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Fast vs. TBSS intake manifold


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Well fellas, Ive searched up and down our forum for past posts that could answer my question on which intake manifold is preferred amongst sss owners, but have only left further confused. My setup currently consists of 243 heads, cam, stall, headers, and custom tune. Ive read that the tbss is the best bang for the buck, but has anyone ever actually dynoed for numbers? I even read somewhere that the tbss had insignificant gains, and that the fast was a waste of money. Will someone please clear this up for me? Oh, and I plan on staying na all the way, ha.

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simple - the TBSS intake can be had used for about 1/4 or less of what a FAST costs.. not to mention used FAST manifolds are fairly uncommon to find, and are still expensive. the FAST manifolds that came out more recently, like the FAST LSXRT (taller truck version) is a great intake. it will perform better than the TBSS intake in the right setup. those are the key words though... its a common misconception that you can bolt on a fancy intake manifold on a stock or mild/bolt on setup and make tons of power. this is NOT the case! for the intake manifold to pay off, youd need a good pair of heads/cam and/or some boost (turbo or centrifugal blower). the intake manifold can only move more air through the engine if the engine can support / produce that air volume. also you need to keep in mind that for either of these intake manifolds you will also need a new 4 bolt LS2/3/7 style throttle body and a Dr. X X-link harness for that throttle body. this will cost you another $225 for xlink and $200-500 for the throttle depending on which one you get... you also have the Holley Hi-Ram intake manifold, that is a great manifold too. if your NA with a big cam, IMO id run the LSXRT FAST intake. but if your boosted w/ heads/cam making serious power, id run the Holley intake. these two run about the same price roughly. but if your just looking for a full bolt on truck that makes good power but nothing "big" or crazy, your good with the TBSS intake. as for the dyno/power level question- in the past, typically we see about 10-15 WHP gains on a 500 WHP motor switching from the cathedral truck intake w/ 78mm opening to the TBSS intake paired with a 90mm TB. and typically switching from the cathedral truck w/ 78mm opening to a FAST LSXRT yields about 15-18 WHP w/ 90mm TB. now keep in mind, if your one of the few going for a big money big power build, like high boost levels or a big cube motor, theres a 102 MM throttle that will gain you a few more HP in those extreme cases. anything less than that (say under 600 WHP roughly without specifics) then the 90mm will do you perfect.

 

SO to break it down for you:

FAST is good if:

-you have the $1k to drop on it

-you have an aggressive/big cam paired with a good set of heads

 

Hi-Ram is good if:

-you have the $1k to drop

-you have boost w/ heads/cam and are making significant power levels

-your running a large cubic inch motor

 

TBSS intake if:

-your not looking to spend a fortune

-your not looking to make huge HP levels, just a strong DD

 

hope that answered some of your questions

John :cheers:

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I've been close to pulling the trigger on an intake manifold -Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

Great info John!

Give me a call re: pm's I've sent.

Thanks,

Tim

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You seriously couldn't have explained it to me any better, john. I really appreciate all the valuable information you and the gurus from the forum more than happily share with us newbies :thumbsup: . It sounds like the tbss manifold with the 90mm tb is the right match for my current ls6 heads and 224r cam setup. Thanks again John!

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