'06 Quicksilver Z06

First off let me say that I have had a blast today. I have spent the last several weeks anticipating the day and it was well worth it. I have put 590 miles on the Vararam since the install.

As promised, I have the results of my initial runs with the Vararam. These are at my local track and the best of the day is compared with my best of last season. When I ran the Blackwing.

Also, as promised, I will show the raw numbers of my previous best with the Blackwing vs the raw numbers of my best with the Vararam today, as well as "corrected" numbers using:

http://www.modulardepot.com/density.php

Track information to include elevation comes from:

http://www.racefan.com/racetracks.asp

Weather information comes from:

http://www.wunderground.com/history/...lyHistory.html

Next, Ragtop Rob, EHS, Korreck, you guys are not going to like the results, so I shall give you a moment to leave. I believe that it was 99blackFRC who said " I'd bet my next paycheck that the difference between the vararam and blackwing is negligible as far as real world HP is concerned...." Well, he may wish to join them. So lets give him a minute too.









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Next off, a shoutout to 90 Droptop, Shurite, MitchC, Aquaman, Redgar, Cajundude, 16again and others.....You guys knew what you were talking about..... I am grateful for your perserverence in vehemently voicing your opinions and sharing your experiences. I am at a better competitive advantage for your having done so. Thanks to you guys and others..... I will be winning races this year that last year I would not have. No doubt in my mind and you shall soon see as well


OK, I think we are ready. I started the day off shaky. This is the first day of the season and the traction was horrendous. I might also add FWIW, I was (inadvertantly) running on 3/4 of a tank of gas today vs 1/4 of a tank when I ran the 12.53. My original intent was to run on about 1/4 tank of gas today. I rarely if ever go to the track with more than half tank of gas for weight reasons. I also had to go from a planned 20lbs of pressure in my BFGs down to 18lbs to get anything resembling traction.

This got me the "respectable" 1.86 I did managed to get. I ran 32lbs in the fronts. I left home today looking for high 1.7s. That 1.86 looked good considering the struggles everyone was having hooking up.

The Pro Torque with it's 2.3 STR, was hitting hard and I was spinning as though I was on runflats. Thank God for active handling.


But to make a long story short, in going from the Blackwing to the Vararam the raw numbers come in like this. This is at the same track and no other mods have been done to the car. No changes..... aside from going from the Blackwing to the Vararam. No tuning after the Vararam install. The car has not been on a dyno since the Vararam install. I have NO IDEA about the A/F ratios, or the hp/tq numbers at the present time.

Previous Best.:

Oct 23, 2004 1:55PM EST. ET 12.533sec @ 109.07

R/T....... .222
60'........ 1.831
330....... 5.201
1/8....... 8.001
MPH...... 86.30
1000...... 10.463
1/4....... 12.533
MPH....... 109.07

My best so far with the Vararam ....Today, April 16, 2005 3:27PM EST. ET: 12.408sec. @ 112.14

R/T....... .127
60'...... 1.860
330....... 5.187
1/8..... 7.964
MPH...... 87.94
1000...... 10.380
1/4........ 12.408
MPH...... 112.14

The 60' times are roughly the same and show a 0.029 difference in favor of my 12.53. The ET improvement cannot be attributed to the 60' time. If anyting, I should have done worse.

The trap speed is what really stands out. A whopping improvement of 3.07 MPH.......with roughly the same 60' time as when I ran the 12.533.

The corrected numbers look like this using these values based on the times at which I ran in New Alexandria/ Latrobe, PA on the times and dates listed.

Oct. 23, 2004 (when I ran the 12.533)
Latrobe, PA

1:47PM (this is the closest recording I can find for that date. I actually ran at 1:55PM.)

Temp: ...... 57.2*F
Hum.......... 63%
Barom........30.09
Track elevation........1210ft.

Plug them in and they come up:

Density Altitude = +1316 feet
Uncorrected ET: 12.533 @ 109.07MPH
Corrected ET: 12.36 @ 110.62MPH

Today, April 16, 2005
3:27PM

Temp:...........66.2*F
Humidity..........14%
Barom...........30.44
Elevation.......1210

Plug them in and they come up:

Density Altitude = +1413 feet
Uncorrected ET 12.408 @ 112.14 MPH
Corrected ET 12.22 @ 113.86 MPH

The differences:

ET: 0.14 seconds in favor of the Vararam

Trap speed: 3.24MPH in favor of the Vararam.



Now the naysayers are going to say that this isn't much. But for those of you in the know, you know that a 0.14 second improvement, all else equal, at those kinds of speeds equates out to over a car length, and can mean the difference between staring at your opponent's tail lights and edging him out in a tight race.

Also...... from 109.07.... to 112.14......a top end improvement like that is quite signifcant and impressive. That is no fluke folks. Thats damn good.

Thats a horsepower improvement which can allow you to catch someone who has beaten you out of the hole.... or better yet...allow you to hold off a contender making a serious attempt to walk you down.

Your naysayers, of course will not understand this, hence I gave them a moment to leave.


I emphasize that these are the initial results. My very first time at the track with the new intake. I will be running the Vararam all summer.

If you are looking to get all that you can get out your car and the biggest competitive advantage you can get, then it appears that the Vararam is the better option if the Blackwing is considered.





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new vetter

CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now let the ******** start with the ignorant drivel, yes Korreck and EHS... that's you.

army2000

Man, it must of taken you 3hrs to type all that down. You sound like a NASA scientist with all that tec data. .Thanks for the numbers.

'06 Quicksilver Z06

Thanks.

I have been working on this post for at least the last 90 minutes. I have about 6 windows open on my desktop. I have looked at the weather history, etc. The photos of the time slip are not the best but you can read it.

I know the importance of the result, and I intended to include as much pertinent information as I could.

It is actually condensed. My day started at 7AM today getting ready for this.

I hit a couple snags, and had some bad luck earlier on the way to the track. Nearly running out of gas on the way to the track and then "overfilling" the tank for my track runs.

There were well over 300 street cars at the track today. Not counting the cars on slicks, the bikes, and the Jrs. They actually had to close the gates this afternoon to people who wanted to run their cars, but kept allowing spectators.

I failed to time my arrival at the track appropriately and the car was nowhere near operating temperature for my first run, having sat for nearly 2 hours. Then the waiting between runs because there were so many cars. The uncertainty about tire pressure because my next run might be my last due to the sheer nbr of cars, trucks and bikes.


But the results made it worth it.

When I saw the 12.40, I knew then that all it had to do was stand up to the corrected values in comparison to the 12.53.

When I saw the 1.86 60ft time, that lifted my spirits as well, as I knew that no one could attribute the gain to an improved 60' time. The 12.53 had come with an even better 60' than this one.

When I saw the 112.14, I was absolutelely elated. I mean elated. I have never run better than 109.x in this car.

C5XTASY

Congratualations! BTW, what filter were you running with the Vararam?
Thanks!
Ed

tlaselva

Great to see someone backing up what I experienced myself with the Vararam.

My best traps with over 30 runs with a Blackwing was 115 mph.
Averaged 114's.

With the Vararam, with over 20 runs, best of 118 mph.
Average now 116's.

I found with my time slips when I analyzed them carefully, that my second 1/8 of a mile was where my extra ~ 2 mph was coming from.

People can say what they want, like 'you can run around with a vacuum hose on, in your hand, but your not going to suck up any more air'..... ,
but the numbers don't lie.

RogueVette

Well I feel like I should say congrats but it's like the first time you see a naked women. You just knew it was going to be good so there should really have been no suprise.

We did the swap (Blackwing to Vararam) on a buddies car just a couple days ago and saw similar MPH improvements of 3mph, with a big gain the last 660'. Trap gains like that are no fluke my friend.

That intake loves to go fast.

BeastieBoys21

Congrats on the new time....

'06 Quicksilver Z06

Thanks. I am using the Baja filter which came with it. I am using PJ-1 oil on the vent side or face, of the filter

'06 Quicksilver Z06

Thanks everybody. Especially you Aquaman. The real world experiences of people like yourself, and many of the forum membership is far more valuable than the theories, pontification, "book knowledge" and irrelevant, outdated "degrees" of the so called "scholars" and "experts" who think they know but do not.

I don't care that someone has taken a slide rule, abacus, and calculator, and determined that "ram air" or even "cold air" does not "work. I only care about the numbers on my time slip.

Those people usually measure their ETs with a calender, but they want to tell you and I how much they know


You're right tlaselva. I looked at my own timeslips from today. From 1/8th mile on in is where the Vararam seems to shine.

When I compare the time slips of the Vararam best vs the Blackwing best, at the 1/8 mile point there is a 1.64 mph gap in favor of the Vararam, which widens to a 3.07 mph gap by the end of the quarter.

This may be the reason why people insist that it does it's best work once the car starts to get up to speed.

C5XTASY

One more question...do you happen to know what your A/F ratio was, at WOT, prior to installing the Vararam? The reason I'm wondering is that I'm having some work performed on my car next week, which includes an LS1 Edit, amd will be installing a Vararam a little later on. Should I be tuned a tad leaner because the Vararam will cause a richening effect when the MAF senses the greater airflow? Or, won't it make that much difference in the WOT A/F ratio settings? This was discussed in a previous thread, but I don't think ever resolved, as I recall anyway. Thanks!
Ed

'06 Quicksilver Z06

I do not know the exact numbers.

The last tune I had was a mail order tune from James at RWTD September '04. This was following the install of my KOOKS headers in August of '04.

I had an 02 bung placed in the drivers side header and the car dynoed and the A/F ratios measured. I had the shop transfer the information to floppy disc and e mailed the information to James as an attachment.

The car was running a tad lean and there was KR around 5k RPM if I remember correctly, I don't have the dyno sheet in front of me.

The hp/tq nbrs in my present sig are from that dyno however.

James made some alterations, richened it up and I headed back to the track. Thats where I promptly ran the first pair of 12.5xs. This was after prior bests of low 12.7xs with the headers and no tune.

I have not bothered to have it re dynoed nor the A/F ratios remeasured after that tune. I figured that if his tune took me from 12.7s to consistent 12.5s there was no need.

This tune from 9/'04 is the same tune in the car now. It was used when I was running the Blackwing and was in the car when the Vararam was initially installed.

One thing which may or may not be of significance is the fact that I put over 500 miles on the Vararam before I headed to the track. This was out of necessity more than anything else.

16Again

Told you the VARARAM makes a big difference. Congratulations and welcome to the dark side. Now get those 60' times down a bit. Heck of a MPH increase there as well.
Bob

P.S Where the heck is KORRECK? Actually I met Bob and his family in person last night at the track He happens to be a heck of a nice guy Did I just say that??????

16Again

Holy smokes I just realized your running a PREDATOR tune. Save a few bucks and get an LS Edit tune in your car from a respectable tuner. You will see another dramatic increase with it. The Predator is a good self programmer but it's limited to certain areas of the computer even with James's tweaking, a good LS Edit tune has much more tuning capability. I was the initial test dummy for the Corvette Predator unit here at the Diablosports shop in Florida, so trust me when I say you will get an increase from a good LS EDIT TUNE!

new vetter

Sounds like he has a case of "keyboard hard guy".

'06 Quicksilver Z06

I am probably going to make a trip to the VetteDoctors this summer for a good LS1edit tune.

In the meantime, I am going to ask for some tips on how to get the 60's down. My best ever 60ft in this car is 1.820.

A couple of the Mustang guys pointed out that it would be a little later on in the season, after many more cars had run and lots of rubber had been put down, before the track really would start to hook. Is this true????

The car is not bogging, it is outright spinning. You can hear it loud and clear and you can feel the backend get squirelly. I don't know if I was launching too hard or what.

I was thinking of going to 16 lbs of pressure, but there were so many cars there, I decided not to hang around for another run.

new vetter

E.T. streets are the solution.

16Again

Good idea getting the Doctor to tune the car. I don't think you are going to be able to lower that 60' time without changing to a drag radial or ET Street tire. As for airing down a run flat, they have a very hard sidewall so I don't think the contact patch or tire flex will give you what you need as they are both non existant. Track buildup of rubber is also open to debate. How often is your track scraped? Do they only clean the track during the beginning of the season? or is it performed multiple times during the season? If it's the later you will not see anything in 60' time drops. Considering the fact that your running the runflats, those 60' times are pretty good.

RogueVette

Thanks EB, I'm glad you got the desired result.

I would steer clear of ET streets untill you get some additional rear end work done. It's a common point if breakage with those tires. I do think you could get some 1.6-1.7's with BFG DR's.

Depending where you are Cartek, ECS and the Doctors are all very good tuners.

shurite44

Good run, too bad you are spinning on the launch or you would be running low 12.2x's. Are you launching from idle or loading it up? My best runs are from idle and just stomping it on the third yellow.