Aluminum vs Rubber intake. - Page 2 - Honda Prelude Forum

Daemione · 07-29-2008, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by imloggedin

I still think this is nonsense.

The article you quoted from AEM backs up what I said . . .

Go do the math yourself, it's entry level physics. You'll find that even little 4-bangers like ours pull air at speeds far exceeding the time it takes for the difference between a rubber & aluminum intake to matter. Compare the amount of air ingested to the volume of air within reach of a "hot-air" intake . . . and then compare that to the amount of ambient temperature air being pushed into the engine bay while driving at various speeds.

Or better yet, skip all the theory, borrow/rent/buy an OBD scantool & chart some IAT temps yourself.

And like has already been stated, I don't understand what good an extra horsepower or 3 is when you're in part throttle low rpm driving (other than making your fuel mileage worse).

Daemione · 07-29-2008, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by imloggedin

So tell me then, whats the loss of power due to in the stock vs short ram dynos?

It's due to the fact that a dyno does not replicate air flow during real driving situations.

imloggedin · 07-29-2008, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daemione

The article you quoted from AEM backs up what I said . . .

AEM says obviously that at WOT air passes through so fast that it doesnt have enough time to conduct heat. They also say it does conduct heat at less throttle positions.

YOU SAID:

Quote:

In 99% of driving situations, the material an intake is made out of is irrelevant.

THEY SAID:

Quote:

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

YOU SAID:

Quote:

Same goes for the placement of the filter . . . Again, the engine draws a LARGE volume of air, the tiny amount of heated air hanging around under the hood is nowhere near enough to feed it.

THEY SAID:

Quote:

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

Not quite backing it up.

Quote:

Go do the math yourself, it's entry level physics. You'll find that even little 4-bangers like ours pull air at speeds far exceeding the time it takes for the difference between a rubber & aluminum intake to matter. Compare the amount of air ingested to the volume of air within reach of a "hot-air" intake . . . and then compare that to the amount of ambient temperature air being pushed into the engine bay while driving at various speeds.

I never claimed that i could do that math. But now that you are Mr. Scientist, why dont you show us all the exact calculations for that.

Quote:

Or better yet, skip all the theory, borrow/rent/buy an OBD scantool & chart some IAT temps yourself.

Throw some bags of ice all over your intake pipe and let it set for a little bit, then take a drive and tell me if the intake temp is any cooler. According to you it wont matter, at any RPM.

imloggedin · 07-29-2008, 10:47 PM

BTW. Ever hear of an intercooler? It must be magic!

Shimee · 07-30-2008, 12:53 AM

the dilemma you are face with this kind of choice is as follows (with a prelude): do you want to get an intake because you are serious about modding for better performance because you drag/auto-x your car, or do you want to get the thing for looks and/or performance gain?

if it were any other car with a cheaply designed intake, there would be gains in performance and fuel economy. however, at a time the prelude was a flagship for honda and performance (such as the intake) was NOT a backburner detail.

would you put an intake on a porsche/bmw/lamborghini/ferrari/etc? yeah yeah i know the lude is no where in that league (i hope that wacko who avidly defended the prelude's low stature doesn't see this) but it's comparable, albeit on a microscale.

imloggedin · 07-30-2008, 07:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shimee

if it were any other car with a cheaply designed intake, there would be gains in performance and fuel economy. however, at a time the prelude was a flagship for honda and performance (such as the intake) was NOT a backburner detail.

agreed.

Several cars ive had from the 80s had horrid intakes.

petern101 · 07-30-2008, 07:48 AM

The whole "put bags of ice on the intake" is a pretty different from normal driving conditions. You are artificially trying to cool intake temps. It really has nothing to do with this. You could also dyno in a freezer with no humidity and get more power.

In the end, this aluminum vs rubber debate is all on paper. Could you feel the difference if you were stuck in traffic / running on the highway / racing on the course? Probably not.

imloggedin · 07-30-2008, 08:40 AM

The point is that temperature on the pipe effects the air flowing through it. Weather its cold or hot. Thats been the point all along.

petern101 · 07-30-2008, 02:41 PM

^yes I realize that. But how much does it actually affect it?

Enough to notice? I.E so your IAT is 7-10 degrees hotter if you had an aluminum pipe...in the grand scheme of things, that really doesn't affect your car that much.