Any Sniper 2 Feedback?

[Jim Doak]

I'm in the process of finalizing my engine selection and I'm pretty sure that I'm going with a BluePrint 302. The question is Sniper 2 or carburetor?

I'm going with the 361-horsepower version because it has a not-too-aggressive cam providing good manifold vacuum. (I'm going to run vacuum assisted brakes.)

Anyway, I ran an original Sniper on my first car, and although there were certain aspects that I liked, it was problematic at times and eventually got replaced under warranty before I sold the car. (Apparently a lot of the problems stemmed from RF interference affecting the ECU mounted on the front fuel bowl.)

Holley states that the Sniper 2 addresses the problems which affected the original Sniper, including moving the ECU to the passenger side of the throttle body.

So, does anyone have real-world experience with the Sniper 2? Because I don't want to be left high and dry due to a Sniper failure like one of our cohorts experienced during this summer's Cobra cruise up in Idaho. (Car had to be towed back home to Montana.)

[michael everson]

I just set one up on a blueprint engine. my limited knowledge tells me that all they did is basic rotate it 90 degrees so that the ECU is no near the distributor. Of course this required a complete redesign. Programming and everything else seems the same. Also no built in regulator anymore.
Mike

[john42]

I have a Sniper 2 and Hyperspark distributer and I'm..... ok with it.

Just ok with it because:
- took a long time to dial in a tune. Certainly not plug and play. Got the car on a dyno and they were able to get it really dialed in.
- the injectors are noisy as heck. Sounds like I have a bunch of clacking valves. I hate sitting at a stop light with a "tick tick tick tick tick" Sounds like an old 289 with a 100k miles on it. Not what I wanted my brand new Boss 347 to sound like.

- Called Holley on the noise and since it's more then 90 days since purchase I'm basically SOL.
- Overall the car runs well
- The Bluetooth adapter is nice being able to get a nice phone interface
- still ended up buying the USB cable to program things with a laptop. You can't do everything with the phone and it won't communicate with a PC via Bluetooth. So lots of up charge for all the cables.
- The RF issues are fixed / non-existent.

[Mike.Bray]

FWIW, I haven't had my hands on a Sniper 1 or 2 but I have messed with a few EFI systems over the years. I think the Sniper is a brilliant idea, basically an electronic carburetor for not a lot more money than a carburetor that bolts onto a standard intake manifold and is "self-tuning".

However, there's a lot of compromises that had to happen to make the Sniper. There are entire forums dedicated to Sniper issues. Perhaps someday Holley will get it sorted, I think it can be done, but it will probably end up increasing the cost which is another of the Sniper's current benefits. IMO, there are just too many compromises in the Sniper and I've never been a fan of self-tuning systems.

You are soooo much better off spending a little extra and getting an Edelbrock Pro-Flo, a real EFI system with port injectors and lots of tuning capabilities. You won't find too many people that aren't happy with their Pro-Flow.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/edl-35930/make/ford

[gbranham]

I did this same research here on the forum, and on the interwebs...Holley Sniper 2 vs Edelbrock Pro-Flo4. Based on what I've learned, I'm going with the Edelbrock system. Seems to be much better, easier to dial in, and far less problematic.

Greg

[JMD]

I've only been driving around the neighborhood in go cart mode so don't have enough experience to be very useful, but so far mine has been great. I had mine installed and tuned by Mike Forte and it's been solid so far. But that's only about 30 miles of total driving so not much to go by yet.

[Kbl7td]

Just my two cents. And not solely related to the sniper. This isn’t a plug and play, as much as they want you to think that. You need a competent tuner. I have the terminator X on a an LT1, Gen V VVT retained direct injection engine. It is anything but self tuning, however, the terminator packs a ton of features that you just can’t get from a carb only system. Virtual buttons, traction control, real time and any data point monitoring. I know, different system. Reality is anyone preaching carb is stuck in the old days, these systems are the future. No one doing modern builds with any credence are doing carbs.

[john42]

Just my two cents. And not solely related to the sniper. This isn’t a plug and play, as much as they want you to think that. You need a competent tuner. I have the terminator X on a an LT1, Gen V VVT retained direct injection engine. It is anything but self tuning, however, the terminator packs a ton of features that you just can get from a carb. Virtual buttons, fractional control, real time and any data point monitoring. I know, different system. Reality is anyone preaching carb is stuck in the old days, these systems are the future. No one doing modern builds with any credence are doing carbs.

This.

The "self tune" on the Sniper 2 is yourself!

[Railroad]

My buddy had his engine rebuild and wanted to go from carb to FI. He was going to order the Sniper II.
I advised against it and he complied. I really feel good about doing a good deed.