L-18 intake conversion from Arizona Speed
 

Has anyone out there ,besides me, installed the Arizona Speed L-18 intake conversion package on their boat?

I don't know of any. How did it do? What is the boat?

Baja VET:
How did Arizona Speed & Marine intake manifold work out? Did it come with a reprogramed ECU? How hard was it to remount everything? Do you think it was worth the big bucks?!
Raylar:cool:

Yeah I want to Know too and I wonder what kind of hp we could expect using Raylars heads with Arizona's intake. :)

I had it installed on a Baja 275 with a 496mag HO. I was extremely disappointed. Gained 3 mph on top end. Lost my engine guardian and smart craft capabilities because the kit comes with a different ecu. I only have half of the throttle throw now that I used to. I had it installed and it apparently came with all of the appropriate mounting hardware. So bottom line $6000 later I've gained 3 mph which I could have easily done with some prop work. I called Arizona Speed and they basically told me sorry about your luck and weren't helpful at all. When I purchased the unit they told me that I would gain 110 hp and 10 mph. That was an expensive lesson learned by me and I would not recommend the unit to anyone and I won't be calling Arizona Speed for any more purchases.
I was curious if anyone else has had similar experiences with AZ Speed or the conversion package.

Man I'm sorry to hear that. Is there anybody on here with an in to AZ Speed that might be able to help this guy resolve some of this? This thread wont sell many intakes for them.

BajaVet, thank you for sharing your experience/results. Sorry it wasn't what you expected.

BajaVet:

That's a pretty serious statement. Since this is your first post and we don't know you yet, you're going to have to humour us with some more background and details.

Prior to the install, my boat which is an '02 Baja 275 with a 496 mag HO with an Imco lower unit and 125 hours on the engine would run 61.8 mph at 4700 rpm with a stock 24 Bravo. After the install, the boat would run 64.9 mph at 5100 rpm with the same prop. I'm sure that with a prop change that I can get some more speed out of the boat but I could've also got more speed out of the boat prior to the install. I over propped the boat intentionally for the initial test run so that I could run it with a similar prop after the install. I just have a hard time believing that I've gained 110 hp based on that rpm and speed gain. I would guess more like 50-60 hp. Just not much gain for $6000. Any insight that anyone could offer me would be greatly appreciated. If you need anymore info let me know. Thanks for your help.

Are those GPS speeds? What are you inclined to believe more from your instruments, speed or RPM? I'm inclined to believe RPM changes since the measurement is less likely to be affected by other things.

If you really increased from 4700 to 5100, that's a big gain and suggests a speed of 67 mph if the prop is not trimmed out too much or slipping too much. I can't believe a four blade would be slipping much on a Baja which tend to have conservative (low) drive heaights.

I'm not familiar with the changes to the ECU, but was the rev limit raised or are you hitting the rev limiter? Since things like better breathing intakes and heads tend to raise the RPM at which peak HP occurs, you might find some more speed if the engine could rev a bit higher.

I would also try a 25 Mirage Plus prop. Three blades are usually faster than four if your drive is low enough to prevent blowout.

I have trouble believing that 100+ HP is possible with an intake swap and some ECU and fuel pressure tuning. But if you have already gained 5 mph that's a lot in a boat. Maybe with some prop work to match the new power curve you will find more.

Good Luck, it's a disease...if you find the cure let us know.;)