[sonicgundam]

What kinda hosing/piping would you use?

silicone radiator hosing --> incredible insulator, looks good, workable.

stainless steel piping --> least efficient insulator, looks the best, workable

ABS piping --> good insulator, looks like shit, very easy to put on, and incredibly inexpensive.

 

[OchnofConcrete]

depends on your funds i guess.
i'm a [email protected] mofo right now.. but doing the same project a second time down the road costs more.

 

[Nismo240]

i'd use aluminum.

 

[sonicgundam]

i'd use aluminum.

so you would use the worst insulator?

 

[Nismo240]

why is it the worst insulator? i use it for my intercooler piping, and it works just fine. if you didn't want my opinion, you shouldn't have asked for it.

 

[sonicgundam]

why is it the worst insulator? i use it for my intercooler piping, and it works just fine. if you didn't want my opinion, you shouldn't have asked for it.

sorry, didn't mean to offend you. aluminum is used for intercooler piping because it's easy to mold into the right shape, and as you generally are going into tighter spots, you need that. also, it's alot smoother, creating a more frictionless surface inside the piping. also, because it's an intercooler application, and the air is being forced through as cold air and an incredibly higher speed, insulation isn't as much of an issue.

it's a worse insulator because it's a high heat conductor. metals are always worse insulators than plastics and other non metals.

but, you're right, aluminum should have been an option, its very common, especially for Ram air applications.

as for the cost:

all of these would cost less than $150 to make, with a good filter.

3" silicone hosing would be the most expensive it looks, averaging ~$30/ft, and assuming you'd need about 3 ft, plus 2-3 bends, which are about $10 each.

not sure on stainless/aluminum piping, but FMIC intercooler piping could be adapted to work a well placed CAI, as it generally is aimed down towards the radiator at the bottom of the car.

ABS piping with filter, $50 to finish the entire thing. buy a 6 ft stretch of ABS and then the appropriate bends. use zip-ties to hold to keep it from moving out of place.

 

[Nismo240]

i see what you're saying, but i was only suggesting because most aftermarket intakes are made of aluminum. all of your choices are good, but they have their downsides. aluminum/steel are probably the most used, is easy to come by, and easy to work with. the only problem i can see with aluminum is that its more difficult to find someone that can weld it rather than steel, which isn't difficult to find and do. and like you said before, they conduct the most heat. silicone/rubber intakes have never appealed to me. i know on turbo cars, such as SR's, they have rubber intakes from the factory. the only problem with that is while under boost, the intake collapses under pressure, but you shouldn't have that problem with an N/A motor, so it could be worth a shot. as far as plastic goes, i think it may be your best bet. its cheap, easy to work with, doesn't conduct as much heat as metal, and you can always paint it to make it look nice. the only problem with this is if it gets too hot, i would worry about it melting.


i should've really thought about it before i suggested aluminum, because now i think the silicone or plastic would work better. but thats just my 2 cents.

 

[sonicgundam]

don't worry about it, it's a good two cents.

the CAI market has turned into a sham in my opinion because it's become such a "basic" mod. unfortunately, just going with the basic application produces almost zero results. the only Good intakes are made for super popular tuning cars such as tegs, civics, ludes, 240's, etc. aftermarket intakes have gone from being a mod that provides the engine with cold air, to just being a less restrictive option to factory airboxes.

aluminum is great for a short ram.

as for melting plastic, PVC can possibly melt at underhood temps.

ABS (the black PVC) is stronger and more heat resistant and won't melt at underhood temperatures. if it's melting, you have overheating issues.

Note: also forgot to add that aluminum piping is a helluva lot lighter than steel. another reason for it's popularity.

it seems to me that the silicone hosing could produce the best application. it looks good, it is easy to use, and it's insulative. the top of the line intakes use silicone/CF hosing, so i guess it's not far off. but they cost $250+. silicone hosing is just expensive in comparison is all.

 

[Nismo240]

i can agree with that, aftermarket intakes have always been a big joke to me. if its just an aluminum pipe, its gonna perform the same as any other brand out there. i get a kick out of people that can't decide which brand to go with, then they flip out when i tell them to get one off ebay. the only intakes that have time and research put in them are the high dollar ones. another reason they are so much is because of the material used. take ARC for example, they have a titanium intake for some cars thats a few hundred bucks. but titanium is extremely strong, lightweight, and doesn't conduct heat as much as other metals. thats where their time and research went into. you're gonna pay more for it, but you're getting more use of your dollar for it.

 

[sonicgundam]

i like Cosmo racing and AEM intakes the best because they make them with a carbon fiber silicon compound that's an incredible insulator, lightweight, and super strong. problem is it's not a moldable compound, so it's vehicle specific.

but again, they're a couple to several hundreds of dollars.

would be interesting if this got stickied as some general tech FAQ to help those who were interested in having a good CAI.

 

[OchnofConcrete]

carbon fiber silicon...

gotta be expensive to make.. they just add in silicon flecks with they're molding the carbon fiber or is it silcon fiber.. that's gotta be pricey to manufacture if you don't have a hard market for it.

guess it trully depends on what type of intercooler you use... the tubing is part of it yeah, but when it comes down to it, the air is flowing through the tubing so fast that the real cooling process comes from the intercooler. given there's a lot of friction in the air during the travel...

but here's food for thought...

physics class...

take a welded openended T tube and attach it to a hose coming from an air compressor.

out of one side you will get cool air, out of the other.. hot. then when you attach an intercooler to that.... hhmmmm.

 

[Nismo240]

i have a friend who made a carbon fiber intake on his S/C GT Mustang. he made a molding of the intake and then wrapped the mold with the sheets of carbon. it came out really nice, it looks good and is pretty durable. we've been thinking about making one for SR's, and maybe more if we can get people interested in buying them.

 

[OchnofConcrete]

but does a pure carbon fiber intake tube do the same as what a manufactured tube with silicon integrated would?

how do they do that anyways?

is it internal?

does the silican just graft to the carbon fiber and is only on the inside? or is integrated into the whole casting?

 

[sonicgundam]

but does a pure carbon fiber intake tube do the same as what a manufactured tube with silicon integrated would?

how do they do that anyways?

is it internal?

does the silican just graft to the carbon fiber and is only on the inside? or is integrated into the whole casting?

the carbon fiber presents some heatshielding and solid rigidity. the silicone presents awesome heat shielding. not sure how they do it, that's why it's not cheap. also, with the C/F providing shielding and rigidity, and silicon being used instead of steel, this would be very light compared. about as light as aluminum without the heat venerability.

cosmos racing used to build them, but they've gone down to only one style. they only use 4ply silicone tubing. they make theirs more targeted to the beamer crowd now.

Cosmos Racing Cold Air Intakes

personally, i believe those to just be extended ram airs. their cold airs could be much better. however, they are considerably cheaper than the competitors.

 

[Nismo240]

its been a while since i talked to him about it, he explained the whole process to me but i can't remember it for shit. i know he had at least one layer of some type of resin on the outside, but i can't remember if he put it on the inside. but keep in mind, this is the first intake he made, so its more of a prototype. the only other things he made were a cooling panel and he wrapped other things like his fuse box cover.

 

[sonicgundam]

another way to do ot would be to cut a silicone tube in half longitudinally and coat the insides with fiberglass, then re-assemble the two halves together, brace them lightly with tape, and then coat the outside completely with c/f.

that would be a kick-ass intake hose.

 

[Nismo240]

come to think of it, he did have to cut it. but if it was longitudinal or latitudinal, idk. i'll go by and see him some time soon, he lives right up the road from me. i'll ask him some more about how he did it as well.

 

[sonicgundam]

it probably would've been longitudinal, because it's already cut latitudinal (at the openings).

 

[Nismo240]

yea, that would make more sense lol. sorry i can't think, i was in a car wreck the other day and have been kinda out of it.

 

[sonicgundam]

no worries. that sucks man, i've only been rear ended, and those suck.