Vmax Intake Manifold "BLACK ICE-olator" V6 LLT Base Test Results

[Hunt3r]

Mike, thanks again, my BLACK ICE-olator arrived this afternoon and I had the car torn down waiting on it. The instructions were great and the tip on buying the swivel head ratcheting box wrench saved me a lot of frustration. It has been raining today but it should clear up tomorrow for the rally in Charleston and I will have a nice 100 mile drive there in the morning to test it out

[Amenti]

One of the first things Tracy said in his write-up on the port-matching process was that it wasn't necessary to see the gains from the BLACK ICE-olator. You'll still see comparable results without the port-matching.

[rtcat600man]

I did not port match mine. Absolutely LOVE the gains this has brought to my Camaro. I can certainly feel the mid range gains better than any other mod to date for the cost.

[Camaro1*]

I did this mod today along with the port matching, very easy to do, just hope I got all the metal shavingings out of the holes, had rag stuffed in and vacuum but still worriesum, probably cause I am not an engine guy. But was very easy mod to do. If I can do it anyone can do it.

[JHenfling]

Gonna receive mine monday morning cant wait.I guess im all hyped up with everyone talking about how good this thing is.Fingers Crossed!!!

[KMPrenger]

So I installed the insulator today....was no problem. I really enjoy doing this kind of tinkering so I had fun doing it. Pretty sure I could have gotten it done without too much instruction, but I'd rather be safe than sorry so I pulled up the instructions Mike Norris sent to me on my smart phone and away I went.

Had no problem getting my Vararam to work, and I still have right around an inch of room for air inlet as you will see in the pictures below.

Took her for a drive and I did notice a few things. For one...I use Torque on my Android to monitor my long term fuel trims and it usually stays right around zero (where you want it). This time the trims started off +3 and as I drove they eventually went as far as -7 before comming back to nearly zero....but by the time I got back home they were slightly positive again so this seems to indicate to me that the car was definitely doing some kind of learning/compensation for the insulator...maybe because of the cooler air...I'm not exactly sure. I'll keep watching it as I hope for them to completely level out again but if they do keep going a few points one way or the other I don't think that is too much cause for concern.

The car did seem to pull well. At times it really did feel like it was pulling harder while other times I wasn't sure if it was (again this may improve over time perhaps) but the car is no slower thats for sure. I used Torque and pulled off a 0 - 60 time as fast as my best previous time. I hear people saying they feel the power coming on more as they keep driving so I plan to do more 0 - 60 runs. I actually felt like I got more wheel spin on my launches but the car pulled so well to 60 I didn't lose any time. if I could get excellent traction I'd easily beat my best time.

At one point I pulled off the road and popped the hood and put my hand on the intake and it was literally cool to the touch...not warm...but cool. But it was 45 degrees today as well and I've never really done this before.

The following are some pictures for reference. You will see I used a ratcheting box wrench to get to the bolts in the back...made it a breeze to get them off!

So far I'm liking this mod very much and I hope to feel more as I keep driving. I feel the big pay off will come when it starts getting warmer out but the car should keep feeling more like it does during the cooler seasons.

I did not port-match by the way.

Thank you so much Tracy and Mike for all your outstanding work!!

P.S....my Mike Norris catch can must be working. I put it on after driving a few thousand miles or so and the inside of my intake was very clean aside from some oil on the back right....very good!

[ChadG]

Nice KM! So did the gap for the air inlet increase or decrease or remain about the same after installation? With the straight Vararam the gap on mine is probably about 1/8" less than yours as shown in the pictures.

[chozn4service]

Originally Posted by ChadG

Nice KM! So did the gap for the air inlet increase or decrease or remain about the same after installation? With the straight Vararam the gap on mine is probably about 1/8" less than yours as shown in the pictures.

Nice info KMP! I was awaiting your take on this mod. Hopefully it will only get better for us doing this mod.

I know Mike did my install while testing and with the Vararam it seemed as though I gained some space for the air inlet opening. I think that's a good thing overall. He also had a fix for keeping the VR from slipping on the yoke or opening of the TB. I know with WOT mine stayed put since the ICE-olator install. Good weather coming up this week, close to 60 degrees so I hope to break mine back out to nearly $4.00 gas prices.

[mhog]

Originally Posted by chozn4service

Nice info KMP! I was awaiting your take on this mod. Hopefully it will only get better for us doing this mod.

I know Mike did my install while testing and with the Vararam it seemed as though I gained some space for the air inlet opening. I think that's a good thing overall. He also had a fix for keeping the VR from slipping on the yoke or opening of the TB. I know with WOT mine stayed put since the ICE-olator install. Good weather coming up this week, close to 60 degrees so I hope to break mine back out to nearly $4.00 gas prices.

So what is the fix for this?

[gman1970]

Originally Posted by mhog

+1
I didn't port match and the gains are excellent!

+2

[chozn4service]

Originally Posted by mhog

So what is the fix for this?

I personally can't say what it is or what Mike did. I know he saw where the mouth of the VR had the tendency or propencity to slide off and it was brought up that with WOT they could do that. In the testing he did on my car, he said while doing a test fit, he saw where that could be an issue and he had a solution for that.
Mike may chime in somewhere along the line and advise on it but I can't.

[KMPrenger]

Originally Posted by ChadG

Nice KM! So did the gap for the air inlet increase or decrease or remain about the same after installation? With the straight Vararam the gap on mine is probably about 1/8" less than yours as shown in the pictures.

I believe it decreased, but very little...not enough to worry me at all.

Originally Posted by chozn4service

Nice info KMP! I was awaiting your take on this mod. Hopefully it will only get better for us doing this mod.

I know Mike did my install while testing and with the Vararam it seemed as though I gained some space for the air inlet opening. I think that's a good thing overall. He also had a fix for keeping the VR from slipping on the yoke or opening of the TB. I know with WOT mine stayed put since the ICE-olator install. Good weather coming up this week, close to 60 degrees so I hope to break mine back out to nearly $4.00 gas prices.

I popped the hood after my initial drive and my vararam seemed to be sitting just fine. I would definitely like to see a better way of holding that puppy on though...for sure.

One other thing I'd like to see from Mike Norris is the new peice that can be used to replace the factory front support bracket that holds the front of the intake to the engine... It will likely be just fine as it is, but the more support the better in my opinion.

[zogster]

What is the chances this can void the warranty, and if it could what parts of the warranty would it void? The whole engine or just parts of it?

I'm a little wary to do any real "engine" mods that aren't easily reversible like intake and catch can because my dealer puts a 10 year 100k warranty on the powertrain and it would really suck to void that warranty when I don't even use all the power I have now.

[chevy 3]

OK I'm asking because I'm one of those ...... But where's my VMAX decal. I know some or most don't but I like having the decal. Buy the way this is a great deal for the $$$. If your on the fence just get it you will love it.