Against the grain
 

I've decided to get a little crazier with my SBE NA LS7. I've pretty much exhausted most of my options for extracting more power out of my setup. The only logical (to me) next step was to switch intake manifolds. I was already running a Mamo ported MSD intake. And while it made great power, I was looking for more.

After gathering my parts list, with a lot of help from Josh B, I ordered up a Holley Hi Ram from my tuner.

Got everything installed and the hood/cowl cut. Drove it down to my tuners shop to have him tweak the MAP offset and throw in a little fuel across the map. Did a couple pulls while monitoring my wideband. It was a little rich on tip in and still a tad rich at the top of the pull but it definitely "felt" much better. My 7400rpm redline came much faster than I was used to before.

I am waiting on a 4.5" custom intake that I bought from Josh B. and I will get it on the rollers. Pretty anxious to see what it will make and how the powerband is going to change. Unfortunately, if it ends up being slower, I'll be stuck with this intake. But that was a risk I was willing to take.

Will get some pics soon when I can clean the car up.

For reference, my previous setup made, best of, 612whp and 537wtq.

Lingenfelter ported heads
.050" mill
TSP 4.2 camshaft
Mamo ported MSD
NW102
ID1000s
Walbro 450
e85 strictly
ARH 1-7/8" with catted x-pipe
LG GT4 axle-back

This setup peaked around 6600 rpm. Wouldn't doubt peak shifts upwards of 73-7400 rpms now.

Josh should be shipping my intake today or tomorrow. I'll be on the dyno by Friday, hopefully!

sounds amazing

i am curious of your thoughts on the lg gt4 axle back, i have it on mine and love it but the drone is something else.
just wondered if you adressed it or live with it. i do my best to stay outta that rpm range but once im on the interstate its horrible LOL


comgrats on your build, i have lpe cnc heads decked.010 on my car and was very happy with the outcome. just lining out the tune stuff now


mine made 589/540 after ported heads & with unported 102/102 and pump gas
looks like im leaving some HP on the table compared to your build.....looks good!!!$$$$

Are you running a catless x-pipe? When I first installed it, I was running a catless x-pipe and the drone was crazy. Even at idle and coming off idle. I installed a set of catted ARH headers shortly after and it got rid of A LOT of the drone. You can try installing a set of small resonators in your mid pipe. That should tame it down a bit. I love the exhaust. It sounds so smooth revving through the RPMs.

What cam are you running? When I had the BTR Stage 3 my best was 588/559.

those are my na numbers, i cant run cats because im on a 150 shot also....thats how i justify not doing the extra work youve done as well as converting over to corn.....but the resonators are a damn good idea around the mid section on the x pipe. i agree though it sounds very good for the price.:cheers:

cam is 660/660 236/256 111lsa
not good for driving around to dinner and what not, but makes good power and wears out guides:lol::lol:
i currently have about 4500 miles on my lpe heads, they used steel guides in my heads.
do you know what guides they used in yours? bronze/steel/etc

I was also spraying a 150 shot through the cats and did not have any issues. It made somewhere around 780/740 on that with e85.

My cam is a little bigger - 248/260 .656/.656 111+3LSA, so I know what you mean about the driveability, lol.

I have about 10k miles on my heads, mostly daily driving. I have bronze guides with OEM intake valves and Ferrea hollow stem exhaust valves.

ive always been under impression NO cats on n20
but we know how info goes these days LOL

we have a similar set up, i have new oem ti intake/ferrea stainless ex
ferrea spring kit, comp trunion

wonder whos will wear faster being only diff is the guide material.
not to get off topic, but this is all good info for forum users

Pretty sure mine will be close to toast, soon. I'll be revving the car to, at least, 7500rpms. Lol

We were also concerned with the cats and spray but they held up fine. I only had about 30lbs of nitrous through them tho. Most of that was on the dyno.

Here’s a little idle vid. The vararam is not staying.

thats a lotta THUMP in there !!!!

did you cut the hood or are you running aftermarket.....id search all your posts but i too lazy.(just being honest) haha


my buddy ran a hi ram on his c5z and cut the hood, it looks mean as hell man

I cut the hood. Need to clean it up a little bit before I post any pictures, lol.

This is the first post I've made about this intake. Eventually, I'll have it powdercoated (most likely silver).

Interested in the results. I think I would've gone Mamo TFS heads, reworked by Tony before hi-ram and cutting up the car...but that's what makes this forum fun, we all have different goals and ideas. :cheers:

dont forget budgets LOL

You would probably be a lot happier if you kept the MSD and setup your car to run on a 100 shot when you want some extra power.

I no longer care to run those heads. I'll maximize this setup as far as I can then go with more CI and better heads. I can't justify the cost associated with those heads and all the specialized parts.

I was already running nitrous. It was fun but expensive. I race the car too much. I drive long distances in the car, race, and drive home. I wasn't comfortable doing that running nitrous. I pulled the kit off and posted it for sale. If it doesn't sell, I might put it back on.

I am happy I am rid of the MSD, in all honesty.

I have fun trying new things. I have 0 regrets with the car thus far.

There was no availability in my area last I checked. I'll eventually go back to nitrous when I build my bottom end. It's just not worth the risk right now. I can sell my long block to pretty much fund a forged/stroked short block. If it blows, that's no longer an option.