A little something I call Common Core horsepower. Intake testing b/w S&B & Vararam

[Gary's Hemi]

I have the opportunity to truely test out the difference in the Vararam and old style S&B(well modified S&B) thanks to my neighbor. He bought a Vararam for his 2018 QC from a local friend of his.

*Disclaimer before I start my S&B is the old style which I modified. I moved the coolant overflow tank over slightly to where the grille shutters(removed shutters already) used to be & cut the scoop of the S&B a few inches shorter to catch air from where the overflow tank was. So its not your normal S&B. Nobody seems to like the new style S&B & they also did away w/ the scoop so with that said if I had to buy new NOW I would get the Vararam.

So we put it on & went for about an 8-10 mile test drive. We did normal driving, wot from a stop & wot from about 50 on. So far my overall performance impression is..........the Vararam performs the same as the modified S&B. Down low is the same. From 50+ it is about the same, it may pull slightly harder but not by a marginal amount. I am going to leave it on & drive it to work the rest of the week to continue to feel it out. And IF, thats a big IF, the tracks are open this weekend(has been raining everyday & we have a hurricane that will be passing just north of us tonight) I want to do some track testing. If not I dont want to hold the intake ransom from my neighbor too long.

Now to the bad.....my overall impression w/ appearance....it looks cool but man this thing is FLEMSY!!!! The S&B's quality is far better. There isnt even a contest.

We will see how the track times are IF I get the chance. If not I will dd it for a few days & give it back to my neighbor

Until then my truck has a Vararam intake hooked up, the S&B box still mounted, tuned by Jay Greene with a Hemifever sticker under the hood.......thats some serious horsepowers right there I tell you what....lol

 

[Txhemirt]

i never wanted to show anyone the vararam because with the hood not holding it down it is flimsy as hell. Looks cheap just sitting their leaning to one side. If I go with a cold air in this truck I’m going s&b but I’m probably going to just get a better filter for the stock air box.

 

[Ramm5.7]

Very busy high horsepower engine compartment!! Lol
Its great you get to compare both cai systems as thats something I always wanted to do but not gonna BUY both.
I did buy a new style S&B, waiting on painting to install and am wanting to add a tube to it like I did to my oem. Looks like it will fit but until actually having it mounted in the truck I guess I'm just hoping my engineering skills will prevail...lol

 

[mondo]

Take it to the track and do the test between the 2.

 

[Gary's Hemi]

I drove the truck to work this morning. As much as I hate to give in & say it I actually like the Vararam so far. No gain, no loss down low. It is the same there but from about 40-50 mph on it DOES pull harder than my S&B. Im hoping the weather holds out for this weekend b/c I would love to track test it over my modified S&B w/ the filter pulled. The throttle response is noticeably better when moving also. The exhaust/intake noise isnt really louder to me, just I hear the filter right in front of me instead of on the pass side in a box.

I hate how flemsy it is, I hate that I think it looks cool(stupid right? Lol), I hate that I like it but so far I LIKE IT!! Lol

1 big mistake though....leaving the egr hose hooked up to the S&B box unfiltered. Everytime I stopped at a light fumes would creep in the cab. My fault though for just leaving the hose unfiltered to the S&B box

 

[AJAY]

Thanks for the review! I live in Arizona where it is dusty so I had to go with S&B. I have the new style and love it. Don't want it too loud for the family. I wanted the vararam but trying to keep noise down on this truck haha

 

[Hemi450hp]

Thanks for the review! I live in Arizona where it is dusty so I had to go with S&B. I have the new style and love it. Don't want it too loud for the family. I wanted the vararam but trying to keep noise down on this truck haha

Vararam is actually quieter than S&B because it seals off to the insulated liner under the hood. I have run both on a few of my trucks now, and the Vararam was quieter. With you being in such a dusty area, the S&B is a good choice...I just wanted to clear up the comment regarding sound as many people assume the Vararam is louder, when in reality, it is quieter.

 

[G-Ride990]

Does the lid on your S&B sit flat against the housing? Mine isn't even close to sealing. Only complaint with S&B. I bought mine a little over a year ago from MOES. So far so good.

OP, which S&B filter are you running? The reusable or the paper one?

 

[Gary's Hemi]

Does the lid on your S&B sit flat against the housing? Mine isn't even close to sealing. Only complaint with S&B. I bought mine a little over a year ago from MOES. So far so good.

OP, which S&B filter are you running? The reusable or the paper one?

My lid doesnt seal all that well. Doesnt really bother me. I have the reusable filter

 

[S0CAL]

Excellent review, @Gary's Hemi. To the larger group, I keep hearing people talking about the Vararam lean. I have a 2010 and don't have the issue. Is it product quality or year-specific? I wonder.

 

[Pull Ya]

With the 2 I have had on different trucks I haven't experienced the "lean" problem either????????
Jay

 

[meedom]

Excellent review, @Gary's Hemi. To the larger group, I keep hearing people talking about the Vararam lean. I have a 2010 and don't have the issue. Is it product quality or year-specific? I wonder.

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It's caused by the 2 A\C lines running underneath the Vararam. I guess some trucks are different with the height of those
lines as mine is a little high on the left. I believe Matt made a video that included how to adjust the bracket on the passenger
side fender to make everything level....

 

[AJAY]

Vararam is actually quieter than S&B because it seals off to the insulated liner under the hood. I have run both on a few of my trucks now, and the Vararam was quieter. With you being in such a dusty area, the S&B is a good choice...I just wanted to clear up the comment regarding sound as many people assume the Vararam is louder, when in reality, it is quieter.

Thanks for clearing that up for me. It is hard to clean the vararam filter? I am thinking about going that route. I had the K&N kit before and this S&B is leagues above. Maybe not sound if you want to hear your engine haha it annoyed my wife lol

Sent from my LM-X410(FG) using Tapatalk

 

[Pull Ya]

Not hard to clean the filter. Matt has cleaning kits, get one and just follow the instructions and you'll be good to go. I will tell you if you want an extra filter, they are sole source and they are about $90, although some people have said they have found a similar filter made by K&N but I've haven't seen them or know how much they cost.
Jay

 

[Jwithing]

Excellent review, @Gary's Hemi. To the larger group, I keep hearing people talking about the Vararam lean. I have a 2010 and don't have the issue. Is it product quality or year-specific? I wonder.

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Call me crazy, but yours looks like it's leaning to the right to me lol. Mine leaned a bit to the right until I saw Matt's video and actually installed it in the correct process order, which made a difference.

 

[S0CAL]

Call me crazy, but yours looks like it's leaning to the right to me lol. Mine leaned a bit to the right until I saw Matt's video and actually installed it in the correct process order, which made a difference.

Crazy!

But I did re-watch Matt’s vid. He mentioned 2013+ Rams had the raised AC lines. But you did get me to inspect it again, between beers of course!

 

[Pull Ya]

The number of beers is in direct proportion to the amount of "lean"!
Jay

 

[bchap05]

Call me crazy, but yours looks like it's leaning to the right to me lol. Mine leaned a bit to the right until I saw Matt's video and actually installed it in the correct process order, which made a difference.

Haha I thought that too, but was like maybe its just the picture.

 

[Gary's Hemi]

So I'm working all weekend & its supposed to rain anyway so no track for me. I went ahead & pulled the Vararam off, put the S&B tube back on & went for a drive. The Vararam does pull slightly harder than the S&B once moving pretty good. Not crazy put it is noticeable. The 1st thing I noticed w/ the S&B was the noise & lack there of. Lol The S&B is noticeably louder than the Vararam. BUT this seems crazy but although the Vararam itself is quieter it made the pipes talk back to ya when you let off the gas. On decel the exhaust would burble & crackle just like it did when I had the Moes 5" tips which I dont have anymore. I miss that, might have to get some more tips. Lol The S&B doesnt do that. I know that sounds crazy that an intake change will make the exhaust pipes do that. Lol Also the throttle response is better w/ the Vararam once rolling.

Overall I still hate the size & how flemsy it is but if I were buying an intake for the 1st time it would be the Vararam over the S&B for the slight performance increase at speeds & throttle response.

Im going to hold off on getting 1 until after I do a few more things that will net better gains than an intake change but I will get 1 sooner or later. As many people that has them locally I might still track test 1 before I buy it

 

[Hemi395]

I have both intakes and I can verify everything Gary's Hemi is saying. The S&B is a much better made intake. It's a high quality intake, and their filters are top notch. But it just doesn't give the performance that the Vararam does. To be perfectly honest, I don't see a whole lot of difference between the S&B (new version) and the stock intake. I've had the silicone side plug off and on. With it off it does give a bit more throttle response but its sucking in warm engine bay air, verified by my Trinity. The Vararam makes the intake temp and intake manifold temps within 10* of ambient going down the road.

I'm in the process of making a bracket for it so its not so flimsy. I'm also going to put some screen behind the grill in an effort to keep snow out in the winter.