J-Rod

Up till now we've had only a few choices in the intake manifold market.

There was the stock LS1. Then came the LS6. Then came the Weiand/LPE manifold. Thing got interesting when Comp. introduced the FAST/Wilson manifold. Now we have the LS2 which testing has shown to be worse than the LS6 it was sent to replace.

So, now here we are...

As many of you may know I spent some time in Australia last year. While I was there I met a lot of really cool folks, and I got to see a lot of cool developments for the LS series motor that I haven't seen much of here in the states. For instance, we're just now starting to catch up on the tuning side with them with some folks finally getting in Speed Density tuning.

Anyhow, one of the things I saw which made a lot of sense to me, and in the testing I saw made a lot of power was the 8 runner throttle body setups. I had intended to buy one from Sam down in Australia, or was going to fab my own from scratch. After recent talks about which direction to go in this I'd like to share what I feel might be a viable alternative. The 8TB setup from Harrop in Australia.





Short video of the manifold on a car.
http://www.harrop.com.au/site_resour...e_manifold.mpg

I've been discussing the manifold with Ron the owner of Harrop. We been taking measurements, etc... of the C5 to ensure that the manifold will fit. The nice thing about the Harrop is it was engineered with fly-by-wire in mind, and already has a provision for the Corvette stepper motor to bolt up stock. In our initial measurements it appears that it will clear the stock C5 hood with no issues which to me is a big deal....

The plan is to have one in the States in the next month or so for install, and testing on a C5. After that, any revisions to intake plumbing ,etc... will be addressed and if it is successful the hope is to have it avaliable for the general public.

I've been speaking with Pete at Textralia about the unit (since he is in Sydney where Harrop is located), and one of the other things that we felt like would be necessary would be to provide a tune with the car setup for speed density to assist in a smooth transition from MAF tuning to SD on the car. I've been testing SD on both my car and Tommy's car. We've been working with a few other folks and the results thus far have been extremely favorable with SD tuning.

In going over it with Pete the tenative goal is to have he and the manifold in the States in about a month or so for install and testing on a 427 in motor in another car. If all goes well, sometime shortly after that the goal is for them to have it avaliable for the C5 market. If it all works out I think Textralia will handle these for the C5 market.

Right now the U.S. dollar is weak against the AUD. In the past it was almost 2-1 in favor of our dollar ($1AUD = $.50USD). Currently its around $1.00AUD = $.77USD). Harrop retails the manifold for about $3850AUD ($2964 USD). If the dollar goes up, the price will get better for us.

Before you choke on the sticker price consider the cost of a FAST90 ($~900)+ TB ($~500)+Tune($~500). So, around $1900. The price delta isn't as big as it seems initally...

Anyhow, I know this isn't for everyone. I've just seen what it can do on big cam motors. The drivabilty with an 8 port setup is so much better. You can make ANY camshaft a daily driver baby cam with a setup like this. I personally drove a 346 automatic car with a 273 (@.050) / 273 104LSA / 103 ICL it had some lope to it, but it had gobs of power and drove just fine...

Anyway, I just wanted to let folks know that there may be another option out there in the not so distant future for folks to consider. I'll be posting back up with info as it become avaliable.

If folks have any interest, post up in here, and I'll try to answer any of your questions as testing moves forward.

gotjuice?

Looks good. Keep us informed.

NVTHIS

I like that! Keep us informed.

Darion

XPC5R

Not a bad price including the tune, manifold, fuel rails, TB's and air cleaner/plenum plumbing.

FAST - $900
TB - $500
Tune - $500
Intake (Halltech etc) - $3-400
Fuel rails $150

And you are at $2500 or so.... not bad at all if you ask me. Plus it looks like an ALMS C5R under the hood when you are done

DTE Powertrain

Resembles the C5-R split-intake manifold somewhat...

I/R intake tracts have always been a proven power enhancement for any engine- just look back to the old Hilborn stuff back in the day. A family member of mine had an alcohol Hilborn set-up on a sand-dragster a while back and the power output of that SBC combination was amazing given it was only a destroked 309" engine...

Common-plenum intake manifold design limitations are radically eliminated with a I/R set-up such as this..

Chrispy

This will also be a big hit with the car show guys. It'll look REAL nice if the attention to detail is there. There are people that will pay a premium to have something that looks different and unique that works well

CNB

It looks awesome!

leaftye

I also like how to resembles the C5-R intake, and a few other intakes. I'd totally be up for this... Maybe not right now (career change), but by the time I'm ready, the price will probably be better, so it'll be a win-win. I'm not crazy about supporting FAST, especially with the crappy throttle bodies they've been putting out. I can't wait to hear about your results! If it's better than the LS6, this will be the only thing I'll consider. Looks like there's room for fine tuning (torque vs hp) by changing the runner length too...

J-Rod

If you don't care about the hood you can look like an A/FX car.

This is also setup for LS1 and C5R heads. Its the Kinsler unit.

3C2

That thing is beautiful! That would take care of the throttle response complaint that some folks have about the C5. Definately keep us posted.

EDIT-here is some more info:
http://www.harrop.com.au/root_folder..._manifold.html

I wonder what mods were on the vehichle that was dyno'd besides the manifold, hmmmmmmm.

7.0sc SuperVette

I guess I'll have to get an intercooler with 2 outlets instead of 1!

Considering all the activity around LS6 and other aftermarket manifolds which most people report only small gains, I'm surprised that we (USA) haven't been working on this! Back in the 60's several of the tube frame Chev powered fiberglass sportscars used Hilborns or sidedrafts in the horizontal configuration-very sexy lookin', kinda like the way an inlet system should look-but that configuration sorta faded away-I'm glad it's coming back!

Roy

EatRice

That is freaking sweet. I would take one right now if it worked with my SC. From the looks of the layout I do not think it will but if I am wrong let me know.

mdhmi

I suppose it's fair to compare a $3,000 intake to a $400 intake.

Mark

Bowtie8

J-Rod

One thing that I have learned in product development is the importance of the engineering data or quantifying the cost benifit when new technologies or designs are tested.

The pics and the video are great, but I was wondering if you could provide some the results of your testing.

Like you know typical short runner (realative) which enter the front struggle from non-consistant volume flow from cyl-to-cyl. Do you have any data that, shows the uniformity and or the lamda of the exhaust at a given phi (a/f) mix.

I am just curious because I believe you have this improved by the intake air being tapered toward the rear of the intake.

I have been working on an intake tuning scheme here in detroit, which provides two resonate peaks performance (effeciency) in an effort to lower Nox levels because of a turbulance increase and better mix bank to bank. Just curious on your thoughts.

Beautiful piece, I have a friend on the Pratt-Miller C5R team in New Hudsen MI and getting upclose with the C5R, I know now the time and effort spent on that machine. There isn't one corner of that car that doesn't have the best available technology.

BLKTIE8 On the forum here is my dad and we are going to be building up a 7500RPM Solid Roller Motor, I think this intake scheme you have procured is going to be the ticket for the above 6000 RPM apps.

Best
John

WhiteDiamond

J-Rod,

Instead of having to make a switch to Speed Density, do you think that the MAF system on the new trucks and the coming LS7 could be used if the 'multiplier' was found in the PCM? I am guessing that one could calculate the complete area of the two inlets, use the LS7 style MAF sampling tube, change the PCM table area multiplier and continue with a MAF based system(there are many advantages to staying with a MAF based system). I don't think it would be out of the question for the Vette, as one much larger inlet tube could be split into the two tubes feeding each plenum. One could put the MAF in the main tube.

Todd

till

I am going to order one of the harrop manifolds too. So far they couldn't tell me if it would fit into a C5, I have been bugging them since december. Good to hear it fits.

I don't see a problem using a MAF-sensor. I would take the airbox they provide, and get the air from in front of the radiator, like stock. The MAF sensor can just be put in front of the air-box.
Maybe one can use a MAF sensor left and right, and merge the signals. I didn't look into the signal the MAF gives, so I don't know what the wiring would have to look like. One could also try the MAF sensor left and right, and see if the results are consistent.

Till

Benchpress

I see the potential for a really hood to work with that setup!!

leaftye

I think you misunderstood me. I'm not comparing the two, except that if I'm going to spend more than $400, it needs to put out bigger numbers. The LS6 intake is a proven performer, but there are a few intakes that claim, or have the potential to perform better. They are:
-- Weind intake
-- LS2 intake
-- Fast 78 & 90 intake
-- custom sheet metal intake
-- and now this intake

Of the above intakes, the first two really aren't any better than the LS6, and may even be worse. The Fast intake doesn't do that much better on stock displacement motors, and their throttle bodies are junk. Custom sheet metal intakes are most helpful on big displacement motors, or engines that gulp in more air than the plastic intakes can handle, so unless I get a 7k rpm 427ci motor, I won't get a custom sheetmetal intake. That leaves one intake... If this intake is as good as it looks, then it's the only upgrade path I'll go with. If it's not, I'll stick with the LS6.

chaase

I doubt I would ever change out my intake manifold, but that is really