Went to the Street Rod Nationals here in Louisville and saw the LT1 intake sitting at the Edelbrock booth, so talked to the sales guy (who said he owns a 94Z) about it, as well as snapped a few pics.
-They have dynoed the intake and only gained 4hp on a stock motor, so it is not designed to gain anything in a stock setup.
-The runners do appear to have a little more volume to them, if nothing else, are at least smoother than stock castings that I have seen. They also have more material than a stock manifold to support more porting. He also said they were a more "tuned" length than the stock ones, but said was unsure as to if they are longer or shorter.
-The plenem volume is nearly the same as stock, but supposedly has more material and if fully ported, should have more volume than a stock intake.
-Is said to have larger throttle openings to accept a larger TB (I assume 58mm?)

As far as the LT4 intake goes, he made some statements about that as well.
-Said the ports would be larger than the LT1 intake, matched to the larger ports on the stock LT4 heads.
-Will be powdercoated red as well.
-Is expected to yeild a larger "from the box" bolt-on gain on a stock LT4 than the LT1 intake does on a stock LT1.

The pictures are from my camera phone, so not the greatest, they are at http://photos.yahoo.com/kgkern01 click on the Edelbrock folder.

As far as when it will be available, he said he wasnt sure exactly, but said the first castings are supposedly going to be made within the next 2 weeks, while the LT4's will be a little farther off. He also said they are developing an LT4 head as well.

 

cool deal...gives me something to think about over that sengle plane intake design.

 

did he say anything about prices

 

He wasn't sure on prices yet either.

 

First I've heard of this.

Great to finally have some options.

Thanks!

Ruben F.

 

Intresting, he mention price?

 

I'd be interested in seeing how they came up with the 4hp improvement figure. Usually, #'s that low don't show up consistently in dyno testing, and they get even less consistent when you make comparisons from engine to engine.

If you look at all of the aftermarket bolt on mods available for LT1's, and average out the amount of power each one adds and compare that to the price that each manufacturer is able to get for them, it seems that LT1 owners are willing to spend around $10 per horsepower. Judging by what Edelbrock and other aftermarket companies charge for their other intakes, I can't imagine this intake being sold for any less than $150. My gut instinct tells me it'll probably be closer to $230-$250. With guys like Lloyd Elliot offering ported stock intakes for $175, (with undoubtedly more than 4hp gains to show for it), I fear that this Airgap intake is gonna be a pretty hard sell.

That being said, I think that Edelbrock would be smart to abandon all hope of selling this intake on power adder merit alone, and offer them with either their Permastar or Endurashine finish, and market them to people looking for something pretty to put under the hood.

 

I agree, for 4hp there seems to be no point in buying a different intake. Plus for that little of an hp difference, it could just be from error/variance in the dyno runs. What the heck does edelbrock expect when they basically make a casting that is almost identical to the original She sure do look purty though LOL

 

Most people have no idea who Lloyd Elliot is, everyone knows the name edelbrock. How do you think edelbrock has been able to sell those god awful LT1 heads.

 

this is all you have to read to understand just how LITTLE knowledge the guy you spoke too had. How could anyone try to comment on the runners being tuned but not say wether they were longer or shorter.

Like Cerwin Vega Fan said this crap will sell on name alone IF it sees the market.

Far as all this extra room for porting WHERE only area a stock manifold might need more is on top of the ports but then the intake will hit the valvecover rail.

You got a marketting presentation from someone who slipped and let out a little truth.

 

Well that's disappointing that they don't make any power on stock LT1s, but I'd be interested to see exactly how the testing was done, and what impact the usual bolt ons would have. Stuff like the stock airbox and exhaust chokes the stock car, I wonder if the "4hp" gain would be effected any if those areas were addressed as well prior to the intake swap (or maybe they already were in their testing, need details...) If they could just get it to dyno 8-10 more rwhp over stock it would be a nice bolt on IMO assuming it's affordable, not looking too promising anymore though, dang.

 

I would think Edelbrock is testing on the dyno so the in car intake tract would not matter. This not only makes it easier for them to sw3ap intakes but reduces the variabled the drivetrain would add.

 

who gives a **** about lt1 intake, we need lt4 intake replacement!!

 

For what the new intake will cost though the stock LT1 intake could easily be modified, just weld in a little extra material above the ports and have it milled flat.

 

I am sure as soon as it comes out, the magazines are going to jump on testing it ASAP. Maby on a stock motor, there will be little difference, but I don't think an intake manifiold is a wise "first mod" so that really doesn't count. For those with ported/aftermarket heads, strokers, and/or all bolt on's might see a significant difference.

When something is new, the price will usually be unreasonably high.