It amazes me how many times this question gets asked
Impossible to get water in it. Nothing touches the Vararam period.

 

I saved this post by a forum member;

"I got very lucky. Long story short, I got caught in a pop-up severe t-storm during a summer evening. VERY heavy rainfall probably the worst downpour I ever saw, and it began about 2 miles from home. I was driving slow, turned onto a side street and the car began running rough.....I looked over and saw a wake so I realized I was in trouble (night time made it impossible to tell how deep this water was) Shut the car off, jumped out and was ankle deep, pushed the car out to a drier part of the street. Walked home (about 100 yards!) Later once the rain let up a couple hours later I started it up and drove it home (ran rough the whole time) Took out the Vararam, found water soaked in the filter, water inside the intake everywhere, water caked on the honeycomb of the maf and some water pooled inside the manifold. Dried it all up, put the stock intake back on, changed the oil, started it up, ran rough for a few secs and then it smoothed out and was fine. No damage BUT if I hadn't stopped and was driving faster etc, I would've been in much worse shape.

The crazy thing is everyone says it takes a foot or more of water before anything gets sucked up. I used to think the same, all it took was 1 freak storm and a few inches of water to change my mind.

If you don't ever plan on driving in bad weather, the Vararam is fine and a great performer (quality is questionable, I had to re-glue the foam gaskets a couple times, it will require more frequent cleanings and inspections).

Or you can go with some of the other brands, I've had 3 intakes on my car, Halltech Stinger (not much hp gain 4rwhp on the dyno, airbridge lost form and filter fell off as a result, it was a quality issue as their plastics were not thick enough imo, Halltech later redesigned their airbridge but I was lost as a customer by that point) K&N-great quality, no complaints, it was also a top breather so I decided to sell it and try the Vararam. Vararam-solid performance, quality issues, much higher water risk as I found out. AiRaid-so far quality is very good, even better then the K&N, power feels identical to the Vararam probably thanks to the opening I have in the shroud.

Sorry about the long post but I've tried alot of intakes and imo the one I'm happiest with is the AirRaid- it's also the cheapest which is nice."

San

 

I have run a Vararam for almost two years and live in a location with frequent significant rain and level terrain. I drove the car in standing water (ankle deep) at speed and no problems. I believe you need to use a little common sense with this one and BTW the peformance is great!

 

IMO, the Vararam is the best for the track. If you don't run at the track on a regular basis, get something you won't worry about. I originally ran a Halltech but it can't hold a candle to the Vararam at the track and so I've run a Vararam for almost 2 years now. Zero problems with it, rain or otherwise.

 

I'm in SoCal to and I've had my Vararam for about a month now. It's been raining here pretty good for the past couple of days and i have no problems. I just don't go fast through big puddles at dips or intersections. But i don't have any problems when it's pooring down rain doing about 70MPH on the freeway.

 

I had a vararam and loved it but after a few rain storms i realized the risk was to big as i would end up sucking up water (low scoop + a little high water = hydrolock )took it out after the risk to be taken was not worth it ..i went with a halltech and all is good .

if i where you id look into the callaway units as they sit much higher and work as good i think as the vararam units ,i wanted the callaway but didnt want to re-spend the money for the little gain i wont really see .

 

I got so concerned after hearing 10's of thousands of hydrolock horror stories totally destroying engines, that I raised my car enough to put an 8 1/2 x 11 paper under the splitter, so the 7" of annual rain we get here in Phoenix can't get to the Vararam. I'm still so scared that I only drive it in the daytime on level roads on cloudless days.

 

As others have stated , ANY motor can become hydrolocked under the right circumstances. You could argue that any cold air induction has a slightly greater chance than a stock air box to take water. I run cold air bottom feeders on my C6, Z28, and Silverado, no problems. I do adjust my driving to suit conditions.

 

I don't think it's a high probability, but I have also read the one that oldman has posted above. Also, there's that fellow down in Dallas area that got his hydrolocked and had it redone at a forum tuner's shop.

One other poster talked about driving in the rain and it not being a problem. BUT he also said the real issue became NIGHT where he couldn't see where the water was standing deep. I guess that's why one poster above talked about driving only in the daytime....

 

ACTUALLY IM WORKING ON A DESIGN USING A NPP CONTROLLER TO
BYPASS THE VR INLET IN THE EVENT OF WATER OR HIGH MOISTURE
IN THE INLET THE SYSTEM WILL GET THE INLET AIR FROM TOPSIDE

 

 

I would not worry about driving in the rain with the Vararam...unless you have lowered your car and drive through 8-10 inches of water.

I have had mine for 40+k miles and following the thunderstorm shown in the pics below, I drove through 3-4 inches of standing water without any problems.

 

Just wait until you're struck a good one in the pitot tube, and are running around in the dark VOR-less.

 

You guys can laugh about it all you want, I know what happened and why it's not worth the risk anymore to run it on my car all the time. The least I need to worry about while driving is whether or not my car is sucking in water during a rainstorm.......it sucks having that on my mind the whole time.

In any case the numerous posts about quality/seal issues and the occasional hydrolock post should be enough to make up someone's mind if the Vararam is worth it to them. It does perform the best, but it is FAR from being the best quality.

 

Why doesn't Vararam include a "water bypass" in their design. Heck, even "ricer" kits have water bypass systems.

 

Hydro locked mine bc of a vararam. I dont drive my car in the rain anymore. Thats what the altima is for.

 

I would disagree. Although I've seen systems online (AEM), I've never seen one in person, ricer or domestic. Hydrolock is an equal opportunity destroyer (ricers, imports, domestics and exotics).

San

 

22,000+ miles
Vararam for all but the first 1k of them.

DD - including rain, major cloudbursts, fog, dust storms, blowing leaves, roads with small children and stray dogs, gas hikes, presidential elections, and snow ( yes, snow - search past threads for pics)

Never had a problem.

Just don't go fording major rivers - but this is true regardless of your intake system. Use your common sense - if you feel it is unsafe, then don't do it.

Yes, I agree there are some quality issues - but search the threads, they can be resolved. I feel anyone who installs their own CAI (regardless of brand) is also competent enough to "handyman" the few small items that have cropped up without much effort. (Again, search the threads - you can fix it.)

 

IMO, it is possible to ingest water from the road surface into the Vararam or Vette-Air and it can go straight to the engine if it does. Water can't be compressed and as such the result is a hydro-lock because the engine can't compress or displace the volume of water in the combustion chamber that would normally be air. The Vette-Air and Vararam intakes by design mounts very low to the road surface in your front fascia opening. A sufficient puddle and either a good splash from another vehicle as well as the motion of your car hitting the puddle could raise up a wall of water that your intake may just suck in.

CAI's such as the BPP, LPE and Callaway Honker have their openings higher on the upper opposite side of the radiator, making it tougher (but not impossible) to ingest water, as well as far less cleaning of the filter.

 

The only way you are going to raise water 16+ inches is if you have enough water to create a vacuum. To do that you need a wall of water approx 10 inchs high and 10 inch wide with a car that is not lowered. Can it happen, sure but you are going to have to run through a 3 inch puddle at least to do it.

That picture of the thunderstorm, I drove 600 miles in a topical monsoon(sp) in 2006 with rain like that the whole time. I would get spray off semi's that was like being hosed doen by a fire truck. 1/4 inch of standing water covering most of the freeway and hydroplaneing at any speed above 35mph.

IMO the posibility of hydrolocking the engine is slim though much greater than stock and a few other system than exist out there. But if you want the lowest IAT out there the Vararam is the only way to go.