride in the Vette....

 

I likely wouldn't be going 50mph in heavy rain on a road that would even visibly (ruts/potholes/dips/major elevation changes etc.) have the potential for deep puddling in the first place.
On a proper highway where one would possibly go 50+mph in the rain there is far less likely to be a puddle that deep that just creeps up on you unexpectedly, staying in the middle lanes and remaining very alert/observant (again, using simple logic) will cover you in most cases.
I personally drive that way no matter what level of modification or what kind of car I'm driving.

If it's truly something that unexpected/drastic/extreme that simply catches the driver off guard (it can happen) then it was likely going to get them/do it's damage anyway, regardless of what intake/filter system one might have or not have.
If anyone disagrees then I implore them to drive a stock Corvette through a very large/wide, 6+ inch deep puddle at 50+mph and see what happens.

 

We have plenty of streets that have a 45-50 MPH speed limits(and that's not considered driving fast in a rain) and if you keep slowing down at every intersection to 5 MPH because you don't know how deep the water is, you are likely to either, cause a wreck behind you, or someone is going to road rage you. Plus, cars in the opposing lanes can produce wakes several inches deep that you have to factor in, in addition to the basic depth of the water.

 

Best intake you can put on the car. It actually draws air from outside of the engine bay.

 

True.
And those would also be concerns of mine in a C6 equipped with a Honker, a Hurricane, a Volant, a Killer Bee, a K&N or even the bone stock factory air inlet system as well. One might prevent slightly less volume/ingestion than another but hit any one of them with enough volume of water all at once and you WILL BE at risk.
What you're describing can even happen when driving a 'basic transportation'/daily driver type car.

Even when taking precautions/looking both ways, one can still be run over by a car/truck just crossing the street (or even walking on the sidewalk in a city) as well, but we still cross the street when we need to.

Not all vehicles are ideal for all conditions, I wouldn't go autocrossing/road racing in a Hummer H1 and I wouldn't go mudding/4 wheelin' in a stock Corvette.
EVERY modification comes with at least some downside/sacrifice, but we still do them in the name of improved performance.
Drag radials wear out too damn fast, should I go to the drag strip on street tires (and likely spin out and hit the wall) instead?
Those damn long tube headers headers make the valve train noise sound more apparent/obvious, should I change back to the stock manifolds to quiet it back down but give up that 20+rwhp/rwtq?

 

The infamous hydrolock!!! I've seen maybe 2 threads about it, and 70 saying don't get the vararam or you're asking for it. I bet the people that say don't buy it, don't drive in the rain anyways.

Josec5, have you had a vararam that hydrolocked your motor? Or do you just not like it?

 

I've had mine 4 1/2 years now and have been in a couple of sizeable downpours. I will say that I was pretty concerned but I took it easy and made it home both times. Also, can't say enough good things about Steve and Patrick at Vararam. First rate.

 

Ive had the vararam on my C5 for 11 years and no issues. Its not a daily driver, but I have been caught in plenty of rain storms without an issues. It will introduce the best oppertunity for cold air to your car's motor. Have your tuner add slightly more fuel in the upper RPM band because the vararam will do its job.
www.TampaTuning.com

 

I was pleased with mine and could definitely feel a seat of the pants power increase. Never had any problems in the rain with it. Now, to be honest I only had it on the car for 3000 miles. I just took it off because I just installed a supercharger and no longer need it. I will be putting up for sale.

 

If you live in an area prone to flash floods, it may not be the safest choice. It takes water up to the grill to get close to where the intake is, but if that has happened to you where you drive, don't by an aftermarket intake.

I drive in the rain and avoid playing U-boat commander when doing so.

 

Vararam is the best. I drive in the rain and hit the puddles to clean the bottom

 

I like the Vararam. I have driven the car in lot's of rain downpoars with no issues. If caught in flash floods, I would be very careful, and make use of my front camera as a gauge to how deep the water is. If the water covers the camera lense, then It would be close to being sucked into the vararam intake. I always have a set of sockets with me, so I would unbolt the lower section and cover the Map sensor with a nylon sock, which I would borrow from my wife

 

There's a fair amount of rain here where I live and I never give it a thought.

But I would avoid deep puddles and unknown terrain if submerging the nose was a possibility.

There is a SOTP improvement in acceleration at higher speeds. I added their TB Spacer as well.

I don't race my car but there have been many posts confirming improvements in track times, most notably Chuck CoW's.

 

OH YES!~ It's all we sell and I wouldn't consider using anything else....

NO tuning headaches, smooth running, GREAT POWER..... Always has been....

ALWAYS WILL BE the BEST COLD AIR INTAKE FOR YOUR CORVETTE!
Chuck CoW

 

Its a good system, but the weather seals inside teh clam shell SUCK. They need to avoid teh garbage foam sealer and use high quality rubber, like weather seals.