I posted this up on another board recently so I thought I'd throw it u here as well...

Now that Holley (who owns Weiand) has screwed around in this market with competing product lines between their own companies and confusing people by putting old product names on newly designed products (that are actually really good products!) it seems they're finally making an effort to clarify things. At least, it's a start.

Here's the best way I've found to explain it.... compare everything to Edelbrock's intake names! They're direct competitors on almost every product but Edelbrock has a super crisp, clearly understood naming convention that everyone knows and understands. Holley/Weiand did not before (and still does not, really) but it's getting better with this new naming convention.

No race intakes here, just the usual performance dual plane stuff that we street urchins care about. And I'm not going into all the details here- just the broad names and what they equate to product-wise.

Edelbrock Performer (base model) = NOTHING on the Weiand side! Weiand isn't producing the old design Action+Plus intakes any more. They still have the lone Action+Plus 8024 for use on 87-up bolt pattern heads but I get the feeling when they're sold out that's it. But this is a good thing... keep reading.

Edelbrock Performer EPS = Weiand Street Warrior line (previously called the New-Design 'Action+Plus'). Same computer-flow modeled design and all that idle-5500 RPM goodness as Edelbrock. But Weiand sees fit to offer a model with a spread-bore (QJet) intake flange! Edlebrock does not currently offer their Performer EPS with a QJet flange.

Edlebrock Performer RPM = Weiand Speed Warrior (previously called the New-Design 'Stealth'). Again, all that creamy 1500-6500 RPM computer flow modeled awesomeness that has made the Performer RPM so popular, available from your buddys at Weiand. But no Qjet Version from Weiand.

Edelbrock Performer RPM Air-Gap = Weiand Speed Warrior (previously called the 'Stealth Air-Strike'). OK, so now Weiand has 2 different intakes (air gap and non-air gap) sharing the exact same product name? Yes, unfortunately. Only different part numbers mark the difference between the two different intake types. Why they didn't just call it the Speed Warrior Air-Strike, I have no idea. Further evidence that Holley may never totally get their **** together naming their products. And no, there are no Qjet versions of this intake from either company

OK, one last odd-ball.... the 'Stealth' Part# 8151. They must still be selling off previous naming convention stock before they change it over to the new Speed Warrior name. It's the Speed Warrior non-air gap version for Vortec heads. It will soon get the Speed Warrior name since the air gap version of it is already using the new naming convention.

All the old Action+Plus stuff is gone, and the name will die when they sell the last of the old 8004/8024 manifolds. The Stealth name is gone too, after they sell the last 8151 with that name stamped on it. And the original first-generation Steath intake (an oldie but a goodie for those who remember it) won't live on... it's already been superceded and discontinued by the newer design intakes, above.

Oh, and EVERY ONE OF THESE NEW WEAIND INTAKES IS AVAILABLE AS A SUMMIT HOUSE BRAND INTAKE FOR A FEW BUCKS LESS. You just need to be able to pick through their part numbers to figure out which is which.

Street Warrior and Speed Warrior.... the new names. Get used to them. But not TOO used too them- they might just change again!

 

The simplicity of the names has probably made a whole bunch of people just side with Edelbrock. Good write up on the names.

 

Thanks. Yeah, I imagine the confusing naming convention plus the confusion of just changing the names again has cost them some business. Wouldn't be surprised if we saw some advertising soon to "get the word out" and get people familiar with the new names. Most will assume they are completely new intakes because they never knew about them under the old names!

Of further note... all the new EFI-style intakes are being branded with the Holley name. Apparently Weiand is going to be the name they use for all the carbureted intakes from here forward, Holley for EFI stuff. If you look on Holley's website there are only 3 Holley-namend carb intakes left and it seems likely when they sell out of those the Holley name will disappear from all carbureted intakes.

 

Wow...marketing at its finest, huh?

 

Well at least intakes are one of the few products that Edelbrock makes well.

Losing the Action+Plus doesn't seem like that big of a deal to me. People with low-rise truck manifolds might cry, but the Action+Plus and the Performer never seemed significantly better than stock anyway.

 

Yeah, good 'ol marketing. But these are all legitimately improved intakes over the "old school" stuff. The new Street Warrirors should out-perform the stock intake everywhere in the RPM range finally, which the old Edelbrock Performer and Action+Plus never did (they lost as much down low as they gained up top, netting very little overall improvement).

If there was ONE INTAKE I wish was offered but still isn't be either company it would be a Vortec-style intake with a QJet flange. The QJet is such a natural fit for modern Vortec heads it's a sin no such intake exists. Remember that the 'ol QJet is the poor man's fuel injection. And Vortecs are such excllent sub-6000 RPM street heads the two together would be the ideal, totally complemetary marriage of old an new. Oh well.

 

Ahh, but there is. It's just sold through GMPP. And it costs a large fortune. It's really an Edelbrock Performer EGR, but for Vortec heads. Mine cost me near $300!
http://sdparts.com/details/gm-perfor...parts/12496820
If you lose low-end with a Performer, then you're using it on something smaller than a 350, AND not correcting the spark advance and fuel to go along with it. That's important, even on a stock 200 HP 350.
As for the Performer vs RPM debate, I recall an old test, a GM ZZ4, back when it was still pretty new (then-recently ZZ3)
They put the also-new HOT cam in it, and found 394 HP. Great! Then they switched to the RPM intake, and found 3-4 HP. So the RPM is obviously useless.
Plus being extra tall, it allows less space between the tops of the barrels, and the air cleaner lid, to fit under a stock hood.
This would explain their results IF they had been testing in-car, on a chassis dyno. But they weren't.
I've seen more recent testing on a 383 where an AirStrike proved it's worth over the Weiand 8000, and I've seen a 290 HP 350 test where the RPM AirGap proved it's worth over a stock intake, big time.
Further, it seems to me that the EPS has only one improvement over the old 2101: The cross-ribs cast under the carb. Why not just weld your own ribs on the floor of the 12496820?

 

Yeah, I know they make an old-school Edelbrock Performer for Vortecs with a QJet flange. It's Edlebrock part number 2116. And if you bought it from GMPP for $300 you massively overpaid. It's $179 from Summit:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/EDL-2116/

What I'd like to see is one of the newer designed intakes with the QJet/Vortec combo. I haven't tried the EPS or Weiand equivalent yet but some people who have on other boards like them vs. the older designed intakes on mild motors. Their experience seems to agree with Edlebrock's claims of better low end torque than the old design intake while giving away nothing up top. I'll reserve final judgement until I try one myself.

Agreed the Performer RPM is overkill for most street combos. It's just not going to show much improvemet unless the engine under it has the lungs to use it at higher RPMs.

 

But the 2116 has no provisions for EGR. I want EGR. Enough to spend this much extra to have it. Helps MPG, and allows higher static compression, which also helps MPG.
I don't get the idea of the RPM. According to my old Edelbrock paper catalog, the port exit dimensions, at the head, are virtually identical to the 2101, and the runner lengths are within 1/2", because it's the same layout with just a bit more height.
Based on TPI, that may actually help lower RPM torque, IDK.
If Weiand's waffle pattern under the carb is so great, why don't they continue it all the way down each runner, to the gaskets at the heads?
Or are Weiand and Edelbrock just using it for anti-puddling, or to help the air make the turn from vertical to horizontal, or both?
I hate that Weiand killed the old 8000, and the 8004 seems to have become a Summit intake. (SUM-226008 ) Granted, in dyno testing, it was barely better than the L69, and not the equal of the 2101.
I was wanting to buy a Weiand Stealth 8020 for my cousin's SBF 347 project, I hope I'm not too late. Summit shows them still available.
And does anyone remember that Weiand SBC low rise single plane with EGR? I think it was offered with a removable plenum divider.

 

Oh, I didn't realize you were going for a functional EGR. Usually not a concern for most people since nothing carbureted every had Vortec heads (except marine and industrial engines) which means it's technically emissions illegal in a car, even with a functional EGR. I certainly wouldn't call it a performance-enhancer. The factory only added it for one reason- reducing NOx emissions by cooling the combustion temps at part throttle.

The RPM runners are bigger than the EPS, they jsut taper down to almost the same port exit dimensions towards the ends. Part of the reason the intake is taller to begin with. Other intakes used the a similar design. Like the old first generation Stealth intake. The runners were REALLY BIG and necked down quite a bit at the port exit. It's a fairly common practice in intake design to have things get smaller as they get closer to the intake valve- it helps increase velocity near the intake valve (better cylinder filling) while not being nearly as restrictive as if the whole length of the intake runner was that small.

The waffle print is there becuase the fuel tends to puddle when it makes the 90* turn out the bottom of the carb. Especially problematic for drivability when the engine is cold. It helps reintroduce the fuel into the airstram better than a flat surface. There are much older intakes that have similar ridges and bumps in the plenum area. Just not the older Performer design.

I liked the old 8000 as well. Had one on a mild 400 years back. Worked just fine- good enough to run 12.9s on street tires with 2.73 gears and a stock stall truck converter. I always thought of it as being about "half way between" an 8004 and a first generation Stealth. At least that's about how it looked and measured out.