Vipair, Upgrade or Gimmick?

[Vipuronr]

Yes, I have seen the Vipair intake discussed (a subject near and dear to some peoples' hearts), but when I did a search, nothing came up!

So along with my other mod questions (still developing my "list"), for those who have it or know about it, is there anything to be gained by adding it to hi-flow air filters/smooth tubes. My car will never be heavily modded, but will have hi-flow cats added to the muffler delete and possibly a few bolt-ons as time goes on.

Everyone was very helpful this summer helping me decide what to add - hardtop vs performance mod....I chose the hardtop and am very pleased. Now planning the next few mods....

Thanks!

 

[dave6666]

It is a dynamic mod. With the car sitting static on a dyno no gain will be realized. With the car in a dynamic state - like moving - you will receive cold air from the frontal area of the car to the intake. More so than without the Vipair. It works best in conjunction with the Roe duct according to the late Big Brake Dave.

I have both mods on my car, have no access to a dyno in a wind tunnel, and am comfortable that common sense dictates their performance. The Roe duct however does have some scientific validation as that work was performed by Sean Roe.

 

[Vipuronr]

Thanks Dave, I'll have to check out Sean's site. Certainly understand the logic.

Appreciate it.

By the way, what process did you use to paint the underside of your car?

Thanks.

Peter

 

[dave6666]

The factory painted the underside of my car LOL. I do clean under there pretty thoroughly a few times a year but their paint is good enough for me.

 

[Vipuronr]

Very nice!

 

[CitySnake]

Vipuronr,

You have to much deeper into our search archives to find all the discussion of the Vipair. This thread alone might have made Vipair Performance famous!

http://forums.viperclub.org/rt-10-gts-discussions/557625-vipair-dyno-results-99-rt-16-rwhp.html

 

[plumcrazy]

a little searching goes a long way

 

[Fatboy 18]

oh no Not the Vipair thread again!!!!!!

 

[Steve 00RT/10]

Yes, I have seen the Vipair intake discussed (a subject near and dear to some peoples' hearts), but when I did a search, nothing came up!

So along with my other mod questions (still developing my "list"), for those who have it or know about it, is there anything to be gained by adding it to hi-flow air filters/smooth tubes. My car will never be heavily modded, but will have hi-flow cats added to the muffler delete and possibly a few bolt-ons as time goes on.

Everyone was very helpful this summer helping me decide what to add - hardtop vs performance mod....I chose the hardtop and am very pleased. Now planning the next few mods....

Thanks!

I added this to the infamous Vipair thread last year. Dave's explanation is good. Static conditions will have a more minimal effect...but I still showed some lower IAT readings at idle. It only makes sense to me that reducing / restricting the amount of hot air coming into the engine, especially at speed, should add a little more power. On the road performance is where it's at...not bench racing on a dyno.

I was also under the impression that the Vipair maker was maybe going to send me a yellow one for for my efforts...based on his follow up comment below my results. That has yet to happen.

Steve

Quote:
Originally Posted by FE 065
Have you ever tried switching the Vipair to the other car and seeing if it too idles cooler with the Vipair installed?

I realized after I said I would do this that a direct comparison between the two vehicles would not be possible because the cars are not identical due to the following:

2000 car: 170 t-stat / no cats
2001 car: OEM t-stat / hi flow cats.

Both cars have 5 pound Roe blowers, Belanger headers, 3” exhaust (00 is Belanger exhaust and the 01 is Corsa), and lightweight flywheels.

There is a huge heat differential between the cars because of the cats. I can run the 00 car relatively hard and still put my hand on the side sills without issue when put in the garage. You will burn yourself attempting the same with the 01 car. Heat literally radiates off the side sills in the 01 car. I also think the t-stat difference in an idle situation impacts the results.

I came to the conclusion that I might wait forever here for another hot day…..so I did the test over 2 days with the following parameters:

I installed the Vipair on the 2001 car which had been Vipair less until this test.

2001 car with Vipair

68F in garage both days
Cold start up
10 minute idle (T-stat open)
IAT 92-95F

19 minute idle.
IAT 110-113F

2001 car without Vipair
Cold start up
10 minute idle (T-stat open)
IAT 96-101F

19 minute idle
123.62 to 126.12

While not completely scientific, the results do show an improvement in a static situation. Most Vipers are with convertors and standard T-stat……so the conclusion would be a slight improvement for most Vipers. Of course, there may be little value of a 10-15F temperature reduction at idle, but I think it does prove that the Vipair limits engine heat from entering the engine through the air intake system in all running conditions. I have no clue how this translates to power gains, but it is absolutely true that gas engines run better with cooler/cold air. Another thing about power……dynos are kind of a bench bragging thing when it comes to adding a few HP. Ingesting cooler air at speed could easily pick up those few HP (which seems to be the main debate here), thus giving slightly stronger performance.

I also checked the 2000 catless / lower t-stat car when I removed it from that vehicle to test on the 01. ...same test parameters....68F by my garage thermometer. The results were not conclusive on this car in a static situation. My guess is that running only 10-15 minutes with a cooler thermostat, and pretty much zero side sill heat in that amount of time, is not enough to show a difference. One could surmise that if the ambient outside temperature were much higher than 68F, that there could be noticeable differences on the cooler running car at idle for the same time frame used.

In logging conditions, with the ambient outside temp around 90F a year or two ago, I hit 144F on the 01 catted car and 128 on the 00 catless car. At speed, I have to think the convertor heat is not as much an issue. There is another difference between the cars under moving conditions. The 00 car has stock tires and 3.45 gears. The 01 car has stock gears and 19” tires, making the effective rear end ratio a 2.92.
The 3.45 gears have everything turning faster in the 00 car, thus generating more heat through the driveline. (and less than a stock set up on the 01 car)

Thus, the Vipair chronicle continues.

Steve

……….if anyone wants to send me a ‘yellow’ Vipair for my above time consuming (Vipair positive) labours, I’d be happy to have it permanently affixed to our bumblebee ACR

------------------

And the follow up from GTS-R 001 after FE 065 responded to my post.

HEy FE, Good post.

The inlet opening sq in. on the vipair actually exceeds the the sq in of the actual opening in the NACA duct.

To have this work best you have to block the Naca. I have a design I worked on that would block the NACA once positive air pressure was reached at speed, but I did not pursue it due to the over the top debate about whether the product worked or not. Unfortunately ROI's come into effect. Funny now the debate is how much it works vs if it does or not.

I wnet over the design with Gerry Malicoat ( viper race GTSR designer who was the one who blocked the NACA and found the 60 - 80 HP LOSS at speed due to the NACA duct +80 mph)

If there is interest I can quite quickly rig up a new generation Vipair that (at speed) would create some positive manifold air pressure, maybe a few guys here could volunteer to test ( with instruments) data logging MAP and temperatures.

Steve 00RT/10 PM me your details....

 

[dave6666]

I'm due a red one for being a supporter and not a basher.

Meet me at the Quickie Mart under the Bud Light sign at 16:00 sharp with my new part. TIA

 

[Vipuronr]

Nice! So, essentially, its a low priority mod for me, especially since I use the car as an occasional pleasure car and never track. Seems other mods would be more useful and impactful.

Sorry for dredging up an old subject, but I'm trying to do the research now and make decisions as to what mods to do and in what order...I'll do a little better job on searching next time.

 

[97snk]

I've one sitting in my garage if you need it, 50 shipped...You won't however notice a difference...

 

[Vipuronr]

Thanks 97snk....beautiful GTS!

Having read everything, I think I'll pass on this. Great offer, just no point in bothering.

Appreciate the replies.

 

[GTSnake]

I'm due a red one for being a supporter and not a basher.

Meet me at the Quickie Mart under the Bud Light sign at 16:00 sharp with my new part. TIA

Don't hold your breath. I was the original guinea pig that showed a 10 rwhp gain when I bought the proto Vipair. A club member witnessed the dyno run and he ended up getting a free one while I paid $300 for mine. Go figure.