arcticZ51

I'm thinking about going with ECS's stage II Ram Air Package which consists of headers, Vararam intake, 160 t-stat, and tune. It's a claimed 30-35rwhp. My apprehension is the price vs. benefit. $3299 sounds like quite a bit for 30-35hp. I got about that much with just a pulley on my SRT6 Crossfire (though that was supercharged), and about the same from a canned tune for an otherwise stock CSRT4.

A few questions:
1. Will these parts and this extra 30-35hp make a substancial difference in the proverbial butt-dyno? In other words will it be very obvious?

2. What kind of 1/4 miles for a good run w/ these mods and tires.

3. For around 3k is there a different selection of parts that will give more bang for the buck (sans Nitrous)?

Thanks in advance everyone.

c6 batmobile

You can get a lot more bang for your buck with 3k. Is that an installed price? I purchased trick flow 225 heads and a cam for under 3k and that was way more than 30 hp. You can get a really good nitrous kit for 1300 bucks that you can put 75-150 hp through which is worth 150-300 ft pounds of torque as well and you only use it when you want it to. For another 2500 you can supercharge. That price just sounds a bit outrageous to me for what it comes with.

arcticZ51

The price is installed and tuned, yes.

(based on ECS's Prices)
$500 Vararam Intake (LS3)
$1840 American Racing Headers
$??? 160 T-Stat
$299 Dyno Tuning

= $2639

So that's $660 for the T-stat and install.

c6 batmobile

Those headers are way way over priced. I think the most expensive ones Ive seen are LGs and they arent 1800. A t-stat is 15-20 and I dont think the vararam cost 500 new either. But the install price is good. A lot of shops normally charge around 800 just for headers which is a rip off. If you buy the parts separately and install them yourself you will save a lot of cash. Then you can buy a few more parts with the money you save. If your not tech savvy then I guess its a good start especially if you want to do more mods in the future.

I personally cant see spending over 3k for headers and an intake though. I found my headers for under 1k and my intake for around 350.

JoesC5

$3,300 for 30 horses, not for me at $110/horse. Spend $8,000 on a E-Force supercharger installed and get a 118 horsepower gain at $68/horse.

turboffr

I assume the $1800 is for headers AND catted x-pipe, which for $1800 is about right (at least close to what I paid for my Kooks). The rest of the cost is in labor. As C6 Batmobile said above, do it yourself and it will be cheaper, but if you must have someone do it, ECS is the right shop Nobody is going to install your parts for free.

arcticZ51

Getting mixed signals here. Anyone else care to weigh in? Thank you kindly in advance!

lebvette

Drop the headers. That is where all your money is. For the money headers.... don't give you much HP, unless you have a lot of goodies under the hood.
A tune alone, will give you near that HP jump.
The Vararam can be a bitzz to install, so I probably would have someone do it, or get something easier to install, and do it myself. All you want is cool air to your intake. The so called RAM effect doesn't fly unless your going over a 100 MPH, and then it's not much.
You or your local mech. can put the thermo in.
Without the headers...... $900
Larry

Wass

Sure...I'll weigh in on this. You asked about the butt dyno, and I can tell you that I did feel a difference with those mods on my LS2. Coincidently, ECS is where I had the work performed. It's not a huge gain in HP, but I think the tune contributed a lot to my SOTP feel for a snappier acceleration. Eventually I had more performance mods done to the car, so the CAI, headers, tune provided a good foundation.

arcticZ51

So headers in general (without heads/cam/supercharger) don't add that much? If that's the case then maybe I will hold off.

Heck for 3k can't I purchase a cam and have it installed at that price? That would yeild me more than 30-35whp. Correct?

csun213

I will give you my opinion. For about $5K, you can probably purchase a used supercharger, have it installed and tuned or you can purchase a new supercharger, installed and tuned for about $6.5K. Some forum dealers are doing this deal. It will give you a lot more HP plus drive like stock if you keep your foot out of it. Instead of keep spending money and keep gain 20-30hp at a time, just get 135-150hp one time and then leave it alone. You will be around 500rwhp which should be enough for you for quite a while.

articvett

I am sure that power is at the wheels.You will feel the difference and get better gas mileage (if you can keep from mashing the gas pedal all the time)I have lg street headers ,airaid cai ,npp and Ecs tune.Car runs like a beast.

lebvette

Yep.....a cam will put you in another world, but be carefull, a cam can really change the driveable of the car. With a cam....the intake and exhuaust will be needed, or desired. OH no!...make that 5K. Beware the 'Black Hole' will swallow you up.
Larry

c6 batmobile

yes for 3k you can buy a cam and have it installed and tuned. Typically its about 1500 for a cam install and 500 for the cam. Depending on what size your cam is you will see far more than 30rwhp.

Wass

^Agreed...but won't he need the CAI-Headers to get max HP from the cam? I got around 60 rwhp gain with my cam installation, but already had CAI-headers-exhaust.

c6 batmobile

For the max effort yes you need headers and intake. There are plenty that have a cam without it though due to smog laws.

Neumonic2002

The OP should pick up more than 30-35 rwhp with the mods listed, I picked up 25 from my Vararam and a tune, when I did AR headers I picked up another 22 rwhp and they were catted.

I'm thinking you will pick up about 45 rwhp and your car will be and feel much faster!

Go for it!

lebvette

[QUOTE=Neumonic2002;1575314836] when I did AR headers I picked up another 22 rwhp and they were catted.



Man! That's a good HP gain.
Larry

seevi

You should get 30 RWHP from the headers along. Shop around!!!

Mike V.

...headers, Vararam, 160 stat is the foundation for pretty much everything from here except S/C which will not work w/ a VR, but the rest is a must. The $ u posted is expensive though. I added headers, 3" X & mids into Flowmasters, VR, & stat on an '05 LS2 6mn Z51 & made 377rwhp. Never got a baseline but usually 340-345, so I picked up that 30-35 w/o tune. At the track w/ GYSCRF, unless ur a incredible driver, u'll barely notice from an e.t., a couple of tenths. Now here's, where these mods will payoff. I added a 228/232 114LSA cam, u/d pulley, & ported FAST plus tune & went 452/418. That's a 100+ hp gain & is night & day when you get into it, but still totally streetable. Added NNPs which made the cam barely noticeable closed & probably picked up a few hp open. Take a look on cam only LS2s, those are very stout #s, especially given a very mild cam. Do the same to yours, depending on cam & tune & you'll easily be in the 475-500hp range. You will not believe it's the same car. Ur biggest problems will be traction & jail time. My advice source parts urself put 'em on urself or any competent muffler shop can do it way cheaper. I have heard all the horror stories about VR installation, which is absolute horsesh.., if u can read directions & r competent to change oil & spark plugs u can install a VR. Drive for a while & have fun, you'll get the bug for more hp, then go have ECS add the cam, pulley, FAST & lay a tune on it. If it seems enuf w/ the 1st set of mods have ECS tune it & be done with it. It doesn't make sense to tune it 2X, & u need 2 every time u change sumthin'. Good luck, u can pm if u have more ?s