Hi-Velocity Technologies LLC

[JohnH]

Vortice-BR Pipe


Price $59.95 +/-
Hi-Velocity Technologies LLC
http://vortice-br.com/index.html
This is a SMALL BLOCK PIPE up to a 3.3 or .21

First this will NOT be a comparison between the BR and the BUKU....
Apples and Oranges....

Let's start by saying thanks Gene for the pipe to review.
Some pics and Tech info are from Gene's site for background info.

The pipe looks flawless. No tooling marks on it one bit. the finish has no blemishes at all. Simple packaging and instructions so easy my 8 year old can put it on. As for tuning the pipe...None. Plug and play for a beginner.

The first runs will be on an RC10 with an OS 18TZ (a nice mid range motor). The driver for the runs will be Dave Thorne.

The second vehicle will be a stock Sportworks Reaction with a stock .18 engine. The driver is Otto J. Perez from Toy Town Hobby Shop.

The third run will be with a 4-Tech with a TRX 2.5R

Lets see what you get first.

Like I said easy. here are the directions.

The pipe is nice in the fact that it can be a left, right or back exhaust do to the fact that the stinger can be turned in any direction from the pressure line and mounting hole on the front.

The pipe has very few parts and everything was CLEAN.

The pipe is also quite small compared to the big block pipes i have run.

I was afraid I was going to break it. The pipe is Very strong and it has been on vehicles that have flipped. not even a ding on the pipe.

Let's do the tech stuff before we get to the fun of testing. The pipe simply adjusts itself to the back pressure of the engine to produce more power and a smoother longer powerband. It does just that.

 

[JohnH]

Ok now that the Tech stuff is done let's play. We took the AE tuned pipe off of the RC10 and popped on the BR pipe. HERE IS A NOTE: THERE IS A ONE PIECE PIPE COMING OUT SO YOU DO NOT HAVE TO USE THE SILICONE COUPLING.

The one thing we didn't like is when tightening up the end cap it was a little hard do to it being round. If this had a hex cut on it that would be great. We did have an issue with one run where the pipe turned in the coupling and loosened the nut allowing the stinger to loosen and turn down.
Between this pipe and the AE tuned pipe bottom end was the same. No real difference there but the top end was higher and the exhaust note would make you think that the temps were crazy but the motor stayed at 210*F the entire set of runs. This was a little higher from the 200*F range with the AE tuned pipe. But well with in the range of the motor.


The truck was a little rocket. We were running soft foams on the parking lot for grip but there was still a lot of tire slip until it got grip. The exhaust note drowned out the big 1/8th scale cars that were racing. We did 5 high speed passes a few roll overs and flips. No damage, constant runs and consistent engine temps. Dave said he really liked the pipe and that with a gear change to a faster top end gear he would be dead on. Thanks Dave for your time. Maybe next Friday we will not forget our radio's at HOME.:duh:


For the next run I got up with OTTO and we grabbed his daughters Reaction.:nono:
This truck is running the stock.18 engine. We mounted the pipe on the truck. It was a piece of cake as usual.

This pipe brings some bling to the truck!
Out of the hole Otto saw a big difference to the performance compared to the stock pipe. The idle had also increased so Otto had to take the idle down to compensate for this. The idle was steady for a beginner. The bottom end had a lot more snap. The top end also increased quite a bit. Please note that the truck isn't tuned all the way for performance. It is still rich at about 180*F. Otto doesn't want to have to replace a bunch of parts on the truck do to his daughter crashing.....Is he making a crack at female drivers????:stickspank:
We did start the truck in the shop to see how it sounded. We were then run out of the shop by Otto's wife...........Didn't see that coming?!:slapped:

So we went outside to see how the little truck would do.

Otto was impressed and so were the other guys standing there.

Well we got the pipe mounted on David Pumariega's 4-Tech. Once again a piece of cake. The testing was short do to his left rear tire exploding on the track. These were new tires but it went south after that. The tire took out the pipe (no damage ) and his receiver (destroyed ). The TRX 2.5R was a new motor that was just starting to be run hard. The little sucker was quick. The power curve was changed and the performance to a very large boost up. From the launch to top end was much better than the Traxxas tuned pipe. The cars responses were so much quicker that David at one point hopped the curb and was T-boned by Otto's 8th scale car. Then after the high speed runs we went back on the track. before David got any good laps down the tire exploded and killed the receiver.
Stupid on road cars............!

We are going to test this pipe on a few more trucks and the results and pics will be posted. Look I hate tuning a truck I want to play. So do most people. This pipe didn't glitch the motor or make it erratic like some of the other pipes I have run. I think Gene and Dave (BUKU) have done a wonderful thing for the hobby. They have created pipes that give us the ability to tune to the motor either physically or preset. There is no more hoping that the $50 to $90 + dollar Vantage, HB or Jammin pipe will like your block. It doesn't matter anymore. I can't tell you how glad I am they are here to give us that little bit more out of our motors. Support these guys. It is the companies like this that break molds and put the industry on notice that there is more out there.

This is how the pipe stacks up:

Tuning: easy there is none 10
Performance: Great over a stock pipe. Will pit it against more tuned pipes 8
Instillation: easy left, right or back is a snap 9 (got a 9 here do to the small issue of the end cap ).
Cost: This is an inexpensive pipe 10

For a beginner looking for a cheap performance upgrade it is a great way to go. All you need to know is how to tune an engine. The pipe does the rest. I would recommend this pipe to any small block owners on a budget. Give Gene a shout and get one. Thanks again Gene.
:resp::resp:
By John Helton

 

[Larsenracing]

Great write up and review John. We greatly appreciat it.

 

[Crash]

really nice reveiw

 

[Dragin]

WOW!! That makes me want to break out my small block again. Great review!!

 

[Grumpy1822]

I wonder how it will do in my Jato.

 

[BIGDAN89]

get a test on a savage lol looks like a way to up speed cheaply

 

[Grumpy1822]

get a test on a savage lol looks like a way to up speed cheaply

Its for small blocks.

 

[SunkenMetal]

Nice Review ill have to try it out on my RS4............:jamout:

 

[oregonmud]

My friend was just asking me about a pipe for his HPI Nitro MT. He has an OS .18 in it and I will recommend he try this one and see how he likes it.

 

[Shaun]

looks really impressive!! great review!!!

 

[Double-O-Zilch]

Awesome looking pipe. One may just end up on my RC10GT I've been fooling around with lately.