2001 WS6 Ram-Air Trans-Am preliminary results 41 hp gain!

From: Norte David A (David) <norte@avaya.com>

I would like to report to you some initial results from using your SpiralMax product on my 2001 WS6 Ram-Air TransAm, which only had accumulated 4,300 miles at the time of installing the SpiralMax unit. As you may know, the 2001 WS6 Ram-Air TransAms are equipped with the intake manifold that comes standard on the Z06 Corvettes. This intake manifold has the general shape of the shell of a snail (consecutive circular rings) and is manufactured from a thermoplastic material, which keeps the intake charge cooler than conventional cast iron or aluminum manifolds.

the incoming air from the throttle body should closely match the profile of the manifold. SpiralMax produces a swirl-like air profile that very closely matches the profile (circular ring) structure of my TransAm's LS1 intake manifold. By inserting a single SpiralMax unit immediately before the single-bore throttle body on my 350 cubic-inch LS1 engine, my expectations were very high about the potential performance improvement due to this "matching" characteristic.

Before installing the unit into the intake hose, I disconnected both the positive and negative battery terminals and reconnected them to the battery the following morning approximately 11 hours later. The instructions state that the blades of the SpiralMax unit can be place in either direction with the intake hose. By using a small fan, I was able to determine that better swirling characteristics ere achieved by placing the blades such that they faced away from the fan. This situation would correlate with placing the blades such that they face the throttle body.

The stock intake hose, in which the SpiralMax unit was installed, was very short in length, due to the location of the Ram-Air box being very close to the throttle body. There was just barely enough room within the intake hose to fit two SpiralMax units back-to-back. Even though there is just enough room for two units, I only installed one unit. The next morning after the installation, I reconnected both battery terminals and fired up my Black Fury. I immediately notice a much improved throttle response, especially at full-throttle, which I expected. Using my GTEC Pro accelerometer, my rear wheel horsepower increased from 390 hp to 431 hp, a gain of 41 hp at the rear wheels! Needless to say, I was extremely impressed, especially since this improvement was achieved at 5,280 feet of elevation. I will be order a second SpiralMax unit shortly to determine if further improvement in horsepower gain can be achieved. I'll keep you informed about these future results as they become available. I will also keep you informed about the effects of the SpiralMax unit on gas mileage. for now, my baseline mileage is 20-22 mpg.
'til next time.

David (Engineer)
Denver, Colorado