The New FAST™ LSXR™ Intake Manifold

[jjamros]

The New LSXR™ Intake Manifold, a Quantum Leap In Intake Science! As engine designs evolve, many of the engine components evolve as well. For example, take the LS3 and LS7 engines produced by GM. These engines have significant design alterations, and among them is the design of the intake manifold. GM redesigned the intake manifold with a rectangular port rather than the earlier “cathedral” design. In making that move, many of the airflow dynamics changed.

When the new GM engine design made its debut, engineers at FAST™ and RHS® wasted no time in taking a look at how they could improve on the factory intake manifold design, while retaining all of the factory under-the-hood clearance and fitments.

Building on the technology of the original LSX™ Gen III three piece intake manifold, engineers tackled the redesign project using all available resources. When the enormous effort was complete, the result was the advanced LSXR™ design that is virtually a quantum leap in intake science, resulting in ground breaking performance and adaptability characteristics.

To understand how the new design delivers pioneering features and benefits, we turned to the RHS® and FAST™ design engineers for the inside story. They provided the basic details of the design process and the resulting performance enhancement achieved from the new LSXR™ intake manifold.

3D Model of the LSXR™

A Clean Slate

In previous designs, intake manifolds provided good horsepower or good torque, but never managed to maximize both at the same time. That fact obviously meant that engineers had to settle on a compromise between horsepower and torque.

To tackle this problem RHS® and FAST™ design engineers began by taking a clean slate approach to the process. With the use of Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), they meticulously analyzed airflow dynamics. The analysis revealed critical areas for redesign, so they poured all available resources into creating a new intake manifold design.

What emerged was a blueprint that is literally the Holy Grail of intake design because it proved to be the solution to finding balance between torque and horsepower. The design resulted from intensive analysis that employed advanced reflective wave tuning science to reach the goal of maximum horsepower and torque in one intake manifold. Simply put, reflective wave tuning is the science of achieving torque and horsepower balance by designing the runner length (also known as “tuning”), diameter, taper and inlet shape right.

What engineers came up with was a unique and revolutionary runner design that is longer, yet still less restrictive, producing substantially higher torque and horsepower results. In addition to performance improvements, the new LSXR™ also has another revolutionary design feature built into the runner design.

Each individual runner is completely removable from the intake body. This innovative feature provides users the ability to easily make porting modifications to achieve additional power gains. This is a patented and cutting edge feature that’s not available in any other intake manifold.

LSXR ™ Components

From a manufacture standpoint, the LSXR™ is produced in an injection mold process using a proprietary glass reinforced nylon formula. This is an updated formula, similar to what was featured in the original LSX™, that has proven to be the perfect material for the LSXR™ intake manifold units. This advanced polymer provides significant advantages such as light weight and strength, but one of the most important features is its ability to block heat transfer. That fact is especially important because the virtual elimination of heat transfer means that the air charge stays cool, therefore contributing to improved engine performance.

Lab And Field Testing

The LSXR™ has been put through some of the most rigorous testing imaginable. In the lab, it’s been subjected to complete study both in airflow dyno analysis and engine dyno analysis. Both testing methods yielded confirmation of the design’s superior airflow and power production, showing gains of 14+ horsepower and 11 ft/lbs of torque at the flywheel over the stock intake.

In addition, the design was put through the paces at Wegner Automotive in Markesan, Wisconsin, one of the premier circle track engine building companies in the automotive aftermarket. It was also painstaking inspected and tested at the highly respected School of Automotive Machinists in Houston, Texas. Additionally, it was analyzed at the hi-tech facilities of Lingenfelter Performance Engineering in Decatur, Indiana, and Katech Inc. in Clinton Twp, Michigan.

Individual runner.

Each one of these field testing facilities gave further confirmation to the design success as well as substantiation of improved performance levels of the LSXR™.

The results of the enormous investment of time, money and resources by FAST™ and RHS® is the development of the most innovative and power producing intake manifold the industry has ever seen. The revolutionary characteristics of the LSXR™ are now the new standard of intake manifolds for LS3 and LS7 engines.

For more information on the LSXR™ and all other FAST™ and RHS® products and services, go to www.fuelairspark.com and www.racingheadservice.com.




Additional Resources:
FAST™ LSXR™ Manifold Q&A
FAST™ LSXR™ Intake Selector
FAST™ Product Support Forum