Vararam V6 intake installed!

[Zimm]

When demand is high for a product like this, I'm sure it makes reasonable business sense to let go of a few early adopters in order to get the product perfect. If you can't wait, there are plenty of alternatives. If you know what you are waiting for, then I'm sure it will be worth it.

Upsetting a handful of buyers due to delay vs. the entire first run of buyers due to MAF overheating issues? I'd take the former.

[BackinBlackSS/RS]

Whose crying??? There's no crying on C5.

[Russ]

Originally Posted by Zimm

When demand is high for a product like this, I'm sure it makes reasonable business sense to let go of a few early adopters in order to get the product perfect. If you can't wait, there are plenty of alternatives. If you know what you are waiting for, then I'm sure it will be worth it.

Upsetting a handful of buyers due to delay vs. the entire first run of buyers due to MAF overheating issues? I'd take the former.

I agree with you 100%. Making the product perfect is absolutely great. My complaint is only the fact that VR has gone silent. Which, imo, is wrong. It sends a message that they may not be understanding to those on a group buyes list or those who have already shelled out some cash.
I should be clear and say I am neither on a list or have already given monies to MS But I most certainly want this product for my car.
I just believe these delays should of been addressed on a regular basis by VR directly, as a display of respect for customers and potential customers.

[Shuffler]

Originally Posted by Russ

Just so im clear, you believe its proper business ethics to promise a vendor and hundreds of potential buyers a ship date. Then on atleast two occasions (three may be more like it)that I can recall, change the date and not come through. Then go completely silent without any updates on a forum that they accepted a group buy on, knowing people were anxiously waiting.

If that's your idea of good business practice, I just don't understand you. But then again, I don't need to. Its a free country. Think how you wish. But for me, its terrible.

And for the record, Steve @ Varam has most certainly posted on this thread. But has gone silent since the delays.
Can you believe the lack of knowledge of some people, lol.

So you would just ship a poor unfinished product.... yes I see your great business experience. That will really get the consumers remembering your name.

Geesh guys it looks like they have it actually finished now. So let their product do the talking now.

[Shuffler]

Originally Posted by BackinBlackSS/RS

Whose crying??? There's no crying on C5.

haha

[spyderbuddy]

So how are they getting air to the clean side?

[VR Baron]

Originally Posted by spyderbuddy

So how are they getting air to the clean side?

Looks like it comes in the ram air duct and up into the filter from below, and maybe circulates up around the whole filter?. Hard to tell. My 98 system looks the same and is a bottom feeder.

[chozn4service]

Originally Posted by blackbee

Looks like it comes in the ram air duct and up into the filter from below, and maybe circulates up around the whole filter?. Hard to tell. My 98 system looks the same and is a bottom feeder.

My now ex-wife was a bottom feeder! Have to interject some humor in this thread. Its been getting pretty tense at best!

[VR Baron]

Originally Posted by chozn4service

My now ex-wife was a bottom feeder! Have to interject some humor in this thread. Its been getting pretty tense at best!

I know! I went through a little of the same when I got in on the first 50 of the D/T shorty headers. Two months late but due to the coaters and as I found out from D/T later, the owner put another project as a priority and these were pushed back. Again no one said a thing.

[khabboub]

so should the people on the "top 40 list" all be expecting PMs sometime this week?

[chozn4service]

Originally Posted by khabboub

so should the people on the "top 40 list" all be expecting PMs sometime this week?

What else do we need to do? We (I) provided cc info for payment weeks ago and I know I was told mine would ship on Friday, Monday at the latest and that was like the week of 4/19. I'm thinking notice of it fits, so now it ships with a tracking number should be the order of the day. Don't you agree?

[SolarFlare]

Originally Posted by chozn4service

What else do we need to do? We (I) provided cc info for payment weeks ago and I know I was told mine would ship on Friday, Monday at the latest and that was like the week of 4/19. I'm thinking notice of it fits, so now it ships with a tracking number should be the order of the day. Don't you agree?

Same boat as you, #1 on the list I better be #1 in the truck
But I'm just hoping that then next private message I get (I check about every 3 hours on my phone :p ) will have a tracking number!

[usa1camaro1969]

Originally Posted by Zimm

Upsetting a handful of buyers due to delay vs. the entire first run of buyers due to MAF overheating issues? I'd take the former.

Did they tell you it was MAF overheating issues? We're left thinking maybe it could have been the MAF heatsoak and overpressurization at this point. All we were really told by them was shrinkage and they were going after more power.

No one said to ship a product that was screwed up. I have said here before that goals are constantly made and missed.
If goals are missed it's good business sense to let the consumer know what happened and what's being done to correct it.

[rolnslo]

Originally Posted by mhog

Was there an improvement on the dyno?

Not done yet. This intake was tuned for the street, not for sitting still spinning the tires on a roller. I'm sure we'll get to it ASAP but I can tell that the new design is certainly better on the street than the one we topped out at 276hp on the dyno. With a shortened work week for me, it's going to be hell to find time in the schedule to fit in a dyno session at England Green. Will see what we can do though... no promises.

Originally Posted by usa1camaro1969

I am glad they addressed the MAF heat soak issue as I've already stepped into the car after work and had it saying 102*. Is it just a hole, or is there a tube that directs it straight to it?
Enjoy the weekend everybody.

There never really was a problem with MAF heat soak, they just took advantage of a design change to bleed off air that built up in the new upper filter housing and aimed it at the MAF sensor. I'm sure the cooling effect is minimal but with as hot as it's been lately around here, anything that aids in keeping the MAF sensor cooler, is a good thing. Air flow testing showed that with a 10mph wind speed aimed at the grille area and hitting the lower air scoop, roughly 5-6mph airflow was hitting the filter directly and about 2.5mph airflow was hitting the MAF sensor through the hole. Obviously, CFM at each point of measurement is different simply based on the amount of area the air can flow through.

As for a tube that you guys think you see, there isn't one. It's just a hole. The air flow is kind of self directing based on the position of the hole and the directional flow of air into the upper filter housing part.

Originally Posted by Can't_C_Me

I zoomed in on the pic.'s #2 & 5 and you can see a lil tube leading out of the hole on the backside. It can also be seen without zooming in. I wondered the same and looked for the angel that showed the answer.

Um, not sure what you are seeing but there isn't a tube there.

Originally Posted by Angelsilhouette

Please excuse my ignorance / stupidity, but I'm wondering how it gets air in. It looks as if it's sealed off from the rest of the engine compartment around the back and sides due to its own gasket and sealed off from the incoming air at the front due to the OEM bonnet gasket/buffer.

Or is it pulling in air from beneath the filter and forcing it up over and into the filter?

Originally Posted by usa1camaro1969

It's still pulling it from the top in front of the radiator.

And I now see the tube.

There is a scoop piece that attaches to the radiator bracket bolts and runs the full width of the intake. It extends down a few inches in front of the radiator and AC condensor and as air hits it, the air is directed up into the upper filter housing piece of the intake. Air coming from the center of the scoop is directed up and into the filter area. Air coming from the sides of the scoop is directed into the area surrounding the filter. This air is trapped by the hood and the rear seal on the upper filter housing part. This air is there to supplement any air that is directly forced into the filter. The design creates a high pressure area for the intake to pull air from when it needs it.

Originally Posted by spyderbuddy

So how are they getting air to the clean side?

First time anyone has asked this question...nice job! Air for the clean side PCV line is coming through a breather element that is included in the kit. I plan to use a breather style catch can on my car once we are finished instead - personal preference only here. Vararam opted to go with the breather element instead of tapping an inlet on the intake itself because the inlet parts disrupted the airflow too much in what was already a small package area. Long tube with a cone style CAIs can get away with tapping an inlet for the PCV line because they have more length for the air to straighten back out due to any intruding objects causing air disruption. After seeing how much oil gets out through the "clean" side PCV line on my car, I certainly welcome any attempt to eliminate oil getting into the intake manifold and onto the intake valves in the engine.

Originally Posted by usa1camaro1969

Did they tell you it was MAF overheating issues? We're left thinking maybe it could have been the MAF heatsoak and overpressurization at this point. All we were really told by them was shrinkage and they were going after more power.

No one said to ship a product that was screwed up. I have said here before that goals are constantly made and missed.
If goals are missed it's good business sense to let the consumer know what happened and what's being done to correct it.

MAF heat soak and over pressurization were never an issue. Going after more power and adjusting for material shrinkage were the reasons for the delays. The design change for the upper filter housing necessitated the addition of the hole for the MAF cooling and lessening the pressure built up. There were multiple ideas explored for relieving the pressure build up and utilizing the hole for the MAF cooling was an effective solution with a nice side effect.



OK, I think I caught up on all of the questions so far, if not please let me know. Oh, and video is coming, I'm just fighting with fixing the aspect ratio bug that Samsung put in the firmware of my camcorder.