just finished my custom aluminum intake piping, what do u guys think?

[clsmooth]

I finally finished the job for my custom intake piping, after spending 8 hours yesterday on the band saw going back and forth from the car cutting the proper dimensions for the aluminum piping along with detailing with the dremel tool, i finally got them done, the intake is a hyperflow and basically i ordered aluminum piping and had it mandrel brent and did my own measuring and came up with my own dimensions and after some trial and error i came up with this, it defenetly sounds better...i wish i had something to measure cfm and airflow to see how much of a difference it makes, but all in all no more rubber plumming for me, i am working on customizing a better plastic intake flow from the stock pieces that fun from above the radiator to above the air filter, and i will post pics when i finish those.

i am going to post the pics in my gallery and if one of u guys can put the pics in the thread that would be great, there are 3 pics, and how can i change this so i can add attachments?

[jstahmann]

Have you noticed how hot the Aluminum piping gets while running? Some pretty high under hood heat in these cars, so you may actually be heating the air coming in through your custom piping, which would lead to power loss, not gain...

Props for trying out something new, though!

[clsmooth]

yes, that is what i will be monitoring, if it becomes a problem, then i will be getting the piping powder coated

[BOLLOCKS_TO_IT]

Definetly would like to see some numbers with this, and as "Jstahmann" said it might actually hurt your performance cause the air is getting hotter, maybe you could put a flow measuring device and thermcouple on the intake (if it is feasible) and actually see the air flow and temperature and then do the same thing with stock intake box and piping and compare.

[clsmooth]

like i said, i am going to look into doing something to measure the airflow, and added the fact that i got the intake spacers, i think that will help with having the aluminum piping, i wouldnt suggest doing this without the spacers and or the heater bypass

[beemercer]

If heat soak becomes an issue you should just take and get it coated with the ceramic header coating, that'd solve any issues with heat I'd assume.

[clsmooth]

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If heat soak becomes an issue you should just take and get it coated with the ceramic header coating, that'd solve any issues with heat I'd assume.

yes, thats what i mentioned there in my second post

[SuperAvant]

yes, thats what i mentioned there in my second post

I think you said powder coated though... which is not the same thing as the heat wrap stuff.

[blackbox619]

great idea! a well saved $250+

[abe]

I seriously doubt the air will pick up much, if any, heat going through a pipe of that diameter at flow rates indicative of a V8 engine at speed. If the flow is laminar, even less as there's no mixing to distribute the heat throughout the flow pattern. Heat exchange is all about heat transfer area, residence time, and good mixing. You've got very little area and very little residence time. I don't know about the mixing aspect.

I wouldn't bother trying to insulate that thing. Waste of money, and good looks IMO.

If you had a temp sensor/thermocouple and were able to measure a temp difference that would be interesting, but at the same time it comes down to power, and only power when the engine is hot is where you might see a slight difference.

If you're serious about it then dyno with and without the mod with a hot engine.

[RAI Motorsport]

as stated before the aluminum piping will not add much if any heat to the charge air. Aluminum is a great metal for shrugging heat this is why it is the best metal for intercoolers, as long as you can get some kind of venting to it, so a big plus for leaving the oem cold air draw pipe. Some constructive criticism would be to weld the unit together instead of silicon clamping, this would allow the heat to be shrugged from the entire pipe, not just the area that has the air flowing to it, again this is not at all a big deal. the silicon is a insulator for the tubing. overall, great work.

[clsmooth]

I think you said powder coated though... which is not the same thing as the heat wrap stuff.

yea, i meant ceramic coated, where you send the pipes away and they spray it on, i wouldnt consider doing whatever heat wrap stuff you guys r talking about, and like abe said, there is not a significant amount of distance that the air will be traveling where the heat should really matter, and its 3.5" diameter piping so im not too worried about it, i didnt do this expecting significant power gains, thats for sure, i just did it for the sound and the looks mostly, its nothing that i would waste dyno time on comparing the air flow on these pipes compared to stock, if i could find a cfm meter then i would def take the time to measure that

also, one thing i didnt discuss before that i wanted some opinion on is the vacumne line that runs by the throttle body, i was going to weld a flange on but instead i just bought some fuel line and i cut a inch and a half piece off and drilled a hole in the piping and put the fuel line over the plastic vaccum piece and put it in the hole about a quarter inch deep, its defenetly a good seal and after doing it that way i dont think im gonna end up welding the flange on, do you guys think that will be fine?

also if anybody would like to try and do this for themselves i would be glad to help out with an application for yourselves, just let me know

[ieatfishburitos]

as stated before the aluminum piping will not add much if any heat to the charge air. Aluminum is a great metal for shrugging heat this is why it is the best metal for intercoolers, as long as you can get some kind of venting to it, so a big plus for leaving the oem cold air draw pipe.

My guess, I could be wrong:

I think in our applications it will have issues. The temperature is very high in our engine bay and the Aluminum will quickly absorb and transfer the heat to the inside of the tube, thus heating the intake air. Aluminum transfers heat very quickly, unlike plastic / rubber. The only cooling the pipe experiences is the cooler intake air on the inside which absorbs the heat and takes it into the engine, kind of the opposite of the plan here.

[sakimano]

wow...a DIY I will NEVER do, but congrats and props to you and your skills!

[S4J]

Looks awesome . Nice work!

[abe]

My guess, I could be wrong:

I think in our applications it will have issues. The temperature is very high in our engine bay and the Aluminum will quickly absorb and transfer the heat to the inside of the tube, thus heating the intake air. Aluminum transfers heat very quickly, unlike plastic / rubber. The only cooling the pipe experiences is the cooler intake air on the inside which absorbs the heat and takes it into the engine, kind of the opposite of the plan here.

You are correct about the properties of aluminum , but as I mentioned in my post the problem is that the air is not in the pipe long enough to heat up an appreciable amount. In order for heat transfer to take place, you have to have some time for it to happen.

I would liken it to sticking your hand in front of a hair dryer. Stick it in front of the hair dryer quickly, and it won't get hot. Leave it there for a few seconds and you could get a nice burn. Same principal here. The air passes through the pipe so quickly it simply can't pick up the heat.

[Xoticautowerks]

Very nice looks good

[clsmooth]

wow...a DIY I will NEVER do, but congrats and props to you and your skills

is this because of the tough application, or is it because u think its pointless and there is little power gain?

[SpfldS4]

Nice job!! I have the same setup, it came installed when I bought the car. I changed the shitty filter with a K&N. And all this time I thought I was the only one :)

[poopypants]

Try removing that weatherstrip seal along the engine bay. That has a lot to do with heat being insulated in the engine compartment.

[B18b1ex]

Try removing that weatherstrip seal along the engine bay. That has a lot to do with heat being insulated in the engine compartment.

That may help with heat, but tradeoffs are a dirty engine and possibly wet coilpacks. I do not think that's a a good idea.

[GhostSquadGarage]

Great work Clsmooth !!

I bet you had alot of fun with getting the correct angle and measurements as did we ;)
How are you liking the throttle response now compared to stock ?

[KryptoniK]

Great work Clsmooth !!

I bet you had alot of fun with getting the correct angle and measurements as did we ;)
How are you liking the throttle response now compared to stock ?

I'm sure he gets a lot better throttle response now that he doesn't have that POS rubber pipe collapsing and restricting air flow when he opens her up...



GJ clsmooth on developing a mod yourself for you car. Looks great.

[ieatfishburitos]

^ haha

[nycats4]

I think you did a great job and you have a nice looking product, but the only problem I see is with the cone filter. You're going to get alot of hot air coming into your manifold from the engine bay with the filter exposed like that, lowering your performance. Maybe you could seal the filter in a custom enclosure leading to the air ram in the front. None the less, a promissing product.

[clsmooth]

your piping looks nice SpfldS4, do u know who did that piping? was it a shop? if its a fellow forum guy i would love to talk to him

Great work Clsmooth !!

I bet you had alot of fun with getting the correct angle and measurements as did we ;)
How are you liking the throttle response now compared to stock ?

i sure did, it took 5 seperate times going back and forth from cutting the piping and installing to check fitment, getting the proper angle on the ends of the pipes was defenetly the kicker to making them fit right

unfortunetly i havent really had an opportunity to really test out the new piping setup, cause as soon as i finished it i had to bring the car to the stealership for warantee stuff, and the car had to stay overnight cause they never have parts for the s4 in stock, so tomarrow will be the first real tester, and im going to check on a meter for airflow

I think you did a great job and you have a nice looking product, but the only problem I see is with the cone filter. You're going to get alot of hot air coming into your manifold from the engine bay with the filter exposed like that, lowering your performance. Maybe you could seal the filter in a custom enclosure leading to the air ram in the front. None the less, a promissing product.

the difference from my setup and SpfldS4's setup is i used the hyperflow intake setup as the base, so if u look at my pics i have the plastic seperater that the intake goes through, and that surprisingly makes a decent difference on keeping the hot air from the engine seperated from the air filter, u can feel the difference to the touch in the surounding air around each, that plkastic piece also made it alot tougher for fitment cause i didnt have alot of play/movement room with the intake

[SpfldS4]

your piping looks nice SpfldS4, do u know who did that piping? was it a shop? if its a fellow forum guy i would love to talk to him

I don't know TBH, I've never seen the car on any of the forums. Judging by the filter he used it may be off the shelf PepBoys stuff. I can't compare it to stock because I never had one.

[clsmooth]

well today was my first real test of the new intake piping, the sound is defenetly the most noticeably different aspect, i cant say the throttle response was that much better, just slightly, i did do some extended stop and go driving in the city to see how heat would be a factor on the piping, the aluminum piping def. got pretty hot after extended driving, but it didnt effect the intake charge enough to diminish power, the car never started to pull less because of the heat, i think its b/c of a combination of two things, 1. like we have been talking about previously, the distance of travel of the air inducted is not sufficient enough for the hot aluminum pipes to effect the air temp, or in other words, the air being sucked in doesnt get heated up b/c the intake piping isnt long enough for it to effect the air induction temp...and 2. the intake spacers already do a good job keeping the intake air temps low as it is, so now i will continue to work on the custom plastic air induction pieces

[mattlqx]

Are you reading your intake temperatures at all with something? Or are you just guessing?

[bimmen325]

i think you need to get a patent, before gsg gets wind that yours look shinier

[clsmooth]

Are you reading your intake temperatures at all with something? Or are you just guessing?

i have not mentioned anything about intake air temps in terms of changing or measuring at all, previously we were discussing in this thread if in turn the aluminum piping would actually diminish power because of the piping getting hot or holding more heat than the stock rubber hose that runs from the mass air flow sensor to the throttle body, i was simply stating in my last post that i finally got a chance to drive the car with the new parts to see what significance the aluminum piping has on the car, and after extended stop and go driving the aluminum piping did get pretty hot to the touch but i didnt notice any power drop from when the engine was running cold to after the extended driving, granted it was a cooler day here in ny(high 50s to low 60s for highs) but the car pulled just as good as when i first started driving it after the extended driving, i also mentioned that this could be affected by the fact that i have intake spacers installed too.

but at no time did i talk about air intake temps, just about the piping temps, but now since you mentioned it, i have a digital thermometer prod, and if i have time i am going to take some air temps in both the stock setup and the new aluminum piping after extended driving to, just to see what numbers show up, i will keep you guys posted

[mattlqx]

I know you didn't. I was just asking because everything you were saying was pretty subjective. Unlike other threads, I'm not flaming here. :)

You should consider a ScanGauge for this purpose. It connects to the OBD-II port and provides a nice heads-up display for temps and whatnot. I'm pretty fond of mine.