Insulated intake piping discussion

[MrMazda92]

I found a cool thread on a G35 forum a few minutes ago, that went into detail(briefly) on the topic of insulated intake piping. This is something I have thought about quite a bit in the past, and we have even discussed here!

It's an interesting read, try to pay particular attention to the points made by user DaveB. He seems to have a pretty firm grasp of the concept. User Hydrazine posted some interesting information as well, it's worth the read if you are into this kind of thing!

http://g35driver.com/forums/intake-exha ... -tube.html

[Josh]

This is a very minimal issue for us as I4's and v6's are FWD. We do not have heat like a front to rear would have and the intake coming up over the exhaust mani or manifold. Though when running drag and as seen in the Dyno like they discuss you will get heat. So what the old school guys used to do is paint there intake manifolds flat black as flat black will disperse the heat faster. then they would paint the underside or engine side of the mani a gloss white as this repels heat. I would think this same concept would transition to your intake pipe. IMO for a 400 WHP V8 it was minimal gains of like 3-5 hp for our cars it is not enough to even consider the effort.

But if you are serious about it get yourself one of theses and install a CO2 spray kit on it...

[MrMazda92]

The main thing I took note and interest in was the point by user DaveB about the intake air moving at such a speed that heatsoak was almost a non issue, so long as the actual inlet is kept out of the warmest part of the bay. In other words, isolating the filter separately from the rest of the bay would net far more noticeable gains than insulating the piping itself.

[Josh]

Yes, this is why short ram intakes are stupid.

[MrMazda92]

Agreed, they are for audio and visual appeal only. Well, to be fair they do replace stock cracked intake plumbing too...

Isolating only the filter offers almost 100% of the benefits that isolating the entire intake does. That's a money/time saver!

[Nd4SpdSe]

Technically you could say the same for TB spacers, and also IM spacers...

[MrMazda92]

I agree for the TB spacer... not the intake manifold spacers. The smaller volume of the individual runners would allow for faster transfer of heat, since the volume of "cold air" would be less, and that particular area is warmer than the Throttle body itself, as it sits directly above the heads.

There is also debate as to whether or not the increase in runner length adds any low end torque, and the point I made previously about the injectors being raised as well.

[OROutdoors]

Perhaps it would be the least amount of heat transferred to intake air if someone figured out how to configure the intake to be through-hood mounted trumpets. Just sayin. Maybe a functional hood scoop lowering directly onto a filter. I do like the trumpet idea for velocity sake. I'm sure there's a mathematical formula for the displacement and RPM to calculate the best width and length of the trumpet. But, I digress.

Anyway, one of the reasons that the intake spacers are so effective is because heat generally transfers better between solids than between a gas (air) and a solid. Further, heat transfer is a function of temperature difference and heat conductivity of materials. Meaning, since the engine/heads are hotter than the surrounding air, they have a greater ability to transfer heat to the intake system than the air does. So, IM spacers do a pretty good job or reducing heat transfer into the intake system.

That being said, though, anything that reduces the heat of the intake air, independent of how it looks, should assist engine performance. If someone is trying to improve race times, "how it looks" should be of secondary importance. People are known to reduce weight before a race -- remove back seats, remove spare tire, remove stereo equipment, etc. If some one is going to do all that, why not have two intake systems -- a good looking one for every day show and tell, and an insulated one for racing.

Another thought -- can't you have the best of both worlds? Can't you make a nomex (spelling?) cloth cover for the insulation? Couldn't you put braid dressing over it for good looks?

[MrMazda92]

Exactly what I am planning to do.

Well, not for aesthetic reasons though... Mainly because I don't want to suck Oregon crap weather into an air filter 3" from the ground.

[Josh]

They make diaphragms that go inline with your intake and take out the water. Though on any car that I have had besides my RX8 i have never had an issue sucking water. The 8 would suck water only above like 7K in the pouring rain and only after like a 30 min commute. the filter was literally in the front bumper grill getting soaked with water, and was a dry cotton filter. My 3G Eclipse had the filter 6" from the ground and never had an issue, it was an oiled filter.

What the TB spacer does is keeps temps down during idle as well as at cruising speeds. IMO if you want to keep heat down then use like a peel and seal kind of tar material on aluminum pipe. Aluminum piping is best as it cools more effectively.

Like I was saying before if you are really that worried about the .05 whp gain you can always get an inter-cooler and run that on your N/A motor with a CO2 spray. Or, or just cut all that and install a meth injection, that will cool things down some.