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My car picked up 4 tenths and 3mph at the track going to Hooker long tubes, 3" y-pipe and 3.5" mufflex. Previous was SLP Tri-y's, 2.5" y-pipe, and 3" catback. Picked up another tenth when I swapped the spintech muffler for a hooker. It just picked up so much torque down low which made the car launch harder. They were a PITA to install but the end result made it all worth it!! Cam choice plays a big role in choosing exhaust. Tight lobe seperations have more valve overlap so exhaust becomes more critical. My cam is on a 110 which is probably why it picked up so much. But regardless long tubes make more power throughout the whole rpm range where as shorties typically make just an upper improvement.
Hey Guys, If Shaggy56 thinks that those Superram runners were "hacked", he is really gonna s--t when he sees what Allen and I are going to be doing to MINE!!!!!!!! Later...
For the record....
We ran LB Z28's motor in my car this last weekend with the modded SLP's and a 355 w/195 elims, 52mm TB, 28# LSX inj., w/T56, & 3" cat back. The cam is the SLP 224-232 on 112.
I remain unconvinced that the small gain from long tubes is worth the hassle of fitment and ground clearance problems. I'd rather remove 100 lbs of interior baggage.
I made a thread on it a while back in the Exhaust forum about a test Horsepower TV did, and they didnt even give the results, they just said "a little more horsepower was gained."
I remain unconvinced that the small gain from long tubes is worth the hassle of fitment and ground clearance problems. I'd rather remove 100 lbs of interior baggage.
I made a thread on it a while back in the Exhaust forum about a test Horsepower TV did, and they didnt even give the results, they just said "a little more horsepower was gained."
Shoot, I'd drive to Kackyfornia just to see that big *** grin after we did the install! You'd be convinced all right!!
I remain unconvinced that the small gain from long tubes is worth the hassle of fitment and ground clearance problems. I'd rather remove 100 lbs of interior baggage.
I made a thread on it a while back in the Exhaust forum about a test Horsepower TV did, and they didnt even give the results, they just said "a little more horsepower was gained."
yes but lets consider that horsepower tv is also sponsored programing, i wouldnt consider them tuners. i've watched episodes were theyve thrown thousands of dollars in parts at an ls1 only to get pathetic results. but then GMHTP can do a similar story and get wonderful results.
i went from 1&5/8 shorties with a modded to fit 3" ls1 ypipe into a 3" single with a bullet. to hooker 1.75 long tubes and 3"true duals. the low end i traded in paid back in dividends for the upper end power i picked up. granted i did change the inlet tubing as well.
yes but lets consider that horsepower tv is also sponsored programing, i wouldnt consider them tuners. i've watched episodes were theyve thrown thousands of dollars in parts at an ls1 only to get pathetic results. but then GMHTP can do a similar story and get wonderful results.
i went from 1&5/8 shorties with a modded to fit 3" ls1 ypipe into a 3" single with a bullet. to hooker 1.75 long tubes and 3"true duals. the low end i traded in paid back in dividends for the upper end power i picked up. granted i did change the inlet tubing as well.
The benefits from long tube headers come from tuning the primary length to the camshaft profile. The boys in california are not running big enough cams to benefit from a long tube header. They are better off maknig sure their primary diameter is large enough.
A lot of what these guys are doing is to remain in compliance with smog laws. I'm sure if they were not forced to use things like a superram they would all be running better intakes.
Not sure if others have done this or not. But I like the results.
Rather than bolting from the bottom or the somewhat better idea of bolting from the top and then sliding cotter pins underneath, why not simply safety wire the bolts to each other. This way nothing can get sucked into the engine. And removal is much easier for future times.
I have suggested using the safety wire trick to those using the Super Ram. Maybe your picture will spur others to follow. Funny you should make this post. I'm right in the middle of modifying another Super Ram as shown in the pictures. The first one turned out quite well for the user.
Regarding long tube headers. It might be they make better power/torque below the peak torque rpm but above peak torque I think the short tube headers may hold their own. A lot of us are trying to kill off some of the low end torque for better traction at the strip anyways. If my new motor ever gets done at the machine shop I will be doing some test regarding my new Dyno Don headers and the engine dyno shop long tube headers. Should be interesting.
Last edited by 1989GTATransAm; Oct 3, 2009 at 06:20 PM.
This is a perfect tread for me....I screwed up and went with a comp XE284 cam. I have the engine out on my car now because of a broken piston. I was going crazy trying to figure out what cam to run. 280 XFI will be in my 408 when it goes back in the car!!!!! Thanks for all this great info guys
The outcome was the car was sold and went to Germany to run the Autobahns. It never made it to the drag strip. With the low weight of the car mid 11's would have been a given as long as the T5 transmission held up.
that was alot of work, to bad there is no after work test,
my Lingenfelter 383 was running 11.70s with just a head to intake port match. (standard stuff) and the super ram. lingenfelter stage 5 383.
92 Z28 4.10 gears 700R4 just bolt on parts on top of that. 10.50s with NOS. but that was 10 years ago
With the better exhaust system that was in the works and never completed plus a couple of other items I fully believe the car would have got into the high 10's. It was also one of the lighter Firebirds at just over 3200 pounds. That compares to 3510 for my GTA. The owner was made an offer he could not refuse.
that was what i was dealing with is the exhaust system .
nobody back in 92/93 made a Fantastic set up. so i was stuck with SLPs
and 2" Y pipe into a 3" system.
now today with everybody making good stuff will have to see what the car will do with the New eng.
i still have a rock stock Super Ram from LingenFelter and there 1000CFM TB. but have been looking at a new Mini ram and the stealth ram.
just not sure, ya know?
As you have seen in this thread the Super Ram can be made to flow pretty darn good. Better than the out of the box Mini Ram or Stealth Ram. We are getting well over 300cfm out of the Super Ram these days and with the longer runners makes for a very good over all combination. We are using Dr J to do the porting. With the Accel intake he is in the 330cfm range. That will support a lot of horsepower. You would have to remove a lot of aluminum from the Mini Ram or Stealth Ram to match that.
I have an 89 convertible w/tuneport 5.7 mildly built & a pro-Charger intercooled system w/T-56 trans & Accell Super Ram. The stock prom no longer works well & I need a new one. Can you or your son help. The Smog Ref has already approved everything except the Super Ram in new.
What are the thoughts on here of going to a First Performance Intake VS spending a bunch of time and $ on porting the SuperRam?
When you live in California and have to do smog inspection every 2 years, you have to keep all the emissions on the car. We were trying to make as much horsepower as we could and still keep it smog legal. The smog stations looks for the EGR and all emissions related equipment. At the time when we were doing this stuff, the parts were still available and cheaper that what these guys are asking for these parts now. The most we done was 429whp/430wtq
When you live in California and have to do smog inspection every 2 years, you have to keep all the emissions on the car. We were trying to make as much horsepower as we could and still keep it smog legal. The smog stations looks for the EGR and all emissions related equipment. At the time when we were doing this stuff, the parts were still available and cheaper that what these guys are asking for these parts now. The most we done was 429whp/430wtq https://youtu.be/xdy52-abUdQ
Thanks for that I know this is an old thread, but I'm an old guy.
Was that with your current build with SR?
What was done to your SR?
I don't have to worry about smog.
Thoughts on First Performance?
Years ago my '87 Formula with a 383 stock SuperRam and LPE 219 cam, older version of the AFR's 190', SLP 1 3/4 headers and Flowmaster exhaust with the 700r4 and a 2,800 stall. RWHP was 335 at 5,400 & 390 TQ@4,000. Since then I've gone through the engine added long tube headers, XFI280 cam, ported the SuperRam base, shortened and ported the runners about 2", ported the 190's added a 4" CAI and 4" exhaust, Dana 44 with 3.54 gears My best 1/4 pass with this set up was 11.68@115 with 700r4 and FTI 3200 stall. This year made more modifications. I installed the Hawks T-56 conversion with the 2.66 first gear, added 3.92 gears with the new set up my best pass was 11.73@119 with the modified SuperRam intake shifting between 5,500 and 6000. I've since had a chance to Dyno the car with both the SuperRam and the MiniRam intakes. The SuperRam dyno results at HP 419@5800. TQ 430@4200. I guess my surprise was that shortening and porting the runners didn't really change my peak torq very much as it's still around 4000 rpms. I was expecting to have changed the torq peak to around 4500. I do think it moved my power up some but this could also be the XFI280 camshaft over the LPE 219. I swapped in the MiniRam and made HP433@6500, TQ403@4900. Unfortunately didn't make it back to the track, but my data logs show it being around 2 mph faster. I think with the T-56 the MiniRam is the choice intake here. The other interesting thing is my Dyno results were very similar to the article "Ten Times The Torque" when you look and compare the shapes of the power curves of the SuperRam and MiniRam intakes on the 383 they used they're very similar. You can see the Dynos on YouTube "SBC Dyno 383 Intake Manifold Challenge"
When you live in California and have to do smog inspection every 2 years, you have to keep all the emissions on the car. We were trying to make as much horsepower as we could and still keep it smog legal. The smog stations looks for the EGR and all emissions related equipment. At the time when we were doing this stuff, the parts were still available and cheaper that what these guys are asking for these parts now. The most we done was 429whp/430wtq
How is the Gforce T5 holding up and shifting for you?
Years ago my '87 Formula with a 383 stock SuperRam and LPE 219 cam, older version of the AFR's 190', SLP 1 3/4 headers and Flowmaster exhaust with the 700r4 and a 2,800 stall. RWHP was 335 at 5,400 & 390 TQ@4,000. Since then I've gone through the engine added long tube headers, XFI280 cam, ported the SuperRam base, shortened and ported the runners about 2", ported the 190's added a 4" CAI and 4" exhaust, Dana 44 with 3.54 gears My best 1/4 pass with this set up was 11.68@115 with 700r4 and FTI 3200 stall. This year made more modifications. I installed the Hawks T-56 conversion with the 2.66 first gear, added 3.92 gears with the new set up my best pass was 11.73@119 with the modified SuperRam intake shifting between 5,500 and 6000. I've since had a chance to Dyno the car with both the SuperRam and the MiniRam intakes. The SuperRam dyno results at HP 419@5800. TQ 430@4200. I guess my surprise was that shortening and porting the runners didn't really change my peak torq very much as it's still around 4000 rpms. I was expecting to have changed the torq peak to around 4500. I do think it moved my power up some but this could also be the XFI280 camshaft over the LPE 219. I swapped in the MiniRam and made HP433@6500, TQ403@4900. Unfortunately didn't make it back to the track, but my data logs show it being around 2 mph faster. I think with the T-56 the MiniRam is the choice intake here. The other interesting thing is my Dyno results were very similar to the article "Ten Times The Torque" when you look and compare the shapes of the power curves of the SuperRam and MiniRam intakes on the 383 they used they're very similar. You can see the Dynos on YouTube "SBC Dyno 383 Intake Manifold Challenge"
Thanks for this!
For my $ I think I'm going to stay with the SR and do some more porting and change the cam to a Lunati 20120314 226/234 .530/.530 112 which works out to .570/.570 with the 1.6 rockers.
It's an Elco after all and does have to do duty as a truck and tow vehicle.
I know I'm bringing up an ancient thread, but I'm considering this for a project in the future for my C4. I'm curious what your thoughts are on the airflow with a setup like this compared to a SR, other things equal like individual runner length and diameter.
I know I'm bringing up an ancient thread, but I'm considering this for a project in the future for my C4. I'm curious what your thoughts are on the airflow with a setup like this compared to a SR, other things equal like individual runner length and diameter.
All i can say is that I love my Super Ram, best damn intake ever
I agree, SR rocks, love the looks and have excellent performance upgrade. I guess you need to determine what's best for your application. If your car is an automatic the longer runner intake like the SR will work great, however if it's a manual trans car the MiniRam intake will probably give you the best overall performance, specially if you made engine modifications. I've never seen one in person, but I think the FIRST TPI intake is another good option, although I would make sure it'll fit under your hood I think it might be a little bit taller than the original TPI.
The FIRST overcomes the airflow limitations of a stock TPI thanks to larger runner size, but the physics of the TPI design it's still RPM limited. The volume capability of the FIRST helps mask that.
Whats the best bang for the $ on the S/R these days as far as porting goes?
Obviously we cant go as crazy as this thread did and who would do it?
Is there anyone that is still porting these?
You'd be convinced all right!! 
This way nothing can get sucked into the engine. And removal is much easier for future times.
