mannyr

just wanted to put this out there im interested in a rd2 2.0 airam shipped to 33178
for the right price also a bbtb go along with it
not some crazy collectors edition airram price lol

tanc

Question is...what are you willing to pay for it?

Stocker

...because, as they are no longer being produced, they are ALL collectors' editions.

Albuquerquefx

Indeed. Airrams are a "pay to play" sort of thing. I just finished paying Yamaha almost $500 for his, and it had already been through three sets of hands by then. They don't get cheaper when you stop making them, just like adjustable intake cam sprockets...

mannyr

"pay to play" thats funny. Im surprised no one has tried to get it duplicated it. I guess im just going to have to go with a Bore Im and a Bore TB How much I wish someone could finally put together an afortable Turbo Kit

Albuquerquefx

Well, therein lies the problem.

You want a "cheap" intake manifold, but you also want something that:

[*]Has been tested to gain horsepower[*]Bolts on[*]Won't wreck your motor[*]Contains every part you need without question[*]Doesn't require any extra time to manufacture on your own[/list]
You also want a "cheap" turbo system, but you also want something that:

[*]Has been tested to gain horsepower[*]Bolts on[*]Won't wreck your motor[*]Contains every part you need without question[*]Doesn't require any extra time to manufacture or "augment" on your own[/list]
You see, these things cost money. Even a "cheap" chinese turbo costs money. Even a "cheap" cast iron log manifold costs money. You still need a wastegate. You still need new gaskets for the head, turbo flange, downpipe. You still need a downpipe and an O2 bung. You still need engine management. You still need extra fueling somehow. You still need feed and drain lines for oil.

There's a very old addage that still very much applies to this day: You can only have two of the following: Cheap, fast, and reliable.

Which two are most important to you? And are you really sure?

mannyr

Sorry if i rubben you in the wrong way. I never said cheap I said affordable, maybe guess i was just gripping the odvious. Sadly enough our cars are not popular and because of that we dont have mainstream companies lining up to put out a truly bolt on turbo kit. What I mean by this, Is that I would not mind paying $2500 for a comlete bolt on turbo like you could on any honda. And I dont have a $5000 budget to get a costum build / tuned turbo. Than again sometimes that is what makes it fun to work on our cars?

As far as copying the airram. With the demand for it, Dont see why someone with the right expertise and experience could make an exact copy of it, even if it is chinese made. They would not have to invest in any R&D because the product already works. They only need to make an exact copy of it.

Albuquerquefx

And I hear what you're saying, but even an "exact copy of it" is not cheap. It's not just a few tubes all welded together. There are acceleration stacks on each intake runner at the plenum end, the plenum itself is an "odd" shape, the runners aren't perfectly round.

Think about this: I have a single adjustable intake cam sprocket from RSide that I want another copy of. There are four places in Louisville with the proper CnC equipment to do it, but the cheapest one will be $250. I'll probably end up spending the cash simply because I have no other alternative and I want the second gear. Now, if they wanted to sell 10 of them (for example), I would end up paying the $250 for the initial setup, and then they could sell each one for about $150.

How many people are going to buy a single adjustable intake cam sprocket for $150 each? I bet I couldn't count them on one hand...

Copying a part may be slightly less expensive than all the initial R&D, but fabrication is 90% labor -- and that's where the money is. The materials may only be thirty or forty dollars, if that. But to pay a guy for 10 hours to completely mock up a replacement model and then fabricate a new one is expensive.

SOCKS_old

replicating a AIR RAM would be pretty expensive to do, and almost no one would be willing to invest the time/money to take on the project.. even if someone did have the molds, from a profitability standpoint, it wouldnt be worth it at all.

regarding the affordable turbo kits thing.. i offer a wide variety of turbo kits for good prices, only thing not included in the kit is the downpipe.

i offer kits from 1950$ shipped using a pretty good chinese turbo:
to kits upwards of 5000$ using a BB turbonetics turbo and including pistons, clutch, etc.

REDZMAN

I had the airram, and while I did like it, it caused more issues than it was worth. I'm happier with my bored IM than I was with the airrram.

My airram would hit my firewall all the time, and caused the intake to not sit straight anymore. Front strut bar was lost with it, and other than the bling factor, it just wasn't worth it.

Wish Tim was still doing the IM's, he did a great job on mine.