Carbon Fibre Ram-Airbox "made in Germany" for LS Engines
Discussion
Hi Guys,
Had the problems, that my LS6 inj. fitted GTR kind of suffocated on warm sunny days. Engine often stopped, when coming down from high rpms f.e. when driving towards a red light and when acc. full throttle, it sounded as if the engine 1st had to take a deep breath and then started to really build up power. Finally, my modificated LS6 didn´t perform that good as the seller (henriks-racing, Germany) promised.... My setup was a K&N Cone-Filter directly after a 180degr. Elbow and the MAF. firstly the Filter had only about 260 cm² of surface and secondly took very hot air from the engine bay....
I looked for a closed ram-Air Airbox which also isolates the intake air a bit of the temp. in the engine bay...I couldn´t find a pro one beside the one reverie offers. but theirs is for carburettors only...so nothing for my LS6...Not finding something suitable, I decided to get one done fully customized and perfectly adaequate for my wishes and needs...Here in Stuttgart (City of Mercedes Benz and Porsche) I rapidly found a company with an engineer specialized on two things: Light weight materials like Carbon Fibre and the Science of aerodynamics
After 2 Months of calculating, prototyping, testing, fitting....it´s now done: I am the proud owner of a fully visible Carbon fibre Ram-Effect thermo-isolating Airbox for LS Engined GTRs
Gains: No engine-stopping anymore, significantly improved acceleration, torque and power, much more "quicker" response characteristic and a fuller exhaust sound.... GREAT!!!
The new Air Filter has now 30x40cm so a surface of appr. 1200 cm² so my LS6 is able to breath undisturbed.
And they did such a great job on finding a lot of additional benefits...F.e. they laminated a very thin aloy-layer between the carbon fibre ones to really isolate the temperature of the intake air from the air in the engine bay...
Furthermore they calculated the really needed size at the roof intake and managed to not fully "close" the roof-airscoop" so there is a quite bit of space for air to flow into the roof-air-scoop and over the engine to keep engine bay temps down...
Finally it wasn´t that expensive as I thought it will get, it looks awesome and is a truly "made in germany"-quality work..
A good day for Ultima a perfect day for me
Lutz
LS6 GTR, Germany
Had the problems, that my LS6 inj. fitted GTR kind of suffocated on warm sunny days. Engine often stopped, when coming down from high rpms f.e. when driving towards a red light and when acc. full throttle, it sounded as if the engine 1st had to take a deep breath and then started to really build up power. Finally, my modificated LS6 didn´t perform that good as the seller (henriks-racing, Germany) promised.... My setup was a K&N Cone-Filter directly after a 180degr. Elbow and the MAF. firstly the Filter had only about 260 cm² of surface and secondly took very hot air from the engine bay....
I looked for a closed ram-Air Airbox which also isolates the intake air a bit of the temp. in the engine bay...I couldn´t find a pro one beside the one reverie offers. but theirs is for carburettors only...so nothing for my LS6...Not finding something suitable, I decided to get one done fully customized and perfectly adaequate for my wishes and needs...Here in Stuttgart (City of Mercedes Benz and Porsche) I rapidly found a company with an engineer specialized on two things: Light weight materials like Carbon Fibre and the Science of aerodynamics
After 2 Months of calculating, prototyping, testing, fitting....it´s now done: I am the proud owner of a fully visible Carbon fibre Ram-Effect thermo-isolating Airbox for LS Engined GTRsGains: No engine-stopping anymore, significantly improved acceleration, torque and power, much more "quicker" response characteristic and a fuller exhaust sound.... GREAT!!!
The new Air Filter has now 30x40cm so a surface of appr. 1200 cm² so my LS6 is able to breath undisturbed.
And they did such a great job on finding a lot of additional benefits...F.e. they laminated a very thin aloy-layer between the carbon fibre ones to really isolate the temperature of the intake air from the air in the engine bay...
Furthermore they calculated the really needed size at the roof intake and managed to not fully "close" the roof-airscoop" so there is a quite bit of space for air to flow into the roof-air-scoop and over the engine to keep engine bay temps down...
Finally it wasn´t that expensive as I thought it will get, it looks awesome and is a truly "made in germany"-quality work..
A good day for Ultima a perfect day for me
Lutz
LS6 GTR, Germany
Hi Simon,
I asked the company to manufacture the part in a way, so they can "duplicate" it "easily" (that means they created re-usable forms and tools etc.) already suspecting there might be some LS-Owners with similar problems or just the wish to get another masterpiece. I paid about 2.500 Euro incl. VAT , but they already said, the "next ones" would be cheaper up to 30% because a lot of time used for calculating/developping etc. wouldn´t be needed for replication...So you could get it for maybe 1.600-1.800 Euro or so....After all lenghty work was done with my "first" it shouldn´t last to long to produce a second one.
If you have some more questions or like to have other details or more photos or something...don´t hesitate
Lutz
I asked the company to manufacture the part in a way, so they can "duplicate" it "easily" (that means they created re-usable forms and tools etc.) already suspecting there might be some LS-Owners with similar problems or just the wish to get another masterpiece
. I paid about 2.500 Euro incl. VAT , but they already said, the "next ones" would be cheaper up to 30% because a lot of time used for calculating/developping etc. wouldn´t be needed for replication...So you could get it for maybe 1.600-1.800 Euro or so....After all lenghty work was done with my "first" it shouldn´t last to long to produce a second one.If you have some more questions or like to have other details or more photos or something...don´t hesitate
Lutz
Edited by lvjost on Tuesday 18th September 17:16
Edited by lvjost on Tuesday 18th September 17:36
GTRCLIVE said:
Pitty there's no ram effect on the scoop.....
The top scoop is good for getting cool air in but it is in a realatively low pressure area (ie hugs the roof line). The net result is that air is not forced in, the scoop would have to extend much further forward (or be higher), have a look at something like the Stealth B6 for a good example (or the GTW!).Pb3 said:
GTRCLIVE said:
Pitty there's no ram effect on the scoop.....
The top scoop is good for getting cool air in but it is in a realatively low pressure area (ie hugs the roof line). The net result is that air is not forced in, the scoop would have to extend much further forward (or be higher), have a look at something like the Stealth B6 for a good example (or the GTW!).I quite fancy a nice carbon scoop extention!! Any budding designers out there?
To ALL:
PB is right. The testings and calculations showed that there in fact is a RAM Effect even if it would be bigger with an extended, moved-forward-scoop. In the process of construction of my airbox I already discussed another variation with the company. They suggested to cut out a oval-shaped part of the rear canopy and make the top of the airbox-construction higher so it comes "out" of the rear body and the canopy "encloses" the shape of the upper airbox part. Or put in other words: Cut out the Ultima Roof scoop so the airbox intake isn´t within the Ultima scoop but is the scoop itself. Thus the rear canopy could be opened as usual, the scoop would be higher and more into the airflow and besides you would have a nice visual effect with a Carbon-Fibre Airbox scoop "coming out" of the rear canopy. They said it wouldn´t be that much effort, to replace my current top with a top like described before (the lower part with the filter could remain) and so I decided to choose the "non-destructive" alternative for the moment.
To tblackey/GTRSimon/all LS-Owners:
Because of your demand (tblackey) I called the guys to ask them if there was a chance to cut down costs by taking fiberglass instead of carbon fibre. They explained, that there is no (that) big difference in the pure material costs between fiberglass and carbon...But they said, that we could decrease costs by ordering collectively so they could manufacture them at one go.
They offered to go down to 1.250 Euro each (850 GBP, 1.680$) if we´re able to order an amount of at least 4 pieces. For comparison: The reverie Airbox (carbs only) is about 1.062 GBP (2.107 $, 1.561 Euro)www.reverie.ltd.uk/shop/products.php?g1=973cc7 . Another guy from Germany (Oliver, LS2 GTR...) already pre-ordered one as he saw mine. If GTRSimon also likes one and maybe tblackey is convinced by the "new" offer, we would already have 3.
PB is right. The testings and calculations showed that there in fact is a RAM Effect even if it would be bigger with an extended, moved-forward-scoop. In the process of construction of my airbox I already discussed another variation with the company. They suggested to cut out a oval-shaped part of the rear canopy and make the top of the airbox-construction higher so it comes "out" of the rear body and the canopy "encloses" the shape of the upper airbox part. Or put in other words: Cut out the Ultima Roof scoop so the airbox intake isn´t within the Ultima scoop but is the scoop itself. Thus the rear canopy could be opened as usual, the scoop would be higher and more into the airflow and besides you would have a nice visual effect with a Carbon-Fibre Airbox scoop "coming out" of the rear canopy. They said it wouldn´t be that much effort, to replace my current top with a top like described before (the lower part with the filter could remain) and so I decided to choose the "non-destructive" alternative for the moment.
To tblackey/GTRSimon/all LS-Owners:
Because of your demand (tblackey) I called the guys to ask them if there was a chance to cut down costs by taking fiberglass instead of carbon fibre. They explained, that there is no (that) big difference in the pure material costs between fiberglass and carbon...But they said, that we could decrease costs by ordering collectively so they could manufacture them at one go.
They offered to go down to 1.250 Euro each (850 GBP, 1.680$) if we´re able to order an amount of at least 4 pieces. For comparison: The reverie Airbox (carbs only) is about 1.062 GBP (2.107 $, 1.561 Euro)www.reverie.ltd.uk/shop/products.php?g1=973cc7 . Another guy from Germany (Oliver, LS2 GTR...) already pre-ordered one as he saw mine. If GTRSimon also likes one and maybe tblackey is convinced by the "new" offer, we would already have 3.
You could always go down my route, I made a filter tray to sit on top of my throttle body. A fibreglass box bonded into the canopy then closes down onto the filter to enclose the air intake (with the top scoop). I then insulated it all with reflective heat mat (the usual stuff we use over the exhaust area on the clip). The result was achieved for less than £80 and gives near ambient air intake temperatures at all times. Although not a pretty.
Hey Fred,
Thanks for your compliment! Here some Info in resp. to your qeustion. Yes, you´re right. The TB is connected directly to a 180 degr. Elbow made of pure carbon fibre. Outer diameter is approx 94mm and fits quite well. For better connectivity and to prevent the Elbow from bursting when pressing a coupler onto it with a hose clip, at both ends a aloy ring has been laminated in. The Elbow is connected to the MAF by a rubber tube by Street&Performance (www.hotrodlane.cc). The MAF is connected to the Airbox....
The company that did the Airbox also did the 180 degr. Elbow for me, because we/I couldn´t find any other suitable solution.... Here is a pic of it wo better see it.....
Thanks for your compliment! Here some Info in resp. to your qeustion. Yes, you´re right. The TB is connected directly to a 180 degr. Elbow made of pure carbon fibre. Outer diameter is approx 94mm and fits quite well. For better connectivity and to prevent the Elbow from bursting when pressing a coupler onto it with a hose clip, at both ends a aloy ring has been laminated in. The Elbow is connected to the MAF by a rubber tube by Street&Performance (www.hotrodlane.cc). The MAF is connected to the Airbox....
The company that did the Airbox also did the 180 degr. Elbow for me, because we/I couldn´t find any other suitable solution.... Here is a pic of it wo better see it.....
Edited by lvjost on Tuesday 28th August 20:35
Edited by lvjost on Friday 31st August 09:01
Hello "ivjost" I've been longtime ghost reader whos about to jump in and build the GTR. Although
I would like to do the build my self my schedule doesnt allow :-(. I'm very keen on hearing about
your suspension setup maybe help me avoid some pitfalls. I'll be selecting my builder soon and
finalize specs hopefully within next month.
I would like to do the build my self my schedule doesnt allow :-(. I'm very keen on hearing about
your suspension setup maybe help me avoid some pitfalls. I'll be selecting my builder soon and
finalize specs hopefully within next month.
Hey Suyek,
Thanks for your faith in me.....I´ll mail you the specs and some pics of the Suspension I have. Coincidentally there are two more GTR-Guys who asked me for some more info and it seems they might take it... Check your mails.
By the way...you should definitely choose your "ghost-builder" very carefully as you´re going to drive this car quite fast....I could recommend someone, but he´s in germany and thus the effort for you would be quite large as one had to transfer the parts to germany and back when done.....And it would take you a kot of time to visit "your" car whilst the building process...So I recommend maybe Jeff Schwarzt....
Lutz
Thanks for your faith in me.....I´ll mail you the specs and some pics of the Suspension I have. Coincidentally there are two more GTR-Guys who asked me for some more info and it seems they might take it... Check your mails.
By the way...you should definitely choose your "ghost-builder" very carefully as you´re going to drive this car quite fast....I could recommend someone, but he´s in germany and thus the effort for you would be quite large as one had to transfer the parts to germany and back when done.....And it would take you a kot of time to visit "your" car whilst the building process...So I recommend maybe Jeff Schwarzt....
Lutz
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