[Frankiago]

^What the heck are you referring to? Many companies make lower intercooler pipe kits that do away with the long hose that connects throttle body to LICP...

 

[Frankiago]

Think of it like this, you stretch a rubber band from post to post. Now you try running through that rubber band with all your power. As you run towards it that rubber band pushes back on you which slows you and and makes you work harder. This is what is happening with the stock IC piping. The clothe and rubber pipe around them has a much lower tensile strength compared to that of a metal pipe. We can also talk about the expansion of the pipe which creates a larger cross sectional area and we all know that as area increase pressure decreases. Pressure=Force/Area based on the science of that alone it is quite obvious. So in today's lesson we have learned that the hard pipe is better and not just for bling. I don't need data to prove this cause it can be proved theoretically using good old fashion math and having an understanding of material and fluid properties.

This is coming from a mechanical engineer.

Doesn't take a mechanical engineer to understand what's going on here. This is coming from a nuclear engineer

What he's asking has nothing to do with the theory behind why it would mean less power, what he's asking is "people claim it expands, but does it really?"

I don't want to put my stock UICP back on otherwise I'd take a video of the rubber section to see if it really does expand.

 

[Frankiago]

It has to expand its rubber and mesh clothe. You would have to all material properties of pipe. Just reading that made me want to face palm through my skull. Not to mention the affect of heat from the motor on the piping which would allow for the material to expand easier than when its cold.

I completely understand that you don't need to be an engineer to understand this which is why my mind if blown lol

This is getting a little beyond the scope, but you do not know the tensile strength of this woven fiber. Get a sheet of 2x2 weave carbon fiber and tug on the ends, measure how much it expands. Get a soft, fluffy cotton blanket and do the same thing. I guarantee the blanket is going to expand a whole lot more. This is an extreme example but I'm trying to clarify why it's not as simple as you're trying to make it out to be. You have no idea how much this material resists expansion and neither do I. None of us do.

The argument he made about the woven material... I'll also put that into perspective... inflate a balloon half way and pinch the opening. Tie a string around the middle of the balloon somewhat snug, then continue blowing up the balloon. Will the expandable balloon widen where the string is tied? Or will the string keep the same circumference? My money is on the string keeping the same circumference.

Now try the same experiment except with a thousand strings all tied in criss-crossing pattern. Are you going to have the lung capacity to blow the balloon up any further? Probably not. Will the turbo be able to expand the rubber section of the "pipe" any further? Maaaaybe not!

Now I feel like I have to face palm for describing why it's possible that a completely metal UICP might not even be beneficial at all.

 

[Frankiago]

No need to explain I do understand the properties of having a woven material being much stronger but unlike carbon fiber there isn't a polymer binding that material together to help maintain its rigidity. Also that string and material does not want to hold it shape it wants to return its natural form which is a floppy string. The more you boost the more that rubber tube with woven mesh will want to resist that expansion, hard pipe there is no resistance or deformation of the material and if anything what deformation there is its negligible. Which would you find it easier to maintain a constant flow, a tube that maintains its shape or one that's shape is in a constant struggle of expansion and contraction?

Woven carbon fiber starts out with no epoxy, it's just fibers. They are strong and tightly woven, they don't stretch very easily. I think you're missing the point. Nobody knows if the stock tubing expands. You're speculating that 25psi is blowing this tube up like a balloon when it's very possible that it holds 25 lbs like a champ and doesn't expand more than .01mm in diameter, aka negligible. In that event, replacing with a hard pipe will have negligible benefit besides looking purdy.

 

[Frankiago]

take the piping off and cap off both ends and just pressurize it with air.

Someone try this and YouTube it

 

[Frankiago]

I'm pretty sure there is a portion of the stock uicp that is reduced in diameter.

Yes I remember that. But I think there's another place mid-way through the pipe that reduces again if I recall correctly.

Yeah, that looks turrible.

Ok. that's exactly what I was looking for. So, aftermarket LICP's replace the "long-hose" meaning including the throttle-body intake-elbow-pipe.

Which one do you have?

You can see the part you're talking about, mine is aluminum piping almost all the way up to the throttle body. That's the AMS LICP (regular, not the tial flange version).

I think your missing the point. It still wants to return to its original shape no matter how you try to spin it. It's rubber under pressure it's goin to want to expand and contract and that's where the loss is.

No, lol, you're missing the point. We're saying it will not expand. The only performance loss you're worrying about is under boost, so the contracting is not even a factor. As for expanding, you seem to not understand the point several of us are trying to make. The seat belt example is a good one. What if that fiber wrapped around the rubber is made from the same stuff a seat belt is made of? Seat belts don't give. You can tug on them like a mofo and they're not going to stretch. If the nylon or whatever is in seat belts is the same stuff that's tightly woven around the UICP, why would it expand? This is the point we've been trying to get across to you. Why would that rubber section expand? It's not 100% rubber. It's braided nylon shit. You keep avoiding that and saying "it's rubber, it'll expand." No... it's only 25lbs behind it and who knows what type of material holding it together.

I've always supported the "replace it, it'll expand" theory because yes, it's fundamentally sound... but like ZLAYER said, we take it as fact without a shred of evidence to support it. Just theory that isn't even solid. You don't know it'll expand. It probably doesn't expand. I don't know how else to put it.