Best material for Turbo Tubing
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Best material for Turbo Tubing
I work at a plumbing company and i was wondering what was the best type of tubing there is out there for a turbo app.
I have access to copper, mild steel, aluminum, stainless or pvc. I know that you guys are prolly going to assume stainless, but does it really perform over the others. Wouldn't PVC radiate the most heat? Or does aluminum? Copper prices are about the same as the mild steel tubing, stainless is the most expensive, and pvc is the cheapest. Cost wise vs. performance.
Now remember im looking for performance, not looks. Im not out there to show off under my hood, i rarely open it.
I have access to copper, mild steel, aluminum, stainless or pvc. I know that you guys are prolly going to assume stainless, but does it really perform over the others. Wouldn't PVC radiate the most heat? Or does aluminum? Copper prices are about the same as the mild steel tubing, stainless is the most expensive, and pvc is the cheapest. Cost wise vs. performance.
Now remember im looking for performance, not looks. Im not out there to show off under my hood, i rarely open it.
^ yeah lol. and kinetik i believe he's talking about a manifold so aluminum would be out of the picture quickly unless its an intake mani. anyway if you want a beautiful setup and dont mine spending money go with 321 stainless. i cant remember the proper wall thickness but i'll post later on that.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2006
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From: Canada
I ment for intercooler pipings. Sorry i was a little quick when i wrote it and never really got my main point across. E.A helped me out a whole lot on the situation.
So in other words, i think that alum is going to be fine.
Although you may look down on PVC, it actually produces the least friction out of all the choices i stated. Reason i even though of PVC, is because i know a few tuners that use it as cold air intake tubing, where they have dino tested it to actually increase hp more than any other thing they tryed. Yet, with the temps that the turbo create PVC would not be a wise choice.
I have started another topic refering to my next question.
Originally Posted by Evil Aviator
Ref:
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=606682
Most of the ghetto thermodynamics on automotive internet forums are blown way out of proportion. According to George Spears (Sperco Intercoolers), heat soak from metal intercooler plumbing only adds about 4-5degF to the intake temperature, which translates to about 0.5% less hp. In other words, a 300hp engine would only lose about 1.5 hp, which is insignificant to anybody but a professional racer. At higher boost levels the intake air is going to be hotter than the air in the engine bay, anyway.
The important thing is to design the system with as few bends as possible, and to keep the bend radius as large as possible. This will minimize the pressure drop, which is a much larger performance factor than heat transfer.
The main performance value in the tubing is in the weight, which makes aluminum the more common choice of materials. Most people use 6061 in 16-18 gauge. The T6 temper shines up nicely, but you can use the cheaper O suffix bends if you aren't worried about looks. PVC would be lighter but much more brittle, and I don't think it's a good idea to place a dioxin and hydrogen chloride gas producing material in a high-heat environment.
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=606682
Most of the ghetto thermodynamics on automotive internet forums are blown way out of proportion. According to George Spears (Sperco Intercoolers), heat soak from metal intercooler plumbing only adds about 4-5degF to the intake temperature, which translates to about 0.5% less hp. In other words, a 300hp engine would only lose about 1.5 hp, which is insignificant to anybody but a professional racer. At higher boost levels the intake air is going to be hotter than the air in the engine bay, anyway.
The important thing is to design the system with as few bends as possible, and to keep the bend radius as large as possible. This will minimize the pressure drop, which is a much larger performance factor than heat transfer.
The main performance value in the tubing is in the weight, which makes aluminum the more common choice of materials. Most people use 6061 in 16-18 gauge. The T6 temper shines up nicely, but you can use the cheaper O suffix bends if you aren't worried about looks. PVC would be lighter but much more brittle, and I don't think it's a good idea to place a dioxin and hydrogen chloride gas producing material in a high-heat environment.
Although you may look down on PVC, it actually produces the least friction out of all the choices i stated. Reason i even though of PVC, is because i know a few tuners that use it as cold air intake tubing, where they have dino tested it to actually increase hp more than any other thing they tryed. Yet, with the temps that the turbo create PVC would not be a wise choice.
I have started another topic refering to my next question.
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