Vararam under glass ram air, does it work?

[620mac]

Meant to ask if the Air Grabber has had good results on a 2014 Hemi. Anyone vouch for it?

 

[Hemi450hp]

The Hemi under glass is for the 03-08 Hemi trucks. The one you need for your 2014 is the Air Grabber. And yes, it is the best performing intake you can buy for the truck. I have a handful of customers now that have knocked off as much as .4 off their 1/4 mile times from the intake alone. The cooler the weather, the better gains you will see.

 

[620mac]

The Hemi under glass is for the 03-08 Hemi trucks. The one you need for your 2014 is the Air Grabber. And yes, it is the best performing intake you can buy for the truck. I have a handful of customers now that have knocked off as much as .4 off their 1/4 mile times from the intake alone. The cooler the weather, the better gains you will see.

Oh I gotcha, yeah it didn't show a model year on the site I saw. So people are having good results with the Air Grabber? I have never been a huge fan of oiled filters, would there be a paper replacement? The filtration of oiled filters is just not as good as paper, plus it's less hassle to just replace a filter every once in a while rather than clean and lube one.

Also, how does this not require a tune? I've always thought most upgraded intakes required one due to a/f ratio.

 

[Hemi450hp]

These trucks do not have a MAF sensor. On a speed density motor like the 5.7 Hemi, the computer is much more forgiving on airflow upgrades.

 

[-Arana-]

I have it and love it

 

[Hemi450hp]

Jay, did you ever run a track intake on your 3rd gen? I have over 500 passes at the track in my 03, and a simple piece of AC duct to force in outside air consistently dropped .2-.3 in my 1/4 mile time. That was just the duct.

Forcing outside air in, is the best thing you can do to these trucks. I have seen the Vararam put down 16hp and 18hp while sitting still on 2 different dynos, so what do you think it is making at 80mph?

 

[Hemi450hp]

Its more about forcing that cold air in. Back when we first started modding the 3rd gens, everyone I raced with dropped a consistant.2-.3 in the 1/8th mile (it was all we had local at the time). When I started running the 1/4 mile, we would see consistant .3-.4 drop in 1/4 mile ET, but only in cooler air. Forcing in hotter air didn't make much difference, but when you forced in cooler air, it was night and day.

 

[gunner1374]

My Vararam is definately a huge kick in the ass at higher speeds. Truck used to slow in second and considerable slow down in acceleration above 80mph in third. Now, in colder weather, the truck will spin at the 1-2 shift and chirp at the 2-3 and continues to put the back of your head into the seat at triple digit speeds. This truck never did that before. Now, third gear pulls as hard or harder than second gear did. Also, the Vararam, coupled with my few other mods listed below, have taken my truck from a 19mph highway mileage to 23+mpg on the highway and no more downshifts of the hills. Love it and well worth the money IMO. To each his own though. I have no data to back up these claims and all purchases will be made at the buyers own risk hahaha

EDIT...also, I am not even custom tuned yet. Trinity w/91 perf caned tune only.

 

[Steamboat87]

I have one on my 2500 and love it, but since the hood on the 2500 is bigger, the seal isn't very good when closed. I tested it with chalk and only maybe 1/4 of the hood touches the "seal". Not sure how much of a gap but I'm sure it let's in some warm engine air for sure.


Austin

 

[Dubstep Shep]

The only bad part about the Vararam in my book is the IATs. To be fair, I never tracked IATs before I got the Vararam, but even on the highway they're at least 10 degrees over ambient. If I let it idle for awhile I've seen them get 80-90 degrees over ambient, which is just NUTS.

 

[Hemi450hp]

The only bad part about the Vararam in my book is the IATs. To be fair, I never tracked IATs before I got the Vararam, but even on the highway they're at least 10 degrees over ambient. If I let it idle for awhile I've seen them get 80-90 degrees over ambient, which is just NUTS.

Try repositioning your IAT sensor so that it plugs in at the front of the TB and is pointed back towards the firewall.

 

[Hemi450hp]

The 2013+ models have a long IAT sensor, so having it face towards the back of the firewall puts it in a more direct path of airflow as it moves around the throttle body blade. The truck that I mentioned last week that dropped .4 in the 1/4 mile did this, and he is still on stock tuning. He said the truck felt sluggish after first installing the Vararam, so we turned the IAT sensor. He doesn't have a way of reading IAT's without a tuner, but his truck and many others have responded very well to positioning the sensor correctly.

 

[Dubstep Shep]

I guess I fail to see how rotating the IAT sensor would help that much. It's in a circular cross section of pipe, so it's orientation should matter little to the overall temperature or air flow. The IAT sensor is the one that plugs into the piece of silicone tubing directly below the intake, correct?

It would matter far less than the intake being above a really hot engine bay and radiator. I feel like this intake would work WORLDs better with a hood scoop intake or even a cowl intake. Also some good insulation and heat extracting vents in the hood.

 

[Hemi450hp]

Do you have the hemi engine cover on still? The cover will keep IAT's down some, but will also prevent the engine from cooling off as fast.

The reasoning for repositioning the IAT sensor is because you want the tip of that sensor to be in the direct flow of air as it goes around your TB blade. Patrick at Vararam can give you an hour long scientific explanation about how and why it works...I will just say that I have seen trucks run up to .2 quicker simply by rotating that sensor 45*. I don't know what it is doing to the tuning though because we have seen the same results on trucks that are tuned and on the stock tune.

 

[Dubstep Shep]

Do you have the hemi engine cover on still? The cover will keep IAT's down some, but will also prevent the engine from cooling off as fast.

The reasoning for repositioning the IAT sensor is because you want the tip of that sensor to be in the direct flow of air as it goes around your TB blade. Patrick at Vararam can give you an hour long scientific explanation about how and why it works...I will just say that I have seen trucks run up to .2 quicker simply by rotating that sensor 45*. I don't know what it is doing to the tuning though because we have seen the same results on trucks that are tuned and on the stock tune.

Interesting. I don't have the cover on currently, but I'll swap it back on this weekend to see what happens. I have a lower thermostat and I'm not worried about engine cooling.

Can you send me a pic of how you have it oriented?

 

[Hemi450hp]

The engine cover has a layer of insulation on the bottom that keeps heat from rising, but at the same time, it also does not let the heat dissipate as quickly either...this is why it keeps underhood temps down a bit, but keeps your engine temp just a degree or 2 warmer.

As for the IAT sensor, if it is currently plugged in at the 3 o'clock position, simply turn it clockwise so that it is at the 6 o'clock position. This only seems to work on the 2013-14 trucks with the longer IAT because I tried it on my 2011 with the short sensor and did not see any gains. For the 2 minutes of time it takes to do this, it is worth a shot.

 

[Dubstep Shep]

I'll have to text you a picture of how mine is oriented and see where your point of view is from

 

[Btp 2332]

From the front of the truck is his point of view. Point the sensor to the firewall.

 

[Btp 2332]

From the front of the truck is his point of view, point the sensor to the firewall

 

[Dubstep Shep]

So currently mine is sticking out on the drivers side, meaning the sensor goes through the silicone hose on the drivers side, nearly perpendicular to the length of the truck. You're saying it needs to stick out towards the front, parallel to the truck?