DUCMAN

I have a vararam air intake system with the filter in a clear box. The normal air set-up is cut, so there is a huge hole where the air filter is. I live in Hawaii and we get rained on a lot. How worried should I get if I get caught in the rain? Do I only have to worry about puddles that can submerge the front end, or should I be concerned with any amount of rain? I have heard of cars getting submerged and water being sucked into the motor via a modified air intake.

The rain storms are pretty unpredictable on my side of the island, so not getting caught in the rain is not an option.

Thanks

Umrswimr

Well, you basically have to submerge the nose enough that the fog area is under water. From there, it only takes a teaspoon full in a cylinder to hydrolock it. You'll probably be fine, just avoid large puddles of standing water.
Hydrolock was my main reason to go with the TRAP over the VR.... :cheers:

The Batman

Outerwears Racing has a custom prefilter ordering page. One of their pre-filter materials is designed to allow no water through. Dunno how air can get it, if the water is held in the material, though, you might want to contact them for more info.

I bet you'll lose some peak power using these (I lost about 3% peak rwhp using an Outerwears installed over a Vortex). For everyday driving in traffic, and peace of mind in wet weather, it seems to be a reasonable trade-off, though.

PDXBigMan

I live in the Pacific NW, we get some rain here too! ;) I had similar concerns and recently sent an email to Vararam asking them for a clarification. Here is their response:

"The VR-1B has NEVER hydrolocked a C-5 unless the owner has submersed the entire nose of the car. The VR-1B was designed as an OEM product and as such it was designed for heavy water conditions( we use 2 water troughs that will drain up to 1 gallon of water every 30 sec, the filter is located 1 foot higher than the entrance and we also use PJ-1 filter oil which repels water) the system is also designed to break away in an impact, no one seems to care about this but we have had many customers and world challenge racing teams test it as pictured on our website.

"We also guarantee in righting on our website against water ingestion from ANY form of falling rainwater. You will have to submerse the entire nose under water, 1full foot of water, a C-5 floats in 9 inches of water and the GM proving ground dunk tank is only 6 inches deep. "

IMHO seems reasonable to me and a satisfactory response. I will probably go with the Vararam.

corvette184

:jester it depends on what you hit first :jester :lol:

RedHot

I would be skeptical of anyone who would make a guarantee in "righting". :skep:

Besides, it's not falling rainwater you need to worry about, it's standing water that you drive thriugh. The water only has to splash up high enough to hit the opening. After that, because the engine is really an air pump, it can (and has) be sucked into the engine and cause hydrolock. :yesnod: