When it comes to intake manifold porting gods, there’s pretty much one name that floats to the top every time – Wilson Manifolds. Owner Keith Wilson has been porting intakes seemingly since the model “A” days, and there are few with the companies’ talent or experience to put your race engine in the winner’s circle. Wilson works manifold magic for some of the fastest drag racers (you’ve heard of Jason Line and Greg Anderson – right?) and NASCAR teams; but the unique thing about Wilson is that they will work magic for you. From carbureted intakes to race intakes, sheet metal intakes to accessories such as throttle bodies and spacers, Wilson has a full array of products for sportsman and everyday heads-up drag racers as well.
Those of you familiar with our 2002 Camaro BlownZ will know about our desire to run sevens with our ProCharger F-1R-equipped 388 LSX engine. As part of our mission, we equipped the engine with TFS 265cc cathedral port heads and the new Holley Hi-Ram intake manifold. The Holley Hi-Ram (see our article here) is an outstanding intake manifold that’s a tunnel ram-type intake for the LSX engine. However, because the Hi-Ram is built for everything from hot street applications (500 hp) to entry-level race engines, it simply can’t be all things to all people. After we got the engine running down the race track and on the dyno, we discovered that for our power levels of 1,300-plus horsepower, the Hi-Ram simply didn’t have the plenum volume that our engine needed in order to produce maximum horsepower with optimal efficiency.
Luckily for us, we had the phone number of our pals at Wilson Manifolds, and specialty sales manager and manifold expert Dave Secunda. Working with Secunda, we devised a plan for BlownZ’s Hi-Ram. The goal was to retain the Holley Hi-Ram intake runners construction and design, but to enlarge the plenum, and build a new sheet metal top for the Hi-Ram. Essentially, building the ultimate Hi-Ram. Since we’re planning on adding a ProCharger F-1X to our engine combination shortly, we told Wilson that we needed to be able to make up to 1,600 hp. So, consider this a Holley Wilson Hi-Ram designed to support 1,600 plus horsepower.
As we move forward in our racing endeavors, there’s no doubt that the modifications that the folks at Wilson Manifolds have performed on our Holley Hi-Ram will benefit us in the performance department as we take on the best that the East coast Drag Radial racing has to offer. But looking beyond the present, we’re now better equipped for our switch to the F-1X supercharger in the coming months, where we’ll be shoving a lot more air through that plenum and down into the combustion chambers.
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