Dale Gribble

He's been racking his brain trying to figure this out. Maybe some of you know the answer to this. As best as i can figure it's because silicon is better resistant to heat. Metal becomes quite hot quite easily.

He wants to know:

What (if any) are the advantages of using silicone intake pipes over aluminum ones?

why is samco sport one of the only companies who offers a silicone intake pipe?

Thanks guys.

Riad

How expensive is that?? What would you achieve by reducing the heat from the intake pipes?

Dale Gribble

Cold air into the engine? :S
Pricewise, can't be more than a fabspeed cold air kit. Cept his car is a mitsubishi eclipse so everything is half the price as our stuff

1999Porsche911

It all depends on the purpose of the tube and it's location to outside heat. Silicone will better protect from heat entering through it from the outside, but will also reduce heat escaping from the inside. Near exhaust pipes, etc, silicone might be better (with heat shielding and/or air space). But in areas where heat is not high, aluminum tubes will be better fro reducing the heat INSIDE the tube.

You also need to consider which provides the least resistance to air movement. Obviously, the less resistance, the cooler the air. IMO, stick with the aluminum.

dallasboats

FYI, Silicon also know as Si is used in the semiconductor industry, it's easily doped to become a conductive material or a resistive material. This is not the same as Silicone.

delirium

I think silicone would heat up more slowly, but would cool down more slowly as well. Alum. would heat up quick & cool down quick.

marlinspike

Silicone is better for an intake tube, aluminum looks cooler and may be worse by such a slight amount that it doesn't matter, or it may be worse by enough that it does matter. This is summarizing what John Hennessey once said.

Ubermensch

As others have pointed out, insulating materials are preferred for intake tracts that do not experience significant positive pressure since they prevent heating of the air due to high underhood temperatures. In turbocharged applications, metals are sometimes preferred to prevent deformation under high boost pressure. In most cases the engine compartment is much warmer than the air flowing in the intake track (in NA applications) so heat escape isn't of concern. Maybe if you had a non-intercooled turbocharged engine with extremely high intake temperatures you'd want to worry about the effect, but realistically you'd probably be better of intercooling than changing to metal intake tubes for heat exchange.

gr8330

I've always enjoyed the look of silicone

Shark

Aluminum makes the juggs feel too hard

Shark

Sorry, first thing that came to mind when reading the thread title

gota911

Me too, but alas, I gave into a rare moment of restraint! I hope that doesn’t happen again!

Dale Gribble

Your an american! Restraint is for the french. I'll let it slide tho because u contributed 2 the beaver thread