A different "which intake" thread....honestly

Rock777

Member
Aug 22, 2004
195
1
16
Troy, IL
Are Edelbrock intakes that much better than Trick Flow? Any AFR FTI TFS combos...

Okay, so here is the deal, I have researched hours upon hours as to which intake would work best for my combo. My setup is in my sig, but basically consists of ported/polished and slightly milled by FTI AFR 165's and an FTI cam w/ lift in the 540's/550's w/ duration in the 220's @ .050 lift, and of course all the bolt-ons (Dream94GT's old car for those familiar). I will try to post a dyno w/ the cobra intake at the end of this.

Anyway, I realize that the ported Performer would probably be the best way to go as far as having good power all through the rpm range. However, I have always liked the looks of the Trick Flow intakes. I know, I know, you aren't going to get the most power based on looks. My question is, with my setup, would a track heat or ported street heat, hell, or ported track heat give anywhere close to the same kind of power as the performer. I know the track heat flows ~265cfm according to Trick Flow, not sure what the ported Performers flow but figure it's probably right around there (TMoss if you have any insight, enlighten me please).

Either way, I understand I will lose a little on the bottom end regardless by going with a TFS intake, but I can handle that. I guess my question boils down to this: Which form of a Trick Flow intake would get me a powerband, similar to that of the ported Performer or similar track times? Street Heat, Track Heat, ported Street Heat, ported Track Heat..? If the difference between one of the above and the Performer would be substantial at the track, then it's not worth it, but if possible I would like to use a TFS. Has anyone ported one of their trick flow intakes? Any flow numbers, track times, dyno? I've been to TMoss's website plenty, and have seen the dyno #'s but I don't recall seeing anyone with a ported Trick Flow.

Based on talking to Jeremy (94DreamGT), I would estimate the heads flow in the 270ish range, fwiw. Sorry for the long post, just wanted to be clear so it didn't look like another "which intake" post. Thanks in advance.

Here is the dyno with the stock unported Cobra:

dynographsmallfd9.jpg
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RPM would be an excellent upgrade..I run a copy in the typhoon and seems to be feeding my combo exceptionally well...sending the RPM to Tmoss might be the optimum choice in my opinion. My dyno sheet is in my sig..from what I can see you might be chocking yourself a bit with your present intake.
 
i will (hopefully) be going to a fti/afr setup soon enough myself. I would stick with your cobra intake you've got, it just needs to be ported, but it definately has the potential. I would send it off to tmoss and he'll get it flowing to match those heads.

edit: after doing much research myself I have found that the performer rpm and track heat are good for doing two things: making great high rpm horsepower and losing lots of low end torque. If you're going to build a weekend racer/dyno queen go with those, Mine is a dd so I'm going with what's going to be in my rpm range 99% of the time. The ported cobra makes great hp up to 5500rpm.
 
modusmortis - I have thought about using the ported cobra intake and I am sure it would make great power and torque throughout the powerband. However, I don't think it would outflow my heads, therefor the extra porting and polishing on the heads would be useless. Believe me though, this thought has crossed my mind many times. I am actually leaning more and more towards the "tried and tested" ported Performer. I still have the Track Heat in my sights, RPM is out of the question. I have decided that if I do go with ported Performer, I will have the inlet opened to 75mm, but that is another can of worms that I AM NOT going to open.:Zip2:
 
Does anyone have any dynos of a N/A 302 using a Trick Flow intake making at least 300+ rwhp? I've basically narrowed to 2 choices, ported Performer or Track Heat, even though on this board it seems that more people are making higher avg. power with the ported Performer.
 
Let me say this - any change to the intake you have is probably going to rock that torque curve lower at the bottom end and higher at the top end - to produce more peak HP. The heads flow 270ish, so a Ported Cobra won't fall far short of that (~260cfm) and will probably produce the highest low-mid range torque. The Performer, Track Heat will flow the 265-270 (or more for the ported Eddy) and be a slightly larger section so, a litle less lower-mid and more up top. You must also realize that other things affect the curve also, exhaust, timing, fuel, etc.

I don't get enough before-and-after dynos, but one on my site with AFR 165 heads and a Cobra intake saw gains all the way across the rpm band after porting. That does not mean you will also, but the intake will absolutely flow much more efficiently.
 
tmoss said:
Let me say this - any change to the intake you have is probably going to rock that torque curve lower at the bottom end and higher at the top end - to produce more peak HP. The heads flow 270ish, so a Ported Cobra won't fall far short of that (~260cfm) and will probably produce the highest low-mid range torque. The Performer, Track Heat will flow the 265-270 (or more for the ported Eddy) and be a slightly larger section so, a litle less lower-mid and more up top. You must also realize that other things affect the curve also, exhaust, timing, fuel, etc.

I don't get enough before-and-after dynos, but one on my site with AFR 165 heads and a Cobra intake saw gains all the way across the rpm band after porting. That does not mean you will also, but the intake will absolutely flow much more efficiently.

Thanks for all the help Tom, your input has definitely had the greatest influence on my decision making. You've provided some good concrete facts that helped alot. I am actually in the process of buying a Performer, sale is pending. If I do get the Performer, I will be contacting you to have the lower ported along with the inlet on the upper opened to 75mm, if you are available. Overall, I think this would fit what I am wanting the best. I'm very interested to see the gains of this over the stock unported Cobra. Do you have any experience, or know anyone, that has ran their ported Performer on a 331 or 347. This is by no means a major concern, just an off-topic "in case" question for future reference.