stubbs

I have been entertaining the idea of going with that set up, but it is very expensive, the parts and chip alone are close to $2000, and god only knows how much it would be to install. Is it worth it? Will I get $2000 of performance of the different intake? I'm just not sure whether or not to go this route, I already have SLP runners, but I could sell them on eBay.com if I decided to go with the MiniRAM. Any input fellas?

onefastgta

Get a stealthram. I got my miniram from the seconds bin and it was still $600 bucks. The stealthram will run you about $600 total. For the customer service you get from TPIS, it's not worth it.

Do your research.

http://www.stealthram.com/

It also depends on what you want to do with the car? Autocross, drag race, drifting, daily driver?

stubbs

A stealth RAM intake will not fit under the stock hood of a Corvette, so that's not an option.

Damon

Put one on my brother's 87 GTA a few years back. On the stock L-98 350 with no mods but headers it wasn't anything to write home about. What it gained up top it lost down low in torque. I'm sure with a custom tune (which we didn't have at the time) it would have done much better, but still not the "bang for the buck" champ. It's willingness to spin to much higher RPMs quickly killed the original 140K mile bottom end.

When we then installed it on a hotted-up 400 in that car the next summer (with custom TPIS-supplied chip designed for our combo) it was a whole new ballgame. It was a ROCKET. Even with a very mild cam we pulled a ZR-1 Corvette from a highway roll. Yeah, that felt REAL good. Then we put in a healthier cam and it went even faster.

In short- you want that thing on a modified engine with good heads, free flowing exhaust and a cam that's happy to make power in the mid-upper RPM range.

stubbs

Thanks for that reply Damon. I had kinda feared that, I guess I'll just wait to do the MiniRAM until I do the 383, I will just port my Plenum and SLP runners for now.

Damon

Stubbs- I did have one other thought I forgot to share with you.... don't know where my manners are these days......

Converted LT-1 intake! Guy by the name of John Millican has done scillions of them. Converts them to work with earlier intake bolt patters, drills a hole in the back for a distributor, etc. DIRT cheap, especially when compared to a Miniram. Many people seem to be happy with them. Obviously, there's no shortage of LT-1 intakes or fuel rails out there, so that makes things pretty easy.

Go search for his name or ask around about him over on Thirdgen.org.

He was not doing this back when my brother and I got our Miniram a few years ago. If I had it to do over again I'd go with John's solution in a minute, especially when faced with the cost of the Miniram (with required TPIS fuel rails). I still get blurred vision and have to sit down when I think how much we paid for that thing.

ws6transam

I'm not sure why everyone on this board bashes TPIS. I've never had anything but good luck with them, even with their service.

Personally, I like my miniram very much. No leaks, and it went on real easy. The people I hear complaining about TPIS seem to be the ones who are buying USED stuff and then expecting TPIS to offer them service.

Whenever I've bought stuff from TPIS, be it headers, gaskets, sparkplugs, etcetera, they have been friendly and offered good advice. When researching for my minirammed 385, I called them up and asked them what I should choose for a target compression ratio. They told me straight up what I could get away with, and it turns out they were right. I'll continue buying stufff from them. Dont automatically think that their stuff is expensive: Some of it is, for good reason. THe intake, for instance, is a part that is made in low production numbers. That will make it expensive. Take also into account that they also hand port each intake to match a Felpro gasket.

Labor aint cheap.

Now, when I bought my Edelbrock TES headers, TPIS sold them to me for a price that was within TEN bucks of the Summit Racing price, and they shipped them same day, too. They seem to be an old-fashioned speed shop, and its somewhat unfair to demand free service if you havent bought the part from them. Its also unfair to judge their prices with those of high volume mail order houses like Summit Racing. I buy from Summit and Jegs too, but I usually will check TPIS to see if they are competitive. I know they are with their TPIS modified AFR heads: Their CNC profile is uniquely TPIS, but cut into AFR heads. THe cost of the heads is within a hundred or so of the AFR competition port optioned heads: Probably worth it.

Onto the Miniram: With headers and a cam, you will find the Miniram works just fine on an L98 engine and will assist the top-end without totally killing the low end torque. Just go to the website, order TPIS insider hints (Its worth it, IMHO) and read the comparisons in terms of what each intake system gives up.

A few years ago TPIS lowered the prices of their cams. You ought to go to the website and check them out. They aren't THAT much more than a custom cam from Comp Cams. TPIS also offers suspension, brakes, springs, and all kinds of track tested parts for your car.

yedister

I had miniram on a 406, now it on a 434 with no problems. For a 350 I would not use it. There are so many other options, since your not going to a 400 C.I. or bigger I would try this first.
http://www.thirdgen.org/newdesign/te...meseport.shtml
http://sethirdgen.org/TPIbase.htm
http://chevythunder.com/fuel_injecti...ance_pg_1a.htm

yedi

stealthblack

i love my MR3.On the net there are few people who actually had fit/finish issues with the original designs and have legitimate complaints, but 95% is just net guys jumping on the bandwagon and hating, or putting one on a stock *** 305 and wondering why they have no power.
If youve got the heads/ cam to pull one it is an AWESOME manifold.but it is for a very specific application so consider that before purchase.Many people run them on strokers but ive got a 355 and it pulls like hell upsatirs and still wastes the tires anytime i go WOT under 40 mph so it didnt exactly destroy my low end tq. With your stock heads/ cam i would wait till you stepped it up to get one, youre right to use the ported plenum and runners.

now that ive defended my miniram, i will say my programming from TPIS was total crap.get it done locally for YOUR EXACT car, its worth it.

pineapplesink6

imo the superram cannot be beatin for a 350 that is drivin mostly on the street. the tq they spit out is unreal. if u go 383/396 etc.....i would go with the miniram.

btw, i have done tons of research on this.....

IrocManiac

Super Ram is a good intake too...

Also there is an intake from a company called "FIRST" thats an excellent intake. However, if you're building a motor bigger than a 355 and want it to turn 6000+ there are better options. The FIRST system leaves the LTR setup intact but provides MUCH more power from 5000 to 6000 rpm while preserving most of your low end grunt.

pineapplesink6

saying what i said, i however went out last night and bought the Miniram intake.

i will be using it with TFS heads, and a LPE 219 cam.

i do think the SR is great, but i have bigger plans for my vette in the future, and since an intake is such an investment, i only wanted to buy it once, and be done with it. i should make 350rwhp with the combo stated above. that will be fine for now.

btw, TFS-30400007 heads from summit flowed 260cfm out of the box.

89385formula

Good choice on the intake man...its what i woulda done. I would probably run a different cam with it, but I am sure that one will work good as well. 350rwhp, that shouldn't be a problem!

pineapplesink6

i have reasoning behind the 219.

1) going on stock short block with 72000 miles
2)dont want to rev it past 6000 rpm's
3)the 219 will make some more lower end then the ZZ409 i wanted to go with, reason behind this is because i will have to use my stock 3.07's for now in the 4+3.
4)yes i know 3.73's are the gear to go with


thanks man, u think i will meet the 350rwhp power goal and prob 345rwtq?

IrocManiac

I think you'll be surprised, if your setup is in good tune I think 350rwhp is doable and 375 to 380lb/ft of torque