today it got up to maybe 62 degree's so after school i cruised around a little bit, got on it like once. When i got home i could hear my Radiator boiling, i popped the hood and it was pretty loud, a few drops of coolant had even came out of the overfill tank.

This is the first time it's been warm since i put on the FTRA so i never had noticed a heat problem. And since my car is a '00 i really don't know how hot it got becuase the guage jus sticks at 210. Any body else notice any heat problems with the fast toys ram air? would a 160 stat eliminate this problem?

 

I did - in my '01 in the TX heat, and in traffic. Temps got up in the 2teens, so I took it off a day after I had put it on...

Some have problems, some don't. I did. Ended up making my own ram air set up.

 

those ftra's suck, they give no gains, well atleast not on three cars we tried one on at the track, one auto and two manuals. I should really stop saying this I guess I usually just get flamed for an observation.

 

im going to put a 160 stat in maybe that will help, i still have confidence in the FTRA every ls1 i have raced with similar mods to me minus FTRA i have walked hard at 70+ mph

 

My FTRA picked me up a .1 and 1 mph. No overheating issues.

 

Was it different days and different weather? We did tests on three cars on the same day with and without the ftra, no differences... the cars did already have the airbox cutout though.

 

Mine never did this but my friends camaro did. We simply used some agressive methods to make it stop. If you notice the Fast Toys system has pins used in the middle to help hold it down. Number 1 take those out. They make little to no difference anyways plus it helps protect against possible water getting in the intake. After those are out make damn sure you got that rubber seal around the airbox to seal it good. Then instead of cutting out just a little bit to fit just perfect cut out the hole lower portion of the airbox. You will notice it has a ramp in the middle of the airbox. Leave the top part of the ramp alone and cut out just the bottom, this will help air enter the system as well as not choke air from the radiator. After all this the system ran 2 degrees hotter than before at normal temps so I think it would make a difference. Also are you damn sure your coolant and everything is good because other things besides the FTRA can cause overheating. Plus I would make damn sure not to over heat that thing again. My buddy busted a radiator line one time and of course it overheated really quick he replaced it. Everything ran fine until about 4 days later the same hose busted again overheated and now he needs new motor. These aluminum blocks can't take high temps like an iron block. Oh yeah and before I forget take those plugs out before firing it back up. Overheating can cause the block to expand and then when it cools down the plugs will seize to the heads. Trust me I know then you have to get new heads. Be careful next time. Hope this helps a bit but try the above stuff and see how it goes.

 

A M6 usually walks a similair modded A4 on the street from a pull, and as for M6 to M6 differences in drivers and total setups can make a difference. Like I said though I am just stating an opinion and observation that some friends of mine and me did one day with a ftra, the guy that bought it was so pissed that afternoon that he threw it away that night.....lol he was stupid and should have sold it though.

 

Yeah, the FTRA is more of a CAI than ram air. I remember someone testing it and they found there to be only about 1% more volumetric flow. I've never had a problem with mine but I have been thinking about dumping it because that bitch is pretty heavy.

 

Hmm.. it works for me. Driven the car in Florida summer sunshine without trouble. 98+ degrees and just an much humidity.

 

Yeah, I was going to say that FTRA alone is not going to make your car overheat on a 62 degree day ... you've got some other problem going, dude.

 

ya i drove it tonight and it did nothing. I'm not saying it overheated, becuase it didn't overheat. The guage might be a dummie gadge but it will still show if you engine is overheating. I just heard bubbling from the radiator.

 

I have had the FTRA for a few years and have not had a problem. Much cleaner setup then FRA but you must make sure it is sealed. YOur overheating might have another cause. Check your radiator cap with one of the tools they have at Pep Boys to make sure it is holding pressure.

Mike

 

No problems here in the Texas heat.

 

We have hundreds of customers running the FTRA in very hot climates : Florida, TX, HA, CA even Kuwait! If your car is overheating when it's not even warm outside, you more than likely have other cooling system problems.

In our experience as well as what you will find reading the boards over the years, the FTRA will raise operating temps with stock fan tuning and stock stat by about 10 F. This is something your cooling system should easily be able to handle. If it can't, you have other issues like bad coolant, bad thermostat, rad cap that is not holding pressure or your cooling fans are not engaging properly.

With the addition of aftermarket fan programming to turn the fans on sooner, most cars will run cooler than stock even with the FTRA installed. On an LS1, the 2nd fan does not engage until approximately 220ish degrees. Once the fan does engage, temps drop down quickly. You can test this theory by simpling turning on your A/C which activates the 2nd fan. If your temps drop, your cooling system is working well.

As far as performance goes, do a search. There are hundreds of posts about the performance increases people have seen as well as documented VE and fuel econonomy increases. Several competitors have copied our product as well. It works!

I always find it funny how people talk about hearing their "buddy" trying the FTRA and saying it's crap or their 3rd cousin's friend etc. In the 6 years we have been selling the kit, we have not have ONE SINGLE customer contact us to say they were unhappy with the kit or that it was crap. We do know that many of our competitors regularily go on the boards under different user names to flame our product. Most of our competitors never even bother to pay for advertising on these boards (Whisper, SSRA etc) and yet magically when ever anyone mentions the FTRA, someone is there to quickly say it is crap and to get the SSRA etc. Take everything you read on the internet with a grain of salt.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us. We are always happy to help.

 

I never had a problem with the FTRA that I had on my 99. I had it on there for probably 4 years. No probs at all.

 

Well it didn't work on three vehicles on the same day same track conditions which ranged in trap speeds from ~108-`124 through the quarter, we figured maybe it is worth something on a more modded car. As for your comparisons were they comparied to cars that already had the airbox cutout, because if not I can see how there would be performance gains since this is a great FREE mod. but hey more power to ya if you think it works, just like slp headers will net ya 41hp and 51 ft/lbs......



Not a competitor, not sponsored by anyone, don't recommend ANY coppies, duplicates, or ANYTHING that would resemble a ftra, sorry if this seems like a flame but I am only stating an opinion and a test ME and a few friends did one day at the track.

 

Yes, our testing and the testing we quote are always done on the same day. We conveniently provide a block off plate with the kit which is perfect for back to back testing.

If you have called us to inquire why you may not have seen positive results, some suggestions we would have made include:

1. Did you test to see if you had a positive seal? If not, the kit will not work any more effectively than the free air mod because any additional air is bled off. So many people never bother to do this and even the stock LS1 air box will leak nevermind the aftermarket ones. I cannot stress how important this is!

2. Did you scan your car to see if there were any other problems? Knock retard, too lean a mixture etc. Are you running an aftermarket MAF? Adding more air to a vehicle that is already running lean will only make things worse.

3. Were you running a stock air lid? The FTRA really needs a higher flow aftermarket air lid for the best performance since the stock one is so restrictive.

www.installuniversity.com has a nice impartial test of the FTRA which very scientific testing methods (no SOTP gains etc).

As I mentioned, if you ever have any questions, we are always available to help.

 

how do i know if mine is "sealed" i bought it used i put it in then jus put the airbox assembly on top of it

 

We did use the foam thing that supposed to block off the front of the airbox, as for a lid, who doesn't buy one when they order the car...lol I did think it should make a difference that is why I wanted to try one, and hey we might have screwed something up, but it is pretty straight forward I thought. If we screwed something up in the install then maybe atleast this thread and my post might make people who own it and the future ones that buy it make sure that they do everything to get it to work properly and get some gains like you say there are to be had. Also, just want to state again I am not trying to flame you just stating an opinion and a test we did with the product. Also, thanks for being professional and just replying with insightful information and not going crazy on my post .