Volant's owner's response on the loss of hp
10-05-2004, 06:25 AM
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Volant's owner's response on the loss of hp
This is for those of you that have a Volant intake.
Originally Posted by Tony Quezada
Hello. My name is Tony Quezada, the president and owner of Volant Cool Air Intakes. I have read many of your posts and I wanted to reply to the questions regarding our Chevrolet 5.3-liter intake system. This system was first developed in 1999. At that time, the intake kit consistently made 9+ horsepower during several independent dyno tests. Over the years, the factory intake has not changed on the vehicle so the system remained current to date. It wasn’t until the release of the two articles in Chevy Truck World and Chevy High Performance that caused us some concerns as to why the system did not make any horsepower. We took a new look at the current 5.3-liter intake and did some testing of our own and found that it did make the 9-10 horsepower as it has in the past, so we were satisfied with the results.
We do not know why the two article tests showed a negative horsepower result, but we cannot influence or control their dyno testing procedures. We can only speculate that in the Chevy High Performance test, the SS Silverado was supercharged with a Magnuson system that is calibrated to work with the stock filter box, not a high-flow air intake system like ours. In the Chevy Truck World article, we believe the computer did not have sufficient time to recalibrate so the results may have been skewed. The article also misquoted me as saying that the early system was fixed with a MAF adaptor, when in actuality; I said we IMPROVED the system with an adaptor.
Nevertheless, the article results caused us to take a closer look at the system. It was during this time that we found there was additional horsepower to be gained with the use of an adaptor in front of the MAF sensor. We played with the system some more and ended up changing the intake tube with one that has more gradual bends, and the intake box that holds a larger volume of air. All of these things increased the horsepower level which resulted in the new 5.3-kit.
We also know that many of our customers have the earlier version of the intake, so we also researched ways to improve this system too. So far, our research has allowed us to develop an adaptor that may improve the earlier version to the point that it may actually create more horsepower than the redesigned 5.3-system. I apologize if all this sounds confusing but Volant is committed to improving its products and listening to customers and consumers such as you.
We will be conducting more dyno tests to find out how the adaptor works out for the earlier 5.3-intake systems. In the meantime, we want to ask current customers who have the early Volant 5.3-liter system if they would be interested in receiving the adaptor for free, paying only for shipping costs. Please feel free to e-mail us with your comments along with your name and address so we can contact you with the results of our testing and let you know of any future improvements to the system. update@volantperformance.com
Thank You
Tony Quezada
Volant Cool Air Intakes
We do not know why the two article tests showed a negative horsepower result, but we cannot influence or control their dyno testing procedures. We can only speculate that in the Chevy High Performance test, the SS Silverado was supercharged with a Magnuson system that is calibrated to work with the stock filter box, not a high-flow air intake system like ours. In the Chevy Truck World article, we believe the computer did not have sufficient time to recalibrate so the results may have been skewed. The article also misquoted me as saying that the early system was fixed with a MAF adaptor, when in actuality; I said we IMPROVED the system with an adaptor.
Nevertheless, the article results caused us to take a closer look at the system. It was during this time that we found there was additional horsepower to be gained with the use of an adaptor in front of the MAF sensor. We played with the system some more and ended up changing the intake tube with one that has more gradual bends, and the intake box that holds a larger volume of air. All of these things increased the horsepower level which resulted in the new 5.3-kit.
We also know that many of our customers have the earlier version of the intake, so we also researched ways to improve this system too. So far, our research has allowed us to develop an adaptor that may improve the earlier version to the point that it may actually create more horsepower than the redesigned 5.3-system. I apologize if all this sounds confusing but Volant is committed to improving its products and listening to customers and consumers such as you.
We will be conducting more dyno tests to find out how the adaptor works out for the earlier 5.3-intake systems. In the meantime, we want to ask current customers who have the early Volant 5.3-liter system if they would be interested in receiving the adaptor for free, paying only for shipping costs. Please feel free to e-mail us with your comments along with your name and address so we can contact you with the results of our testing and let you know of any future improvements to the system. update@volantperformance.com
Thank You
Tony Quezada
Volant Cool Air Intakes
10-05-2004, 09:34 AM
#3
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i do still like the K&N system due to it's simplicity and design. i think the volant will be showing its own soon and will back up it's numbers. it's nice to see the guys from volant are concerned about the customer response though.
10-05-2004, 11:55 AM
#4
My Volant feels just like when I added a lid to my TA or Z's. I got exactly what I expected - gas mileage went up just a tad. I only know this because I have the digital readout to tenths and I was keeping very good track of it. In response to any magazine article - whatever. These same magazines are the ones that RAVE about anything SLP puts on the shelf, ie. 50 hp from SLP headers. When actually they only made 15 and have the worst clearance problems and are way overpriced. I buy the magazines to see what other enthusiest are doing to their cars and what they run and how they look. I take every tech article with a grain of salt depending on who their sponsors are.
i'll be testing the adaptor.
10-05-2004, 12:23 PM
#6
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i am very familier with the truck and the testing done on the truck. it was done fair, but as mentioned not all of the volant parts were used due to it being a radix truck. i believe there will be more on this in the next issue....
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10-05-2004, 01:21 PM
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Doesn't make sense to me why a Radix would get better results with the stock airbox and K&N panel fiter supplied with the Radix kit. Are they saying that a panel filter flows better than a cone filter? Obviously the Radix is pulling in more air than a stock n/a truck. The radix tube hooked up to the MAF off of the Volant box just as it would with the stock box...looks like I may be selling my Volant 
10-05-2004, 01:22 PM
#10
Originally Posted by BluethunderWS6
I think Volant is doing right by my opinion
On a side not, I yanked the Volant out this weekend and installed factory intake with drop in K&N filter (until I figure out if I want to keep the Volant or ebay it for a vararam) and I cannot tell a difference other than noise neing minimized. I sealed the box with rubber / foam around both lid and box (both sides of filter) and I am going to take my grinder to the bottom and cut out a chunk and then order up a smooth intake tube to see how I like it.
The volant grommets / coupling never sealed good. The slats on the box that the MAF grommet covers up stay exposed. Stock grommet reused is not deep enough and no matter how tight I go on the clamps those slats end up exposed so I have a path for dirt and air to pull in past the filter.
An ideas where I can score a good selection of large grommets to correct the fitment issues? Nothing at the local parts houses and home depots are too flimsy.