it would be great if someone could measure IAT's before and after (intake air temperature). I am not sure what software could help us with this.

 

There's really not much difference between the two elbows. They both function just about the same and both make power. My material is stainless steel versus aluminum on mafioso's. Mine has reinforced silicone connectors which should be more durable. Those are really about the only differences. I'm not trying to out do mafioso or anything; I just chose my materials because of access to them and to keep things simple. I'm having the elbow for my car polished to add a little bling to the engine compartment.

 

I shipped out to all that have paid except for Thomas (polished elbow) and Jason (address question). Thanks guys!

BTW, I have one unpolished available and two polished available (once they arrive back from the polishing guy).

 

From doing some very basic research, it seems that aluminum conducts heat a lot better than stainless. So hopefully the stainless tubes won't get as hot as fast.

 

You have PM, address is okay..!

 

I found a quick and dirty calculation for figuring out CFM of a supercharged engine, and my answer came out to be 460 cfm or 7.6 CF per second. In other words the air is far from stagnant in our intake tube. Coupled with the fact that the entire mid intake between the superchargers is metal, and the whole engine is metal, then I am not too worried about going overboard on cooling the intake. I think it will work great. If you want to get serious, meth is the way to go.

 

I just want my intake.........!... the excitement and anticipation is killin me...!

 

Got that youtube install video up yet?

 

It's roughly 1.5 cfm per horsepower so it's closer to 600 cfm for the STR.

 

Not yet. I'll probably have it up tomorrow. I've been swamped with work, shipping & boxing and the electrical on my kitchen remodel!

 

I also usually look at 1.5 cfm per hp. There was a member on here a while back that logged his performance with the intake tube. It increased the grams per second of airflow from approx 43 to 47 g/s. I think that's a good way to check and see if it's working without a dyno. Unfortunately, not all of us (including me) have the software to do so. Don't quote me on the exact numbers below, but there was a definate increase.

 

Very Important Install notes- I haven't done the video yet but will shortly. In the mean time, here are some basic tips/notes:

1. with a damp rag, wipe off the inside of the tube to remove any shards from the drilling of the tube. I forgot to do this prior to shipping since I was rushing. Do this twice to ensure that no metal shards are on the tube when installed.

2. 3 of the t bolts are 3.5" and 1 is 3.75". Locate the 3.75 and keep track of it. This will save you time later. The t bolts have the size imprinted from the factory.

3. I shipped 8" of the 1/2 hose. You will need to cut this to length. Install the tube first before doing this.

4. put soapy water on the inside of the silicone connectors so they slide on easier. If you wrestle with the cast iron intake elbow, you stand a chance of working it loose and creating a vaccum leak.

5. make sure that the t bolts do not hit the hood!!!!! There is very little clearance so I put them off to the side with the nut facing vertically and the exposed threads facing downward.

6. On the cam cover fitting, there is a ridge where the flex hose starts about 3/4" - 1" after the fitting. I chopped mine here using a pair of normal scissors. A sharper pair is better for a cleaner cut but I just wanted to confirm that you could even do this with the most basic household stuff.

7. You're going to want to allow a little space between the mass air meter and the tube so position the silicone accordingly.

8. On the same note, don't push the tube far into the transition elbow to the cast aluminum intake elbow. Get it in there enough to have the t bolt on there solidly, but there should be at least an inch between the two for the airflow to transition from round to oval.

 

OOh Russ, does this mean mine is UK bound now...?

 

..you may want to do more in depth research before making that claim. There is a lot of debate btw stainless steel vs. Aluminum intakes. To see why aluminum is the preferred choice for intake tubes....check out this link

http://www.supraforums.com/forum/showthread.php?465065-Stainless-Steel-intake...vs-aluminum-.pros-and-cons

 

I can't say that I recommend reading the supra forum, there are a lot of ignorant or mis-informed posts there that can be hard to discriminate from real information. the quote posted from AEM:

"Q: Why does AEM use aluminum for its intake piping?
A: Our Chief Engineer John Concialdi provides an explanation of the difference between Aluminum vs. Steel vs. Plastic in inlet piping:

The issue of heat absorption with an intake system has a degree of validity, however we have found that too much emphasis is placed on material selection, instead of the real issue of tuning the system. Our systems feature a unique shape and diameter because this is what we found to make the most useable torque and horsepower for each individual application in testing. However, for the purposes of this discussion, we will limit it to why we choose to make our systems from aluminum and the effects of heat absorption on all materials. If you do not wish to review all of this information right now, a quick synopsis of this discussion is outlined in the following bullet points, with complete topic discussions below:

We use aluminum to eliminate any chance of the system rusting, and it's lighter than steel
We limit our use of plastic because this material absorbs some of the sound energy we work to create in the inlet duct
Whether or not an inlet system is made from aluminum, steel or plastic, the thermal conductivity of the duct material has little effect on engine power
The rate at which air travels through the inlet path under open throttle, when one is asking the engine for maximum power, negates the effect of material heat soak, regardless of the material

We use aluminum—or a combination of aluminum and plastic plenums for throttle-body-injected applications that require a special plenum—for every intake we produce. This eliminates any chance of rust occurring on the inside of the inlet pipe. We have seen chrome-plated steel systems whose inner diameter became rusted over time, causing flakes of rust to travel along the inlet path. We also choose aluminum because of its lightweight properties. Heavier components place higher loads on the brackets they are attached to—or even worse, to the pipes they are attached to. We combine our lightweight aluminum design with a flexible coupling device we call a soft mount that connects the intake system to the body of the vehicle. In addition to the soft mount, we use doublers at the point where the mounting bracket is welded to the pipe for additional strength.

We limit our use of plastic because this material absorbs some of the sound energy we work to create in the inlet duct. Although we use the best plastic material for our plenums, it is still not as resilient and does not retain the visual appeal of aluminum over long-term use. Because we have to use plastic on throttle body applications, we take extra precautions to ensure that the aluminum retaining ring that attaches to the throttle body is anchored securely into the plastic plenum; this is done by making an interlocking mechanical link between the plastic and aluminum.

Whether or not an inlet system is made from aluminum, steel, or plastic, the thermal conductivity of the duct material has little effect on engine power. We have found that the tuning of the pipe, in addition to providing the coolest inlet air source, are the keys to making useable power. We perform engine inlet-air-temp studies when developing each application to determine the coolest location for sourcing inlet air. In addition to this, we determine the safest location for the inlet source to protect it from highly dusty conditions and water. To this end, we provide a stainless-steel heat shield to help minimize heat soak into the inlet area, as well as to provide protection from dust, dirt and mud.

At light throttle opening, air speed and airflow at the inlet system are relatively low. The high residence time of air in the inlet while at low-throttle settings will increase inlet charge temps when materials with high thermal conductivity are used. Typically, when someone is at light throttle they are not asking the engine to make power. Most likely, fuel economy is the issue.

When the throttle is fully opened however, air speed and airflow increase considerably. Typically, the inlet air speed of a 5.7L engine with a four-inch duct at full throttle is 34 feet-per-second, based on a volumetric efficiency of 70% and an engine speed of 3,000 rpm. Most inlet systems for every intake manufacturer for this engine are 30 inches or less. This means that the air in the duct of a 30-inch inlet length on this engine at the given rpm is 1/10th of a second—hardly enough time to transfer an appreciable amount of heat into the air stream on any system.

Basically, the rate at which air travels through the inlet path under open throttle, when one is asking the engine for maximum power, negates the effect of material heat soak, regardless of the material. We hope that this helps to clear up the issues of material heat absorption in intake systems. "

the link has moved to an shorter version:
<http://www.aemintakes.com/faq.htm#42>

 

Their motivation seems driven by cost/marketability/profit period. All their decisions are quite reasonably driven by those factors as should ours.
1. plastic aluminum and SS are all reliable.
2. low rate production costs likely rank AL, SS, plastic in that order. High rate production would be plastic, AL then SS.
3. AL and SS are more marketable than plastic. AL is more marketable than SS if it is lighter.
4. transient thermal performance is not as marketable as peak power.

 

For myself, I am concerned with city driving. The argument that at light throttle, the heat soak issue is not as important depends on the individual. I think that with a hotter intake charge, the throttle response from idle will not be as optimized as with a cold intake charge. No one is really contesting that as far as I have read.

The folks who want to sell a metal pipe [NOT talking about forum members] will emphasis that under high flow conditions it does not matter. They are correct and correct to try to gloss over the heat soak part of it in order to help convince the buyer to spend.

However it takes a certain amount of time to cool a hot pipe, a certain amount of time for the computer to decide that it should move to a cooler part of the map, and therefore a certain amount of time to get from heat soaked to happy. I think the difference would manifest itself as throttle response. That is harder to measure objectively on the street, but could be noticeable by seat-of-the-pants.

Hopefully this will come across that I am not trying to convince anyone to buy or not buy anything, just think it helps to be informed.

Also the first sentence from AEM is quite important to emphasize: first priority is effective tuning, then comes material selection.

cheers,

TonyL

 

If I was not clear: Aluminum pipes are good. Stainless pipes are good. Plastic pipes are good. Composite pipes are probably best if you don't mind parting with that much cash.

cheers,

TonyL

 

Just about anything has got to be better than the octopus.

 

That's about a 9% increase. Up to 36 HP? Can't wait!