I'm thinking of getting their miniram setup for my 87 350 TPI IROC along with their big mouth manifold and the custom PROM that they make for the setup..My question, is this worth the money? What are some other affordable alternatives if this isn't a good system?

 

Affordable alternative:

Buy an Edelbrock base and port the living SNIZZ out of it
SLP runners fully siamesed
52mm TB (pick your favorite)
Buy the TPIS "Big mouth" gasket and match everything to it.

And now you're rev'n like an S.O.B (as far as LTR's can go)

 

If you get the miniram you dont need the Big mouth. The miniram is a one piece manifold .

 

If your goal is to ditch LTR

I'd look into super ram (for a street car)

 

Do you run a stock cam?
Are going for 1/4 mi. times or stoplight fun?

 

Super Ram is a good performer up to 5800 compared to MR after that, all bets off.

 

I'm looking to build a car that performs well in the 1/4 mile and that I can have some stoplight fun with every now and then. I haven't decided on a camshaft or heads yet really. Right now I've got a comp cams extreme energy cam but I don't plan on keeping it. I was thinking of getting AFR head but that's big $$$.

 

You can figure this one out. Since you know what you want best.

LTR setup, best torque, least HP. Most fun on stop light to stop light, and the *** is stuck to the seat feeling.

Super Ram, in between, Good torque while good HP as well. Though not as good as Miniram in HP and not as good as LTRs in torque. Will run faster in 1/4 than LTR.

Miniram, much much higher redline. Going to produce much more HP than either of the above, but will feel alot weaker in *** to seat feeling. To run this you'll want a good Torque Converter as well as a cam that makes good power in the upper end. This one will run down the 1/4 the fastest if setup correctly.

And as for their PROMs, I've heard they suck very badly. Might want to try Ed Wright?

I'm still a firm believer in the Super Ram. If I ever get the money to build an engine the way I want (street/strip) I will use the Super Ram.

 

Here's the best way to go:

1. Buy a used LT1 intake off eBay for under $200 with fuel rails and throttle body.

2. Send it to John McMillian and he will dril all the holes and everything to make it fit and port the throttle boddy to 58mm for only $200

3. Put the Intake on and it will be the same as a Mini Ram for less than half the price!

 

Thanks for the recommendation. It's John Millican though.
No big deal. LOTS of people put Mc in front of it.
E-mail me at millican@sethirdgen.org

 

Will it be the same and perform the same? They're advertising 95+ HP gains out of the miniram in a car that's close to stock. Will I see big gains like this by adding the LT1 intake? If it's going to perform the same then I might as well do that. It will save me alot of money and I'll be able to get some AFR's if I want to.

 

I disagree on the LT1 intake will perform the same as a miniram. Just an opinion however. They use minirams on LT1s as well... as an upgraded intake. But for the price, you can't really go wrong on the LT1 intake idea.

 

After doing a lot of research and chatting with a lot of guys, I am now concluding that with the proper selection of heads and cam, you can have a Miniram system that will make good bottom end torque and STILL run like the wind at the top end. I would suspect similar performance with a modified LT1 intake as the design is very similar.

However, the 95 HP gain that TPIS quotes is the difference between a stock L98 and a stock L98 (with Miniram) @ 6,500 rpm. Of course the Miniram produces 95 HP more, but it has more to do with the fact the stock L98 produces less than 200 HP @ 6,500 rpm

From "peak to peak" the stock L98 produced 245 HP and the Miniram around 300 HP, so it really is only a 55 HP gain. The problem with "stock to stock" is the heads and cam will not take full advantage of the Miniram, so you loose bottom end TQ (but not a lot) and gain after 4,500 rpm. BTW, the reason the TQ loss from the Miniram was not that bad was again due to the heads and cam promoting velocity...had the heads and cam concentrated more on total flow (rather than velocity) the TQ loss would be even more substantial (but the HP would be great).

This is why I am suggest that if you want a Miniram for street use and want to retain TQ (but gain HP), go for small port/high velocity heads like a good set of professionally ported Aluminum L98 Heads or AFR 180s, combined with a fairly short duration cam (214/222 is what I am going to use). This combo will result in an engine that looses very little in the way of TQ over an TPI - actually a much flatter TQ line that is far broader and still make great HP.

Also, remember there are 3 types of Minirams. A small port (good for heads up 190cc), a big port (for heads 210cc or greater) and the Vortec layout. GM's approach to tall narrower intake runners is starting to look like a promising design. The narrow width promotes velocity, which is great for low end TQ while the tall port promotes flow. This is the approach GM has taken with the LS1 and look at the performance they are getting with a very small duration cam IMO.

 

Interesting topic...the LT1 makes 50 more HP then a L98(This is common in the Vette comparison) and the miniram added what,55?

The intake has ALOT to do with that.A good explaination is in Dave Emanuals Small Block Chevy Performance.(I know theres revised head work and etc done,but giving credit alot to the intake alone)
I think the LT1 intake and the miniram may perform the same on a street level,albeit the LT1 may be more user friendly for around town and some drag racing?
Btw,keep reading everything you can before buying an expensive set up and possibly regretting it later.The TPIS catalogs and books show gains I dont find realsitic at times.How they got large tube runners to flow strong HP#'s at 5700 rpm on a graph eludes me.

 

Here's my opinion on the superram vs. miniram thing:

If you get the miniram, get some very high flowing heads, and a BIG cam, check out TRAXION's new cam, I believe he has an EXCELLENT miniram setup and if I was going to go miniram, it is what I'd follow. To get the full potential out of the miniram, you need to rev higher, like 6500-7000 rpm redline.

If you get the superram, you will be able to rev to 6000 rpm well and still have great TQ and won't need as numercially high gears or as high of a stall as with a miniram.

Either way you go, match the entire setup well and you will be happy. A well matched miniram setup will be faster in the 1/4 than a well matched superram setup, since it revs higher and produces more power. However, the trade off is your bottom end has to be able to rev higher, your valvetrain has to take the extra rpm, and steeper gears are needed as well as a higher stall, which all means less streetability. Good streetability is different to different people, so it really depends on your preferences.

 

I feel I have a very good Mini-ram set-up for the street. Im running box stock Trick Flow 23* heads with a TPIS ZZ9 cam and I have a hellofa lot more torque than my old Edelbrock ported base and Ported LTR set-up with a SLP 208/212 (I think) and stock heads. Right now Im running a SLP 2500 stall and stock 3.42 rear gears with a 700R4 and I can smoke the 275/40/17 Gatorbacks all the way through third gear from a stop. If thats a loss of torque, then Im confused.

 

I know a few people that have installed TF 23* heads with the TPI system, and don't seem to get the results they were expecting. A lot of people blame the TF 23* heads while I always felt the TPI system was the problem and the TF 23* heads would be a better match with a Miniram intake, like you've done.

 

I think your right Glenn. The Trick Flow 23* have 195cc runners, thats kinda big for a TPI. But with a Mini-ram, its all about airflow. Right now I have the Edelcrock TES and a stock TB with a airfoil. I can tell this is holding back some upper RPM HP.

 

Hey Randy, which miniram do you have, the small port or the large port?

Larry

 

Well Im not too sure but I think its the small port one. When I ordered my Mini-ram from TPIS they wanted to know what heads I would be running and the intake gasket part number. Since the TF 23* have a 195cc intake runner the instructions said to use a Fel pro 1206 (I think) so thats what I told TPIS and they hand ported the runners out to a 1206. Everything is mached up very well. Every Mini-ram comes hand ported to the heads and gasket you specify for no extra cost.

 

1206? That sounds like the large port manifold. I could be wrong though.

 

The intake gasket that is recommended in the literature for the TFS 23* heads is a 1205. That would be the smaller port versus the 1206, IIRC.

 

Good torque can be made with Miniram/LT1/LT4 intakes...

Look at the size of the cams that GM uses with the LT1/LT4 style intakes.

LT1: 201/208/117
LT4: 203/210/115

I have never felt a stock one of these lacking in low end torque. My friend has a LT1 with ported heads, LT4 cam (not hot cam), supercharger. We removed the supercharger for service, and drove it N/A and it still hauled @ss. It pulled all the way to 6000. This engine has had it's C/R reduced to 9.0/1 too.

The logic GM uses in this is to keep a small cam for a smooth idle, low emissions, and great low end torque, while the short runner intake will keep the powerband alive and well in the higher rev range. It must work well, anyone ever rode in an LT4 vette, they haul @ss, and will almost always beat LS1's generally with no problem.

If you run a Miniram/LT1/LT4 intake try the LT4 cam. It is factory quality and sells for only $135 (Jim Pace).