Just got mine in today from Speed Inc! I'm currently offshore but will be installing on Wednesday. Oh, the anticipation......

 

I'm wondering the same thing.

 

without going through all those pages is that carbon fiber?

 

I did. I could feel it and my intake manifold pressure increased 2 psi at 70 mph.

 

No it's metal

 

It's metal, aluminum to be exact, and it comes painted with a black thermal barrier coating. It's pretty sweet, to tell you the truth.

 

Why is there duct tape on it?

 

good question. i didnt even notice.

 

Holds the flanges together until install they are pretty sharp

 

Duct tape holds it together at 120+ MPH....Duuuh!

Seriously though, that was just pic directly out of the box.
Exactly what was said above; Holds the flaps together that get
bent over the airbox tray itself.

 

I just recently had my car dyno tuned. I have decided to ditch the A/C again and actually put my chrs1313 ram air on.

Will I need a re-tune for the chrs1313 ram air ? Is it going to make me run a little lean if im running 100+mph ?

 

I've been toying with buying this ram air for a while now. I bought one but have decided against it.. Not because its a bad product but because I just modified my car my intake a bit to make a big mouth ram air.. hehe..

http://home.comcast.net/~pewter-cama...s/Pic_1654.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~pewter-cama...s/Pic_1655.jpg

I have almost 2x the opening now vs stock and with the lid on there is no visible difference from stock. I just have to move the mount for the trans cooler to a different spot because I ran out of 1/4" rod to fab up a new one. I might do a pair of hoses instead of an aluminum box though so possibly just eliminate the lid completely and run a pipe down with the filter. the extra space opens up a lot of options. hmmm...

 

No retune needed. MAF measures airflow, PCM will adjust fuel.

 

Is there room with the non AC version for a trans cooler?

I have the slp CAI right now. AC deleted. And I have B&M's big trans cooler in front of the radiator. its the 11x11 one.

 

I gained 1.2mph over a FTRA on a stock internal car. So the gains will be slightly more on a car trapping higher with a cam or heads...one of these days I will update the gains from stock to my current heads cam setup, before when I was cam only i picked up 2.7 mph over a stock setup...

 

Realy thinking hard about picking one of these up. I have the FTRA but at this point, 1 MPH/1 tenth is a great deal for $200. I'm hoping if I get this and do a little weight reduction like removing the AC, Aftermarket K member and A arms and removing the back seats/belts will get me my solid 10 sec pass in 2200+ DA I'm always racing again. What do you think Chris?

 

yeah ac is worth like 33-35lbs and the ram air will give you around 1mph in itself over ftra...the k member is decent for weight reduction too anywhere from 35-30lbs depending on brand...a-arms aren't really worth the weight for dollars at least in my eyes 12lbs for 750+ dollars...

 

Well, I guess it's time to post my results.

Got the non AC version installed about a week ago. Install, for me, was a bit of a bitch. I had NO idea my car had ever been in a fender-bender; or in my case, had ever been a front crash bar star....

As far as cutting the airbox- (Already had the free RA.... this just went a step further. Dremel tool decided to **** the bed on me after about 3 seconds of operation... What a fantastic time. Finished it with a hack saw blade, by hand, and ran a DeWalt palm sander over it to smooth it out.

Then it was "test-fit time" so I could get a better understanding of just how much / where to cut the hood latch support. Wow. That's it? All you're cutting our is the v section at the bottom that's held with a 10mm bolt. I decided to just unbolt the whole damned thing, take it out and set it in a vice, and cut it pretty. Take out the washer reservoir at this time and set it aside. You can thank me later....

On a serious note, guys, it's ******* simple and easy to remove to cut, and you are in NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM violating the strength or integrity of the hood latch. It has PLENTY of *** up top to hold the hood just fine.

Back to installing- I tried multiple times to go from the top... Kept hitting the crash bar. Tried from the bottom and it wanted to smash my radiator. Called Chris at this time to make sure I was doing everything right and for a bit of a pep-talk, drink a beer, tell my wife "10 more minutes" and breathe (118 degrees w/ 100% humidity in garage)

(This is also when I discovered my crash bar was crushed in almost a full inch.)

Out-*******-standing. It just keeps getting better....

On a side note, just wanted to PUBLICLY say thanks to Chris for answering my PMs immediately, and the phone number to talk. That's service, period.

So, time to break out the 18v tools an do a bit of modifying to the bottom rear of the crash bar. No biggie... Its FUBARed anyway. So I pull the front bumper off. Worked out great as it finally gave me a chance to replace the driver side parking lamp housing that was dim as hell. The damned thing was melted on the inside.

Unbolted the crash bar. Cut out an inch at the bottom rear and wide enough for the box. VERY EASY. Reinstall crash bar, and test fit again. Fit PERFECTLY. Still a good gap between the ram air kit and the radiator as well. I placed the bottom lip on TOP of the hole the bumper bottom secures to for ease of removal if need be in the future. Bolted her in. Slid the air box back over the radiator and pulled it forward, as well as placing the ram air kit INSIDE the box (radiator support / air box)

Placed the 4 10mm rad support / lower airbox screws and tightened them down. Then it was time to bend the top front of the box down, an attach it with the included 3 self-tapping screws. This turned out to be easier than I thought.

Holy ****... I'm done. Finally. I grab the tube of clear silicone and start caulking all the seams. 10 minutes thats done. Now to wash up and wait for the silicone to dry....

Alrighty. Tried to fit filter tray... REALLY tight. Break out the palm sander again and just buff and touch up the sides. Fits perfect. Drop in the filter, and reattach the lid / MAF / bellow. Redid my weather stripping on the underside of the lid qt this time as well.

Time to start her up.... Definitely hear it sucking. Kinda cool. So I take her out on the road.

Holy ****! The butt dyno likes!!! It pulls GREAT. It wasn't a placebo effect for me either. I could feel a difference. The sound is bad *** as well.

Decide to find out if it will make my car run hot while I'm at it. If anyone's familiar with Lafayette LA, I was on Ambassador Caffery during work traffic. LOTS of stop and go, LOTS of idling.

100 degree day at 4pm, typical Louisiana humidity. Did I mention I have a stock Thermostat and haven't adjusted the fan turn-on settings?

Car ran fine. No overheating, no power loss, nothing. I replaced a leaking water pump in March.... MY temp gauge WILL move. I just wanted to make that clear to everyone. I'm aware they are supposed to be a dummy type gauge, as my SS is an 01. Previous guy must have installed a 98 sending unit and gauge. When my water pump was dying, I would go OVER the typical 210, sometimes it would be at 230 or so in town at a light, or go down to 210 on the interstate. My gauge actually works.

Well, I never ran hot. At all. I live in one of the most brutal climates in the US, as we have 100% humidity as well. Those of you North of the Mason Dixon line make me laugh when you talk about being worried about heat...

Anyways, long story short, I love it. It's one of my favorite mods I've done to the 01. It's like it gave my car "Kung-Fu Grip with Karate Chop Action"

If anyone ever needs ANY help or advice, I'm here. PM me and I'd be glad to call you. Instructions are a bit vague in places...

 

Another quick update as well....

Heard a slight hissing from front of car after shutting her down the other day. Popped the hood and discovered my radiator had a tiny crack at the very top of the plastic housing, drivers side.

Well, now's as good a time as any... Ordered an LT1 radiator through Advance Auto, coupon code VISA, and picked it up and installed. A hair tighter with the larger core radiator, but the RA system still fits fine and still leaves plenty of room for the radiator to breathe. Just pissed me off I had to spend 41 bucks on a coolant level sensor. Tried a 3/4" - 7/8" plumbers plug and it actually blew out of the radiator the first time I wound out the gears.

So, just letting everyone know it still fits great with the larger core radiator.

 

First off im always broke as he'll and can barely afford to put gas in my car and couldn't afford such a great mod. But I do work in a inc machine shop with lots of scrap material. So I want to try and build one myself since I can do it for dirt cheap. Now my question is say if I were to build a ram air myself. Would it be better to run it all the way down to the air dam or terminate it before the air damn and have 2 four inch holes and run ducting from the bumper to the box. I don't have a front bumper support so that would not be in the way. Either way I think both would work great but would running ducting be more beneficial or just a waste of time and energy. Im a very low budget racer and I figure if someone like chris can do it and get results why can't I.