My Vararam dyno results

[SGOS252382]

Originally Posted by Jeanius

If you left it in then your unit is very restricted.

I posted pics of it in the "if youve gotten your VR PM" thread

it looks like a gasket that lines the inside of the filter side of the box

Patrick told me when it came time to tune, remove the bottom/sides to un-restrict the unit

Is this the wickerbill?



Why would my tune only Vararam with the 3'' filter come with a wicker bill if I'm not supposed to use it?
Wacker, who did a lot of testing for Vararam said this about it. "You should also have a wicker bill all the way around the unit. It's purpose is to redirect airflow from the roof and floor of the unit. By doing that air is forced to enter the filter in the front and middle vs at the very back/large portion. This helps during the cruise portion when you are at low throttle and high incoming airflow.. It does help as I've ran one with and without."

So I'm confused.

[Jeanius]

Originally Posted by SGOS252382

Is this the wickerbill?



Why would my tune only Vararam with the 3'' filter come with a wicker bill if I'm not supposed to use it?
Wacker, who did a lot of testing for Vararam said this about it. "You should also have a wicker bill all the way around the unit. It's purpose is to redirect airflow from the roof and floor of the unit. By doing that air is forced to enter the filter in the front and middle vs at the very back/large portion. This helps during the cruise portion when you are at low throttle and high incoming airflow.. It does help as I've ran one with and without."

So I'm confused.

Well I am sure as hell confused too!

YES that is the wickerbill

From Patrick when I asked him why my new unit did not coast very easily like the others did

Originally Posted by Vararam

It will decell with the motor now because you have reduced ram effect. When you let off before air was still traveling in fast enough to keep the motor pulling. Now its been cut back to bring it into tolerance.
The fuel trims will find itself eventually ( more miles) , however, when the time comes to tune it ,simply pull the unit apart and remove the wickerbill on the airfilter side and you will be de-restricted and ready for the tune.( or do this when it gets above 80 deg F consistantly)

And when asked about removing it for the datalogging I did for VMS

DO NOT REMOVE THE WICKERBILL!

If you want more flow ,cut the lower section of the wicker bill away "NOT THE TOP"
leave the top , just remove the lower area ,thats it!

Remember your unit was setup for "YOUR" car and mods ,what works for you will not be for all.
The wickerbill is critical because your unit is setup for up to 500 rear wheel HP.

[SGOS252382]

Originally Posted by Jeanius

Well I am sure as hell confused too!

YES that is the wickerbill

From Patrick when I asked him why my new unit did not coast very easily like the others did



And when asked about removing it for the datalogging I did for VMS

I chatted again with Wacker and he said I could try removing the bottom and sides if I want. He said I might see a little increase in performance, but at the risk of some surging, etc.
He also said they're working on a new section/part (like a fin down the middle) that will eliminate the wickerbill. He's going to start testing it any day.

For now I'm going to leave it on all the way. I don't want to take a chance with surging or bucking. Maybe the next time I'm on the dyno, I'll do a with and without the wicker bill test.

[wbt]

Thank you for posting the comparison numbers.

[Jeanius]

Originally Posted by SGOS252382

I chatted again with Wacker and he said I could try removing the bottom and sides if I want. He said I might see a little increase in performance, but at the risk of some surging, etc.
He also said they're working on a new section/part (like a fin down the middle) that will eliminate the wickerbill. He's going to start testing it any day.

For now I'm going to leave it on all the way. I don't want to take a chance with surging or bucking. Maybe the next time I'm on the dyno, I'll do a with and without the wicker bill test.

so Wacker is saying it will surge/buck even with a tune?

[SGOS252382]

Originally Posted by Jeanius

so Wacker is saying it will surge/buck even with a tune?

If you keep the wickerbill on, you "shouldn't" experience much surging/bucking. Thats what the wickerbill is for (to prevent surging/bucking).
But once you start removing the wickerbill all bets are off. And from what I understand, this surging/bucking doesn't seem to want to be tuned out.
My car ran great on the test drives while it was being tuned. My car felt strong and pulled nicely. But I'll need more seat time to know if I'm going to be experiecing surging, etc. Yesterday, I never really had a chance to cruise at higher speeds where you normally experience a lot of stumbling. I'll be out today doing a lot of driving, and I'll report back on how my car is running (surging, bucking, etc).



Update
I went out and did a lot of driving this morning. My car's running great. It pulls hard and I'm not having any issues with bucking or surging. It did a lot of 60-65mph cruising in 5th and 6th gear and the car ran good.



.

[AG454]

When you get some more drive time with the Vararam, tell us how you think it compares to the LMR intake for street driving. I have a LMR, was #20 something on the Vararam list but passed to wait and see some real world driving impressions from fellow C5ers. 5HP may not be worth it to me, I don't race very often. Thanks for your input.

[SGOS252382]

Originally Posted by AG383

When you get some more drive time with the Vararam, tell us how you think it compares to the LMR intake for street driving. I have a LMR, was #20 something on the Vararam list but passed to wait and see some real world driving impressions from fellow C5ers. 5HP may not be worth it to me, I don't race very often. Thanks for your input.

On a stock Camaro, you'd probably feel a nice increase in performance with the Vararam. But on a car that modded like mine (CAI, Long tubes, Tune), you'll probably won't feel much of a difference. My car's running good and does seem to pull a little harder, especially at higher speeds. But I really won't know for sure until I run my car down the track in similar conditions to what I ran with my LRM intake.

But I do think the Vararam will outshine most intakes at higher speeds. You can take you hand and stick it through the front grill of the car and right into the mouth of the intake. So its getting a perfect flow of outside air right into the intake. It also has a big air filter. On the open road or the track doing 60+ mph, outside air is going to be rushing right into the mouth of the intake. That's not going to show up on a dyno test like we did with a small fan.

[SwiftCat]

Originally Posted by SGOS252382

If you keep the wickerbill on, you "shouldn't" experience much surging/bucking. Thats what the wickerbill is for (to prevent surging/bucking).
But once you start removing the wickerbill all bets are off. And from what I understand, this surging/bucking doesn't seem to want to be tuned out.
My car ran great on the test drives while it was being tuned. My car felt strong and pulled nicely. But I'll need more seat time to know if I'm going to be experiecing surging, etc. Yesterday, I never really had a chance to cruise at higher speeds where you normally experience a lot of stumbling. I'll be out today doing a lot of driving, and I'll report back on how my car is running (surging, bucking, etc).



Update
I went out and did a lot of driving this morning. My car's running great. It pulls hard and I'm not having any issues with bucking or surging. It did a lot of 60-65mph cruising in 5th and 6th gear and the car ran good.



.

Wow guys,

I'm sorry you're having to go through all this abstract scenario in order to have a good functioning unit. This is the whole reason I sold mine and went with another. The user-friendliness with the Vararam is shaky at best, and although I believe it will outshine most CAIs on the track, I just felt like I was more of an experiment than anything when trying to install and optimize it. Again, I personally believe that unless you go with a smaller filter size, you're always going to have drivability issues to an extent at cruising speeds (ie surging/bucking) due to the fact that the MAF is so close to the TB. The way it's been explained to me, it has the effect of creating a confused reading through the MAF due to turbulent airflow, and the ECU will continually try to compensate without success.
The bottom line is, you need at least 6" between the MAF and TB in order to have consistant airflow readings. I believe it can be fixed, but it will take much more time and R&D (and money) in order to completely solve the problem. IN the meantime, if you're ok with the surging/bucking at cruising speeds...by all means, stick with it. If not, then ask for a smaller filter size or change units altogether.
I still view the Vararam threads because I am curious to see where this goes...and I am rooting for your success.
Good luck, fellas.
Swifty

[Jeanius]

I emailed Patrick about removing the bottom/sides of the wicker-bill for the tune, ill let you guys know what he says

[towmoe]

Originally Posted by SwiftCat

Wow guys,

I'm sorry you're having to go through all this abstract scenario in order to have a good functioning unit. This is the whole reason I sold mine and went with another. The user-friendliness with the Vararam is shaky at best, and although I believe it will outshine most CAIs on the track, I just felt like I was more of an experiment than anything when trying to install and optimize it. Again, I personally believe that unless you go with a smaller filter size, you're always going to have drivability issues to an extent at cruising speeds (ie surging/bucking) due to the fact that the MAF is so close to the TB. The way it's been explained to me, it has the effect of creating a confused reading through the MAF due to turbulent airflow, and the ECU will continually try to compensate without success.
The bottom line is, you need at least 6" between the MAF and TB in order to have consistant airflow readings. I believe it can be fixed, but it will take much more time and R&D (and money) in order to completely solve the problem. IN the meantime, if you're ok with the surging/bucking at cruising speeds...by all means, stick with it. If not, then ask for a smaller filter size or change units altogether.
I still view the Vararam threads because I am curious to see where this goes...and I am rooting for your success.
Good luck, fellas.
Swifty

Thanks Swifty for your write up. This thread and your comments have helped in my decision to not get the Vararam and go with another intake.

[jjrush23]

So i have a 2011 Camaro SS that had 421 hp 416 tq with k&n cold air,and dumps tune, deletes
Today i had it tuned with vararam ram air kit, wedge.
Results were a little increase from cold air to ram air.
426 hp 427 tq
That's 5 hp and 11 tq from cold air to ram air

[z28chuck]

I've had my Vararam (no-tune) installed for 4 months now with zero drive-ability issues...not sure if I'm lucky or my tuner is just da bomb but I absolutely LOVE my Vararam!

Hopefully everyone can get their drive-ability issues straightened out...good luck guys!

Originally Posted by SwiftCat

Wow guys,

I'm sorry you're having to go through all this abstract scenario in order to have a good functioning unit. This is the whole reason I sold mine and went with another. The user-friendliness with the Vararam is shaky at best, and although I believe it will outshine most CAIs on the track, I just felt like I was more of an experiment than anything when trying to install and optimize it. Again, I personally believe that unless you go with a smaller filter size, you're always going to have drivability issues to an extent at cruising speeds (ie surging/bucking) due to the fact that the MAF is so close to the TB. The way it's been explained to me, it has the effect of creating a confused reading through the MAF due to turbulent airflow, and the ECU will continually try to compensate without success.
The bottom line is, you need at least 6" between the MAF and TB in order to have consistant airflow readings. I believe it can be fixed, but it will take much more time and R&D (and money) in order to completely solve the problem. IN the meantime, if you're ok with the surging/bucking at cruising speeds...by all means, stick with it. If not, then ask for a smaller filter size or change units altogether.
I still view the Vararam threads because I am curious to see where this goes...and I am rooting for your success.
Good luck, fellas.
Swifty

[z28chuck]

Originally Posted by jjrush23

So i have a 2011 Camaro SS that had 421 hp 416 tq with k&n cold air,and dumps tune, deletes
Today i had it tuned with vararam ram air kit, wedge.
Results were a little increase from cold air to ram air.
426 hp 427 tq
That's 5 hp and 11 tq from cold air to ram air

And the difference gets even better at the track!