Marc, you and I already went over the thermal properties inside a different thread. That being said, the correct answer isn't what you posted above.

 

Hmmmm.... So a steel intake dissapates heat better than aluminum or plastic?.... Well, let's think about this.... Since the air under the hood is warmer than the air inside your intake pipe, it's gonna dissapate the heat from under the hood INTO the air in the pipe!

Stupid.

Get some water pipe insulation and wrap it around your "Cold air intake" to keep the heat under the hood!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Now that we are talking about metal and heat I just have to chime in again. I am no engineer or metallurgist, but based on my 20+ years of experience as a welder I can tell you with confidence that aluminum dissapates heat far greater that stainless. Most heat sinks are made of aluminum for this reason. On the contrary Stainless is one of the most heat retentive of the steels, more so than typical mild steel and that is why distortion becomes such a factor when welding it. Also the "Aircraft Grade" stainless that has been referred to is 304 SS if I recall correctly from what I read on the website about the AF1. That grade of stainless is more commonly referred to as "Food Grade" from an industrial standpoint since its most valuable attribute is corrosion resistance, and it is commonly used in commercial food preparation equipment (an FDA requirement).
I have absolutely no idea how plastic rates as far as thermal conductivity but I would guess that it is quite a bit less heat retentive than any metal.
Now none of this information probably has anything to do with how good or bad the AF1 works as an intake tube, and I'll be the first to admit that it is one sharp looking set-up. I think the Stainless is a great choice for appearance because it polishes up brighter and will stay bright longer whereas aluminum would oxidize and turn dark. But that may be the tradeoff cause in my humble opinion the stainless is probably not the best choice of material for heat dissapation.

 

Yep, steel SUCKS for heat dissipation. Aluminum, copper, etc is much better.

 

And as far as heat soak goes the composite intakes are less susceptible to heat.

 

We keep hearing about aluminum versus stainless steel for heat conductivity, but how about AEM's ceramic coated aluminum? Ceramic is one of the best insulators in the world...although because the AEM coating is so thin, it might be ineffective.

 

I dug around through some old notes that I had from one of the dyno events and found what I was looking for. I did make a false statement when I stated that stainless disipates heat quicker, that I will admit..:o
When we were testing the stainless, aluminum and composite intake tubes we shot the temps with a temp gun and the difference was a whopping 6 degrees, with the stainless being warmer than the composite or aluminum, however the composite and the aluminum were quicker to heat up than the stainless. I'm done now.....This is like wrestling with a pig in the mud, after a while you realize that the pig enjoys it..
All I can say is come on down and see for yourself if you get the chance..

Watch your manners there Chester.....stupid is not a good choice of words....

 

Come on Marc.... I hate asking so many times, but how much of a hp difference is there between the volant and the AF1?

 

That was not aimed at you I assure you. It was aimed at metal intakes in general. I never have understood why they make them out of metal. Seems to me, that it's the worst possible material. Unless you're supercharged/turbocharged I guess... But I suppose they do look a lot cooler than plastic.

It's like fishing lures. People choose lures based on what "looks like it will catch fish". Nobody ever buys those retarded looking lures, regardless of how well they work.

 

Who's to say? You'd have to try them both on your truck at the same day, same time, same dyno, same temp, same EVERYTHING to get a accurate dyno graph. And if the gain was 2 horsepower across the board, I'm sure you COULD attribute that to anything! It's like comparing 2 different tuners...

 

I agree^ BUT from what i hear on here, it sounds like a 20hp difference, and the volant just sucks... I just want to see some proof because I have had both and didnt notice any difference on the highway, just around town..

 

It doesn't make a 20 hp difference from the stock intake!

 

I know that's what your website says but I called last week to confirm that and check for vendors that would be stocking that unit and was told not to expect anything for my truck for AT LEAST 90 days but that it would probably be more than that.

Maybe whomever I talked to is misinformed or is just out of the loop R & D wise, doknow. I don't remember his name either.

Cool though

 

I don't understand why everybody is talking about which material dissipates heat better or worse than another. What we should really be concerned with is which tubes insulate their interiors from heat better than the other because they're really two completely different issues. Obviously the heat under the hood is typically higher than that of the higher velocity air traveling through the intake pipe so do we want dissipation between the two temp. differentials or insulation? Somebody here was relating good intake construction material to heat sink material because of its good heat displacement benefits. Who wants that? Do we want the intake air to match that of the engine comparptment as Soon As Possible? Negative. What else is there to dissipate than the heat from the engine into the tube through some super heat conductor (like heat sink aluminum) Or do you want to dissipate the cool air into the warmer environment??? Either way it's counter-productive to what CAIs are advertised to achieve. Insulation, insulation, insulation is what you should be spending your energy on.

 

From http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/th...ity-d_429.html :

-Thermal Conductivity-

Aluminum: 250 W/m K
Stainless Steel: 16 W/m K
Polyethylene HD: ~.42 W/m K
Insulation materials: 0.035 to 0.16 W/m K