How much to install a Vararam CAI?

[Rich Z]

Just to make sure it is understood here, no one OWNS a forum here. Outside of the actual Sponsor's Forum, of course. Any business (or individual for that matter) can sponsor a forum, and it is set up so that more than one sponsor for any forum will be acceptable. This was not intended (nor will it be allowed) to give any sponsor exclusive rights to those parts of this site.

The intent of sponsorships was not to inhibit competitors from posting with the forum. It was provided as a method for businesses to help support this site, and in return get some recognition and advertising out of the deal as well. Myself, as well as the members, most certainly WANT to hear about things such as special deals, sales, new products, services, and anything else that someone interested in Corvettes (or Florida) might likely want to hear about. That is the spirit in which this site was set up, and that is the way I intend to keep it. So it is ALL good......

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I think some things may have not been clear in this respect, and I am working behind the scenes to correct that impression.

[Gannet]

Originally Posted by Rich Z

Is that where you are headed, Dave......

Oh, I'm still up in the air, and likely will be right up until it's time to lay out the cash.

Part of what's hard about it is that it's hard to know how much is "enough" and how much is "too much". We never had that trouble much in the Good Ol Days. Anything you could drive around wasn't "too much". Nowadays...whew!

Someone like Greg has the advantage of having been around, and driven, a ton of different combos. Now that the weather is better I'm going to try and get some rides. There are quite a few blown cars in Florida.

Another hard part, for me, is that most guys with highly modded cars use them as weekend toys or secondary transportation. Their notion of "practical", "reliable", and "streetable" is different from mine. And yet another factor is that the guys with really strong combos mostly run DOT race tires, whereas I drive in downpours on occasion and need real street tires. So how does that limit what is "too much"? I don't know, and when you ask you get a lot of different answers.

So lessee...

Warhawk 481 talldeck?
Kenne-Bell?
Procharger on a 427?
STS 427?
Stay sane and do a lil ol Maggie?

Decisions, decisions...

No rush, it's going to take about 2 years to get it all done. I just had Greg install new brakes and suspension, and minor appearance mods. That stuff is done, at least until after the driveline and power package is complete. Next up is clutch.

[Rich Z]

Yeah, I wonder how long my stock clutch is going to hold up? I'm reading up on options whenever I get a chance, because I know sooner or later I'm going to need one.

I went through a lot of the same thought processes when I was considering forced induction. I can't say I had every bit of info to consider, but I do think I had most of it.

I thought I was going to go with a Maggie, but replacing the hood was an issue. I know I want to get the car repainted sometime in the future, and I just hated to waste the money on getting a new hood painted NOW, when I wasn't sure which way I would go with a complete repaint. Plus there were some notable issues with heat soak, some notes of some cars overheating, and the fact of having 80 pounds more weight right on top of the engine.

Centrifugal superchargers had similar drawbacks with weight and overheating, plus replacing a thrown belt was not something to consider as just trivial if it happened while goofing off down a dark lonely road some night.

Underhood turbo chargers just worried me. Extra heat under the hood is not something you really want to have. And I had heard stories of melted plastic parts here and there from the heat generated by those turbos, and even one case of an underhood fire. And again, all the weight was put up front. Another deciding factor was that I would have had to just toss out the brand new LGM Pro headers I had put on. I just couldn't swallow that pill, unless the pluses had been so overwhelming that the headers would have been a non issue, comparatively.

Considered a motor buildup or replacement, but heck, the LS6 just does such a wonderful job "as is", I really couldn't convince myself to just toss out a perfectly good engine. If it were to pop a piston or otherwise become a huge boat anchor, well that's a different story. But while it is working just fine, I felt I wanted to work with what I had already in place as much as possible. Plus I seriously doubt this avenue would have passed the "spouse test of sanity".

When I first heard of the STS rear mounted turbos, the only real observable drawback I could see in it was the fact that the air intake inlets were in the back of the car behind the taillights. I feared that my living on a dirt road would have those filters caked with dust every few days, and prove to be a major maintenance pain in the ass. Everything else seemed on the plus side of the table. Weight distribution evenly spaced across the front and back of the car. No belts to deal with. No parasitic load on the engine. No overheating issues. No flaming hot turbos under the hood. No new hood needed. Although I heard some claim a lag in turbo spool up, if it is there, I just don't notice it. In reality, having the power come on later in the rpm range is probably a whole lot easier on the drivetrain anyway. Much like NOS where it comes on when you REALLY want it there. Basically I would have a stock Z06 (which is not shabby at all!) for most of the time, but when I really put my foot into it, the turbos would kick in to put the car into a whole new higher state of being.

But that rear air inlet thing was a stumbling block, and for the longest time, I ruled out STS solely for that reason. So it looked like there really was no perfect system out there, only a choice of compromises to make. It wasn't until I saw some guy selling an STS kit brand new for a killer price that I got to talking to the guy and learned about a special pre filter that goes over the air inlet filters and basically acts like teflon. Most dirt and dust would just fall off the prefilter and not adhere at all. So that one little minor addition made all the difference by taking that negative mark off the balance sheet.

Now there are some things I DIDN'T know about the STS that may have made a difference. The biggest is that the piping is NOT stainless but just a coated mild steel. So yes, they will eventually rust through. No soon, and maybe not even as long as I own the car, but they WILL eventually rust out. They are coated from the factory, but it is not an especially durable coating. I can see rust spots forming already on some spots. If I had it to do over again, I would have sent the pipes (and everything else made out of anything that can rust) Jet Hott coated before having them installed. Especially the exhaust turbo housings. When I got faster spooling replacement exhaust housings a little while ago, Greg at AntiVenom sent those housings off for me to get ceramic coated, and it made a world of difference in how they look. Plus they most certainly help retain the heat energy inside them.

Oh there was something else that I at first thought was a drawback with the STS system. Since those turbos replace the mufflers, the exhaust has a rather unique sound about it, and is quite a bit louder than I was used to. At first, I thought it TOO loud, and yes there is a noticeable drone inside the car, especially around 1800 rpm. At first I really did not like it at all, but after a couple of months, it grew on me enough that I would hate to lose it. But bear in mind, that if you really GET ON it, every cop within a half mile is going to hear you. There is NOTHING subtle about it at all.

Anyway, hope some of my thought process will help. If you have any questions, just holler....

[Gannet]

Rich, thanks for the thoughtful reply.

The fact that the STS, in general, does the least "violence" to the engineering of the car's systems is a huge plus in my book. I wish it used sidemount intercoolers instead of a central one, and I wish there was a stainless plumbing option. I also wish there was more technical info on the site, but that seems to be a failing of many of them. But all in all, the STS is a strong contender.

Concerns with the STS, for my purposes are that I'd probably want it on a 427 or larger because I want lots of low end, the FMIC and associated cooling issues, and also the non-linear power delivery of turbos. Also the expense; by the time you go 427 + STS you're looking at serious change. I have to admit though, I loved the sound of yours when Greg took me for a ride in it. Even tootling around residential sidestreets, listening to the turbos spinning up and down was very cool.

I really like the idea of a blower better, but:

Maggies are proven, but undersized
Kenne-Bells are unproven
Centrifugals are proven, but don't make power down low

I think it likely I'll end up with a PD blower in the end. They just have the kind of power delivery I like. I'm hoping that Kenne-Bell will get a lot more units out there between now and when I'm ready, and that they do well. But the new Maggie 122 units might just work and they should be just as reliable as the 112s (read: like tanks). Then there's the guy in Miami that's working on a 3.3 Whipple kit...

One of the funnest things about Corvettes is that the aftermarket is so huge.