GoPaul's Journal

[BSR-1]

While I'm at it, How much airflow (as a percentage) is blocked from the radiator?

[GoPaul]

Originally Posted by LA_Ghost

You're not worried about the L.E.D.'s melting?

Looks sick though!!

According to AAC the heat shouldn't be an issue (The LEDs are stuck to the underside of the cover, they don't touch the engine). I did protect the wiring with plastic cable protector though. Time will tell.........lol, though saying that, if it was going to happen I guess it would have by now.

[GoPaul]

Originally Posted by BSR-1

While I'm at it, How much airflow (as a percentage) is blocked from the radiator?

hmm, I'm thinking maybe 20-25%

[BSR-1]

Originally Posted by GoPaul

hmm, I'm thinking maybe 20-25%

Let me know if you have any cooling issues.

I still haven't ruled out this intake. I think it has the potential to be the best but I'm not quite sure that they've hit the mark.
I wonder what's to stop pulling the radiator back a little further to get better airflow?
I also would like to see more airbox volume.
Heck maybe I should build my own.

[GoPaul]

Vararam thoughts so far:

The install wasn't the easiest in the world, the fact that I had to uninstall my Injen including the washer bottle then reinstall the stock washer bottle didn't make things any easier.

I then had to modify the stock radiator brackets per the Vararam instructions - not sure how hard it would be to include 2 new angled brackets within the package - it would certainly make things alot easier for the install.

During installation I found that the holes in the heat mat (that go over the radiator guides) were not in alignment - seems the left and right hand side ones were 1" too far apart from one another so when I placed the holes over the guides I had 1" of surplus material that bunches up in the center of the mat - no big loss though as the intake sits over the mat and you can't see it.

I also realized that you had to remove the guid pins on the radiator brackets as they clash with the intake wing otherwise - this wasn't documented in the instructions.

I found the trickiest part to be the connection of the wing, brackets and rubber washers - I lost the original washers somewhere in my bumper and had to buy replacements, I'd suggest using some tape to hold these in place while securing the bolts through the brackets.

I had some teething problems with the height of the intake - appeared to be sitting too high - I adjusted my brackets further by planing them down and slackened the bolts off so they were not too tight. This seemed to solve the problem and all looks well now. I was advised that the plastic inserts that sit within the rubber grommets (on the brackets) need removing, I didn't do this and as everything seems to be sitting ok now, I figured I wouldn't mess with it.

I have the MRT v2.0 isntalled and combined with the Vararam, the noise of this baby compared to my injen is alot deeper - gone is the whistle, but now it sounds alot meaner. I am still going through the ECU learning process so I haven't pushed it yet but hopefully in a few days I can compare the performance side versus the Injen.

In summary, install was a bitch but for the noise alone it seems well worth it. Understandable that there are still some teething issues as this is one of about 5 of the first installs done so I am sure things will settle down for other customers.

I can't wait to test the performance of this thing for real

[GoPaul]

OMG! just got home and this Vararam combined with the Trifecta tune ! what can I say....

it's definitely a combination of the two as I had noticed an improvement in accelerating when in 4th gear with just the Trifecta tune but thought I'd put to test the combination with the Vararam and WOW! this thing moves like it is possessed, I had to rain myself in at one point as I didn't realize how quickly I had got my speed up - can't wait to get this thing on the dyno and out to the track ! a big thumbs up to both Vararam and Trifecta

[TJ91]

omg cant wait to order it, thanks for the impressions Paul!!!! VIDEO VIDEO VIDEO VIDEO VIDEO VIDEO!!

[GoPaul]

Here you go, video of the MRTv2 combined with the Vararam

[BSR-1]

Paul, did you install the tune at the same time or separately?
I was hoping for a report on the tune to see if it's worth it.

[GoPaul]

Originally Posted by BSR-1

Paul, did you install the tune at the same time or separately?
I was hoping for a report on the tune to see if it's worth it.

I loaded the tune last weekend - biggest butt dyno results seemed to be on 2 points:
1. smoother gear changes from 1st to 2nd
2. Better acceleration in 4th and 5th

After installation of the Vararam - the butt dyno tells me the gains are across the board - was particularly impressive accelerating in 4th on my way home tonight.

I'm hoping to get a dyno in the next couple of weeks and I may load the stock tune to get results with the Vararam & MRT and then load up the trifecta tune and see what I get then, Ideally I'd like to load a 3rd tune which would be tweaked around my data logs after the Vararam installation.

[BSR-1]

Thanks for the report.
Has anybody ever checked the price on an ECU so that you could tune and not void your warranty?

[GoPaul]

Originally Posted by BSR-1

Thanks for the report.
Has anybody ever checked the price on an ECU so that you could tune and not void your warranty?

Trifecta have said the V6 ECU does not have the ability to record tuning history (which was the turning point in me ordering one) it means when I take it in for a service I'll just return to the stock tune

[BSR-1]

Originally Posted by GoPaul

Trifecta have said the V6 ECU does not have the ability to record tuning history (which was the turning point in me ordering one) it means when I take it in for a service I'll just return to the stock tune

Really? I didn't know that. Not that I distrust Vince but has anyone else confirmed this? It could cost quite a bit if he's wrong.
If he's right..............well........I don't see a downside at all.

[Edge.128]

very nice build. keep it up!!