ntoxicatedtigah

pros and cons on aluminum or stainless IC piping?

Bond

aluminum heat soaks faster than stainless steel. other then the weight and cost of stainless steel there arent any performance cons with it. if you got the money, stainless steel is the way to go.

JDM turbo DC

iTrader: (6)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bond &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">aluminum heat soaks faster than stainless steel. other then the weight and cost of stainless steel there arent any performance cons with it. if you got the money, stainless steel is the way to go. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Didn't realize that aluminum heat soaks faster than steel now that i really think about it. I currently have aluminum piping and i have major heat soak problems right now too, that, running high boost, and no hondata intake manifold gasket (opted not to use it because of previous experiences). I went with aluminum because they were lighter and available in polish (I rarely found a set of steel polished piping). Even with the heat soak and all, I would still recommend aluminum

Tony the Tiger

I'd go aluminum because it's lighter... Aluminum transfers heat faster, but also cools faster... Stainless steel will hold heat for longer periods of time, which wouldn't be too good if you were at the track and trying to let the car cool down for a cold pull, etc...

JDM turbo DC

iTrader: (6)

so steel doesn't heat up as fast as aluminum but once they are both heated, steel retains the heat longer than aluminum...learned a lot today i knew there was a good reason why i went with aluminum

ntoxicatedtigah

lol looks like other people are learning stuff as well

SovXietday

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bond &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">aluminum heat soaks faster than stainless steel. other then the weight and cost of stainless steel there arent any performance cons with it. if you got the money, stainless steel is the way to go. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I take it you haven't thrown a magnet at your average aftermarket IC/rad lately?

knightryderz

maybe you could run half and half. run the stainless closer to the engine since it doesnt heat up as fast and the aluminum pipes further away from the engine.

Bond

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SovXietday &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I take it you haven't thrown a magnet at your average aftermarket IC/rad lately? </TD></TR></TABLE>

wow ur smart! quick heat transfer (aluminum+direct airflow (front mount intercooler)=good. quick heat transfer (aluminum piping) behind bumpers+under hood temps=bad

you should be able to figure it out from here i would think

due to the ss not heating up faster plus moderate to low airflow u'll be hard pressed to ever heat up the ss pipes if you have a proper sized intercooler piping, core size and some airflow. dont be mad at me because i can afford to go ss. ice cold every friday at street legal drags and city driving. i'd hate to have cheap aluminum pipes that heat soak during a single run or a drive through the city....

wade

iTrader: (1)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bond &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

wow ur smart! quick heat transfer (aluminum+direct airflow (front mount intercooler)=good. quick heat transfer (aluminum piping) behind bumpers+under hood temps=bad

you should be able to figure it out from here i would think

due to the ss not heating up faster plus moderate to low airflow u'll be hard pressed to ever heat up the ss pipes if you have a proper sized intercooler piping, core size and some airflow. dont be mad at me because i can afford to go ss. ice cold every friday at street legal drags and city driving. i'd hate to have cheap aluminum pipes that heat soak during a single run or a drive through the city.... </TD></TR></TABLE>

you have to be kidding right? please tell me so

Turbo-charged

aluminum charge pipes on every car we do.

wade

iTrader: (1)

and everyyyyyy car we do, as well as every properly built, fast car i ever seen.

neoc03

Stainless steel conducts 200% less heat then steel, and 530% less heat then aluminum. So why would this not be better for a daily driver? I understand the heatsoak issue at the track, but it seems like Stainless would be a better option for a DD

civicjoe

This is ridiculous, if you guys are saying SS piping is the way to go, don't you think the engineers that make intercoolers would figure it out and make intercoolers out of SS.

I was gonna start with 'as a mechanical engineering student' but no you don't realy need to know more than high school chemistry to figure out that aluminum pipes will conduct heat faster, but they will also lose heat a lot faster. (specific heats) Say you just completed a pull on the street and your motor is idling for a few minutes at a stop light. AL&gt;&gt;HOT SS&gt;&gt; HOT Now you drive casually for a short distance and find that hey the aluminum pipes cooled off way before the stainless ones did. I think this is advantageous to use Al.

neoc03

But by the same right wouldn't it take more pulls on a SS setup to get the same heat level you would in the AL? Meaning that you do a street pull on SS then you drive casually returning to your original temperature at a slower rate, but your pipes never got as hot as the aluminum ones?

CRX T-Si

FYI

When the air is compressed the air is heated. If you say the SS conducts less heat then steel and much less if it was Aluminum then your putting hot air into your engine once your engine is hot. Key phrase "once your engine is hot"

Hot air gets absorbed by the Aluminum I/C piping then into the FMIC, wind/air will cool the piping down very quickly when driving and the cooler air going thru the IC will also cool down the piping. Even thought it does get heat soaked it also cools down alot quicker.

Heck IMO the best kind of piping would be Carbon fiber and Aluminum combined. Aluminum out from the turbo into the FMIC then from the FMIC one short aluminum piece and Carbon fiber piping where the Aluminum pipe enters the engine bay into the TB and then also if your a baller man get the Carbon fiber IM. To me that would be my ultimate setup. This is for DD by the way.

Think of it this way if SS was so good for piping then people would make SS IM already. For turbo we need something that absorb heat and something that will cool down fast.

That is my 0.02

neoc03

Cool. Makes allot of sense to me. I guess I will be looking into some AL piping. Does anyone know where to get quality AL IC piping kits? I can't seem to find any bead rolled ones.

ntoxicatedtigah

wow good argumentive comments on here. thnx from both sides.

90blackcrx

Now a days aluminum cost the same as stainless ( just about ) .

Aluminum is the better choice all around.

rorik

There is some good info in this thread, but also some really dumb ****. A charge pipe is in no way analogous to an intercooler, and does not need similar properties, wtf.
Before the intercooler, who cares. The intercooler will cool it down basically the same anyway. The tube going through the engine compartment from the intercooler to the TB should be stainless, or carbon fiber, or insulated aluminum. Why? Because the engine bay is hotter than the charge air after the intercooler, and you should be trying to conduct a minimum of heat into the charge air.
That's how I see it anyway.
Disagree, feel free to contest.

hybrid_KJ

I heat wrap my aluminum IC piping as it enters the engine bay to the TB. Still lighter than SS.

HiProfile

IC/rads are made with aluminum because of weight savings. You simply make it a bit larger to compensate for poorer conductivity than copper/silver. Stainless reflects heat (rather it doesn't conduct very well), and would be better if you have a shitty setup that dumps 500F air into your engine bay due to uncoated/wrapped exhaust parts. That way your insanely hot engine bay doesn't dump heat into your intake air.

A respectable setup will actually have more heat inside the chargepipes (hotside) than the air & radiant heat of the engine bay. &gt;200F for anything but low boost comes from most turbo outlets. That means you want a chargepipes that conduct heat well, or at least want something that will save you a bit of weight. Aluminum will give you both other stainless.

Honestly though, some people will choose stainless for other reasons. Mine would be the simple fact I can't weld aluminum, while I can do stainless. Stainless also polishes up very nicely, which can be another plus to some people. Overall it depends on what the user wants.

Turbo-charged

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 90blackcrx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Now a days aluminum cost the same as stainless ( just about ) .

Aluminum is the better choice all around. </TD></TR></TABLE>


your either paying too much for your aluminum, or getting a really good deal on your stainless!

knightryderz

stainless intercooler? it would probably be expensive and heavy.

ntoxicatedtigah

that would be just dumb