2012 GrandSport and looking to put in a cold air intake.

BBK, SLP Blackwing, AirRaid, K&N, Volant ??

Thoughts?? Thanks!

 

I have a BBK and I'm happy with it. Super easy installation, no cutting and great quality. Very hefty and well build. It is about 2/3 times that size of the stock. If you want to squeeze the most HP, the Vararam seem to be the best for that. Several complaints with poor quality materials and you'll have to cut the radiator shroud.

 

There are a ton of threads covering this topic. Use the search feature.

That said, if you want to use your brain and actually get benefit from this, versus just swapping parts because you can, then you should consider options that will minimize air from the engine bay, or better, actually get ambient air, so that real AITs are as close to ambient temps as possible.

In truth, many of the CAI "upgrade" options are doing nothing for you. Any claiming to be able to flow MORE air are basically useless. The car only needs what it needs, making it possible to get more is a waste, when the stock setup more than covers for any needs the car has. I'd suggest that most/all filter swaps are a waste of your money and time. Beyond that, it's up to you, your priorities, and to a lesser degree you budget.

Good Luck.

Personally, I went with a RamAir SS CAI. It's some work to install, but yields excellent results, if getting actual cool air is important to you.

 

Actually did the search first and saw more in-related then related posts. I will most likey go relook though, Thanks for the response.

 

Search for me, I just posted real world results on my daily driver GS CAI. I continue to like the performance of it. It won't work on a base vette though, only GS/Z06.

 

I've had great overall results with the Halltech MF103. It has a huge 'oiled' type filter and a cover that separates the hot engine bay from the air intake charge. There may be different variations of the MF that have different features. I bought mine a few years ago. I just noticed they have MF105, MF107 & MF108...Is more better?



( https://www.halltechsystems.com/Hall...-p/kbmf103.htm )

 

The RamAir SS CAI looks to be a nice unit, I’ve currently got the Airaid.

It has worked really well, and supports PLENTY of airflow for $300. Had it on my C6 since I bought it in 2009. Currently looking into getting the LG ram air setup, it’s a pretty trick piece if your serious about ram air

https://www.lgmotorsports.com/lg-c6-...ai-system.html

 

Yeah - I saw the LGM unit, but the price to performance compared to the RamAir SS was a hard one to get over. And now that it is installed, and I've pushed the car hard and seen how low my AITs are, I'm pretty satisfied with the choice.

Here is a shot of it installed on my car. Note that the C6 logo is a metal pair of flags (with adhesive) I found to dress up the install.

 

Totally agree with you, that thing fits really nice! Looks OEM

 

Yeah - I was pleased with how good the install looked once completed. Relative to most other options, the install is a PITA, to be honest. I was more interested in the final result than the additional one time investment of time to pull it off.

It's really easy to understand what is going on, if one has seen the stock setup. In the stock setup that air bridge is fitted to a filter housing that faces down in the cavity between the radiator shroud and the front of the car. With this CAI approach, you remove the stock air bridge and cut a large hole in the face of the radiator shroud. Some have done it without removing it (the main PITA). I chose to remove it, as I wanted the hole as accurate as possible. Then a frame is mounted to the radiator shroud and it is then reinstalled. The frame is what allows the new air bridge and filter housing to fit in, and lock down. Below, there is a picture of the main items in the kit, as supplied by Ram Air SS, before installation. You can see, from the size of the filter that you are cutting one large hole in that shroud. The genius of the design is that it is tapping into the cool air Chevy designed to cool the radiator, on it's way to cooling the radiator, which is just on the other side of the shroud. It has to be understood that there is a greater chance of water ingestion with this design compared to the original, though I think for most scenarios, it would still be fine. I drive mostly only in the dry, so it is a non issue for me.

 

Any chance we can get a pic of it please?

 

Smart not to get the LG carbon unit, pricey.

 

I bought the Vararam Snake charmer from Maryland Speed for just under $400. I haven't installed it yet waiting for my Kooks 1 7/8" long tubes and catted x pipe. I'm going to send the ECU out for a tune. I hope I made the right decision on the CAI. I guess we'll see. Cutting the shroud is a little scary for me I don't want to screw it up.

 

I went with the Halltech MF108 + "Beehive" as well. It was a toss-up between the Halltech and the Vararam, but since I track the car, and the Vararam has been shown to block the radiator and cause an increase in temps, I went with the Halltech. I'm perfectly happy with it.

 

I put a Halltech 103 on my 2013 GS. Very happy so far. Painted the tube red to dress it up a bit.

 

So decided to try the BBK and I'm loving it. Noticeable difference and by daily commute fuel average of 19.4MPG so far is now 22.2MPG