1994-2002 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
Mike,
I do not see any advantage to carbon fiber. It will be light weight, strong , expensive and exclusive.
Predictably, I am concerned with having such items insulated. The carbon fiber composite is not highly conductive. But it is thin. It will not reduce heat transfer significantly. So if this engineering exersize is going to be highly effective, then much of it must be insulated. Note that it would then be hidden, and this would be carbon fiber that you could not then look at.
As far as your pipe to the filter, yes a tapered section would be good. And for this, a composite material makes sense. This could be layed up onto a core, which could then be easily removed, if this section is not also curved. What are the ID's on the candidate K&N filters that would be mated to? Note, the outside of the CF duct would not be smooth, the inside would have the smooth finish. Which is the whole reason for the exersize. Perhaps then these would not look very attractive.
The engines in front wheel, transverse mounts, do move a lot. So the flex requirements in the plumbing might be more than you expect.
As for keeping wires away from the filter element. I would to this to prevent abrasion of the filter element which could create holes in it.
As for the turbulance created by nearby wires, I would not be concerned with this. When air goes through a filter, it looses all of its kinetic energy. This is why you need a large surface area, so that the velocities and kinetic terms are minimized. That is why the 2" X 15" stock snorkle tube sucks, because it requires that the air obtain high velocities before the filter element. This kinetic energy is lost, which translates to dynamic pressure loss which is independant of filter pressure losses. The 2" X 15" snokel tube also has high entry and exit losses. But, back on topic, the effects of the nearby wires is nothing, as the air is going to loose its kenetic energy at the filter anyways. With the large filter area, you are reducing the velocities and the kenetic losses.
I can see why you want to replace the corregated rubber hose elements. These must have significant turbulant losses. These corregations also serve to keep the hose from colapsing when the material is hot and more flexible. After the compressor stage, vacuum collapse is not an issue.
Again, one has to consider the effects of a collision on plumbing elements down stream of the filter. If the chosen materials fragment, then they can get into the turbo compressor. That would be expensive.
You know how I get on about the throttle body transition casting flow characteristics, or lack there of. The cast alluminum elbow that goes into the turbo compressor is another piece of crap. It needs to be cleaned up. I have not worked on mine, because I don't see how to remove and replace. So in line with my harping about folks bolting up expensive aftermarket items and leaving gross errors in the throttle body transition casting uncorrected, I would challenge overkill in design features in an intake system that neglected this compressor entrance elbow. I would also suggest that from a cost effectivess point of view, a retrofit Viggen IC would be more effective, so the first $400 should be spent on the IC.
Tooling is expensive, especially for limited runs. But my choice would be blow molded black polypropelene.
Have you tried a mandrel bent metal U or L bend for your filter?
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