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The shop got my headers and cam installed today. I've read a decent amount about doing a cold air intake but opted out initially. Got a call from the shop asking if I want to do a vararam intake as most of the vehicles they do this kind of work to they do the intake as well. From what I read previously the stock intake on the ls3 is a pretty good intake which is why I initially opted out. Getting the call has made me second guess my decision to forgo the vararam. Should I keep the stock intake on it or swap out for the vararam. I will not be tracking the car. Car is getting dyno tuned tomorrow. Thanks in advance!
2011 grand sport btr stage 3 cam with speed engineering headers.
vararam works great, definitely worth it just so the car doesnt pull so much timing. dont drive in flood waters and you wont have issues with hydrolocking.
Thanks for the replies, I actually asked the mechanic and mentioned about the vararam sucking up water. He said he had never seen it happen before. I dont intend to drive in rwin but ya just never know with the weird weather in ky!
In my situation with a Z06 in FL, tha Vararam was so low I had a hydro lock happen from a rain event.
if you never see rain- OK.
I now use a Halltech personally for performance and safety.
Just my (expensive) experience and .02 cents.
This is why I won't buy one. I've hit enough deep *** puddles on the interstate during rain storms to know it's a bad idea for you car to be breathing from down low like that.
If you car sits in the garage all the time waiting for perfect weather then you will never have a problem...
I daily drove a C5 with a vararam for YEARS and went through some really bad storms and never once thought I was going to suck in water and hydrolock the engine. I know many people who also ran them for years and never hydrolocked the engine. I really think its pretty rare that happens, and usually it's driver error going through a puddle thats deeper than it looks, or just dumb luck. I would run one again for sure. The only reason I don't have one on my c6 GS yet is because I am getting mixed opinions on how much they actually benefit over the stock intake. Just to give you an idea, my c5 went from 13.30@106mph bone stock, to 13.0@109mph with just the vararam, untuned. Almost identical 60' times, and DA so about as apples to apples as you can get with a stick shift car. If someone shows me proof it'll do the same on my c6 ill buy one, heck even proof of a tenth of a second drop and I would do it. Really all comes down to how much you think it's worth spending to make your car faster.
I daily drove a C5 with a vararam for YEARS and went through some really bad storms and never once thought I was going to suck in water and hydrolock the engine. I know many people who also ran them for years and never hydrolocked the engine. I really think its pretty rare that happens, and usually it's driver error going through a puddle thats deeper than it looks, or just dumb luck. I would run one again for sure. The only reason I don't have one on my c6 GS yet is because I am getting mixed opinions on how much they actually benefit over the stock intake. Just to give you an idea, my c5 went from 13.30@106mph bone stock, to 13.0@109mph with just the vararam, untuned. Almost identical 60' times, and DA so about as apples to apples as you can get with a stick shift car. If someone shows me proof it'll do the same on my c6 ill buy one, heck even proof of a tenth of a second drop and I would do it. Really all comes down to how much you think it's worth spending to make your car faster.
While I can't show proof of a .3 second improvement on a GS, I can confirm that a simple $2 shroud prop has made a .15 second quicker ET on back to back passes on a LS2 A6 car.
The hydrolock problem is not rain, but flooded streets being driven through too fast/deep and especially when oncoming traffic creates a wave (usually by pickups playing the "see how high I can splash the water" game.
Over 130 K miles with a Vararam all over the country in all sorts of weather and never a problem.
BTW, switching from the original oiled mesh filter to a paper filter, will stop water ingestion in most cases and provide better filtration too.
I made this simple guard that quickly attaches with bungie cords, in the event of water concerns when using the mesh filter.
The shop got my headers and cam installed today. I've read a decent amount about doing a cold air intake but opted out initially. Got a call from the shop asking if I want to do a vararam intake as most of the vehicles they do this kind of work to they do the intake as well. From what I read previously the stock intake on the ls3 is a pretty good intake which is why I initially opted out. Getting the call has made me second guess my decision to forgo the vararam. Should I keep the stock intake on it or swap out for the vararam. I will not be tracking the car. Car is getting dyno tuned tomorrow. Thanks in advance!
2011 grand sport btr stage 3 cam with speed engineering headers.
Stick with the stock intake. Just get a shroud to isolate it from the engine bay heat.
Thanks for the replies, I had to make the decision this morning and went ahead with it. Car is a beast now with headers and cam. Leaving the stock npp exhuast and going catless I was expecting it to be loud as hell but it wasnt. Even the wife thought it would be a lot louder
Thanks for the replies, I had to make the decision this morning and went ahead with it. Car is a beast now with headers and cam. Leaving the stock npp exhuast and going catless I was expecting it to be loud as hell but it wasnt. Even the wife thought it would be a lot louder
Man it's a blast and way faster, I love it! May be addicted to hp now! May end up changing out the exhaust from factory but will keep it the way it is for the time being.
While I can't show proof of a .3 second improvement on a GS, I can confirm that a simple $2 shroud prop has made a .15 second quicker ET on back to back passes on a LS2 A6 car.
The hydrolock problem is not rain, but flooded streets being driven through too fast/deep and especially when oncoming traffic creates a wave (usually by pickups playing the "see how high I can splash the water" game.
Over 130 K miles with a Vararam all over the country in all sorts of weather and never a problem.
BTW, switching from the original oiled mesh filter to a paper filter, will stop water ingestion in most cases and provide better filtration too.
I made this simple guard that quickly attaches with bungie cords, in the event of water concerns when using the mesh filter.
That’s actually a cool idea what you did in the picture. I understand what you’re saying about the shroud prop, but i haven’t seen any data at all on a grand sport or even z06, but TBH never searched the z06 section for that. Do you know if anyone has gained anything with the grand sport setup?
Off topic but does anyone know what size and pitch the screws are for the MAF on a Vararam for the LS3? I have misplaced mine and can’t seem to find any that fit.
Stock CAI or Vararam
