OzFxCoupe

I know aluminium is widely used for air intake piping but is stainless steel OK to use?

Aluminium dissipates heat quickly & is light... but the intake doesn't really get that hot & the weight doesn't really faze me so if I can get some stainless steel piping can I use that? Or is it a big no no?!

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

'treezy

You don't WANT your CAI tubing to dissapate heat. If it's giving off heat that means what's inside is hot, which is what you don't want. You want it to protect from heat, keep what's inside cool. I think SS would be a BETTER option than Aluminum, maybe I'm missing something here but I'd say go for it...

Aluminum is lighter, that's all

jToIeB

I would have to agree. Would that not also explain why you see exhaust/headers in stainless steel and not aluminum...

TibRacer01

I think that most intakes are made out of aluminum for the weight/cost factor.

OzFxCoupe

So stainless steel won't be a problem then...

I just wanted to make sure before I go cutting stuff up...

Also, I've been told that it's hard/impossible to bead the ends of stainless piping... I don't want my filter falling off or anything...

hamhead

Stainless Steel is the worst material you could use. Its heavy and keeps heat inside of it, and heats up the inside of it easy. BAD, BAD, BAD.

You'd be surprised at how hot your intake temperature is. With a cold air intake, your probably sitting around 150 degrees by the time it hits your engine with a CAI. Aluminium is much much lighter and gets rid of heat a hell of a lot more. It heats up quickly, but gives it off very fast.

Stainless Steel keeps heat in, which is why its good for the exhaust side. There it is the best material for the job over there, not on the intake side.

EDIT: Yes aluminum is way easier to work with as well.

OzFxCoupe

So... It's not alright then?!

Bugger!! I'm gonna have to wait to see what else is said before I go & get the piping then...

hamhead

Think of it like this. You've got a stainless steel and aluminum piping, same filter, same conditons. At the beginning the intake charge is say... 72F. Assuming your placement is where the AEM goes, it will go by the transmission very close, and the rest of the way by the engine itself. Stainless steel takes in heat very well, and then keeps it in. Your intake charge is going to get hotter, and then get even hotter because it won't let the heat out. The hotter air becomes less dense, meaning less power, and it creates more engine problems.

Go run your car @ higher RPM for a bit, then park it and pop the hood quickly. The heat escaping the engine bay will warm your face pretty good. It gets really hot in there. If you want to burn yourself you could touch your transmission and down the side of the engine and see what type of heat the piping will go by. tongue.gif

Aluminum piping would take in the charge @ 72F. It will start to lose some of that heat even before it gets near the tranny and engine. The engine and tranny are going to heat it up, but its going to lose a fair amount of that heat compared to SS, which will keep all that heat in the intake stream.

OzFxCoupe

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (hamhead)</div><div class='quotemain'>Assuming your placement is where the AEM goes, it will go by the transmission very close, and the rest of the way by the engine itself... The engine and tranny are going to heat it up...</div>

Yeah, I get what you're saying... makes sense.

I won't be using the AEM CAI as the basis for the design of my CAI though... It wont go anywhere near the tranny... or even that close to the engine really... it's going more or less straight through to the fender-well from the TB (obviously the battery will need to be repositioned). It's the straightest, shortest passage for the CAI piping to the fender-well... Like KayJai's & Col's...

MechaniX_034

Just out of curiousity, how much time does the air within the CAI take to get to ambient temps, and how much time does that air remain in the CAI to begin with?