Fellas I am curios to know if any of you have switched from a traditional cold air intake such as the Halltech Killer bee w/hive (what im running) to a Ram Ai set up such as Callaway honker, Vararam? Any pros or cons? Worth the switch? Real world time reductions?

 

What makes you think that the Callaway and Vararam are not traditional? There are more NA cars using the Vararam on the LS2/3 performance list running in the 10's than all the other brands combined.

 

I've seen the list bro but none state if they made a swap or had the vararam from the start. Traditional meaning air filter attached to an air bridge.....didn't meant to undercut or make it sound bad.

 

Pretty sure one made the switch to Vararam, but I've never heard of a racer switching from a Vararam to something else. If something else produced better ET's the NA 10 second guys would buy it and sell their Vararam, me included.

 

The only people I have heard of who changed from a Vararam to something else, were those who had fitment/sealing issues, or those who's paranoia for potential hydrolock forced them to.

I have had my Vararam for several years and tens of thousands of miles without any sealing issues. Now, I'm not going to discredit anyone who said they had sealing and fitment issues. If they did, they did. However I do not feel that is the norm, assuming proper install. And from what I have heard, Vararam is quick to offer help and even a replacement or refund if the issues cannot be worked out. The hydrolock issue. Again, I'm not going to discredit those who have had it happen to them or have seen, heard, or read about it happening. I wasn't there so I don't know. I will say that I have been in torrential downpours and even had to wade through the 3+ inches of water blocking Hanover Ave in Carlisle many years ago during the monsoon. Not even a hiccup. My car is lowered slightly and the bottom of the scoop is still 8" off the ground. To fully submerge the scoop you would need at least 13" of water. Either way, an 8-13" puddle is a threat to any low standing sports car. And yes I've also been hit by the wake of 18 wheelers without issue.

Although I have not been on the drag strip with the car, I have been on a road course. Even though they weren't timed events, and my lack of driver skill would play a major factor in how I did against the competition, the car performed flawlessly with no overheating issues due to placement of the filter housing and scoop. As Mr. HOXXOH implied, the majority of the top racers on the 1/4 mile list have the Vararam. Even those who have removed their VR or chose a different brand from the start, agreed it is most likely the best performer. Then you have those who feel a CAI isn't worth it at all but that's another discussion.

I personally do not believe in the ram air theory and feel the VR's gains are from more cooler air being scooped up compared to other CAI. But again that's another debate. As to whether the switch from your current CAI to the VR is worth it, only you can answer that. Do you race frequently? If so and you're looking for every last 10th of a second, and real racers always are, then yes I'd say it would be worth it. For just some highway fun without quantifiable timing results, would you feel a difference? That's debatable. It would be interesting to have you make a few trips down the track with your current CAI and then a few with the VR and average the difference. There would be your real answer.

 

At the moment my fun with the car is extremely limited. I haven't been able to enjoy it all, other than the initial drive home. Shortly after I made the purchase I was hit with an overseas military tasking. I barely put 500 miles since I purchased it. The mods I do have I was able to outrageous deals on. LG super pros with xpipe for $550, the Killer bee with less than 4k miles on it for $180 and a Borla Stinger for $500. At the end of the day if I decide to have a little highway fun or take it to the track, I don't want to be bullied by the newer gm competitors.

 

Where are you getting those kind of prices? I look on the forsale threads all the time and never see deals like that.

 

I find the Varam flimsy and made of poor materials. I am searching for alternatives;, frankly it sucks big for fit finish and reliable function. In fact I am searching on here for ideas and products and came upon this thread. A decent air bridge with a straight donaldson dry filter would be better imho, although all of these cai are hard presssed to outperform a factory dry element imho. The oiled pleated cloth filters clog easily, risk the maf and dont filter well if dirt is a consideration. I also find fuel economy in back to back testing is negatively affected stock compared to a typical K&N element. So its a tough row to find something decent.

independent tests posted elsewhere here are interesting ( K&N compared to stock etc)

 

With your limited driving of the vehicle, I doubt you'd notice a seat of the pants feel switching to a VR. But you could probably sell your Killer Bee to offset the price of the VR. And with your knack of finding great deals, I'm sure you could pick up a used VR at a decent price.

Get home safe.



Outperform in what sense? Filtration? I think it stands to reason if you're allowing more air into the engine via a better flowing air filter, it will be at the cost of some filtration. However, I do not believe it's anywhere near the level where you'd have a concern for a substantial decrease in engine life.

I don't find the filters clog at all and they are easily cleaned during oil changes, which is about how often I clean mine. I don't hear of people having issues with their MAF and if they do more times than not it's because they over oil the filter. That's an operator error, not the result of a poor design. However I do believe there are oil-less filter elements you could purchase if that is a concern.

I can't comment on fuel economy since my CAI was not a stand alone mod. However I can't see a CAI negatively effecting fuel economy. What I believe the cause would be is owners using more throttle to test and enjoy their new CAI since technically it is a performance mod.

It sounds as if you would not be happy with any CAI for it's intended purpose. To allow more colder air into the engine for added power. If you have an LS2 you might be better off swapping the stock air intake back in and doing the shroud prop mod. (Search for it on here) There are trade offs when modifying an engine and you have to weigh which is more important to you. The above comments are related to any CAI not just the VR, since they will all have similar drawbacks. I wont comment on fit and material of the VR since that seems to be a common complaint, although I have had no problems with mine.

Now if you'll excuse me, it's Sunny and 75 out and it's time for me to open her up.

 

I went with the newest Superbee, 105S, after finding out that you can't prop the shroud open with the Hitachi MAF without getting surge--not real bad, but annoying as it comes on at highway speed. It worked great on the LS2 with the old style MAF, but not on the LS3. I went with Halltech because of the MAF forward design and the Beehive. I did open the shroud on the left side a bit to get more outside air in--there is an opening on the right side already. What I wanted was a leaner AFR and that is key to the Superbee design. Very well made and it accomplishes what I was after. Did not want to screw around with cutting the shroud. Jim says it puts out about 15 more hp at the crank, and I find that easy to believe with the leaning of the AFR. The Intune also leans out the AFR, so the combination works well at this 7000' altitude. No codes, no surging. With the Bullets, I believe there is a solid hp gain, as the three mods compliment each other. I don't race the car so the Vararam's extra hp wasn't a factor. I get plenty of outside air in to keep the IAT down, in conjunction with the Beehive keeping underhood heat from impacting it. For me, the best choice.

 

I'm in the minority of guys who went to a ram air ss from a vararam intake. I did this for optimal placement of my trans cooler because of my stall converter. I just couldn't find a place to mount the cooler without it being a PITA other than centered, right in front of the rad, where the VR air duct was.

I really like the build quality and huge filter that ss CAI comes with even if it isn't a true ram air setup. If there was an air scoop/duct that could mate to it it would be THE perfect cold air/ram air setup.