Stillen Air Box - Heat Tape Wrap
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 154
Likes: 0
From: McKinney, TX
Stillen Air Box - Heat Tape Wrap
I have seen on here one guy that had wrapped the outside of his Stillen Air box with reflective heat wrap, and his z tube with the tape... He then painted over both with black paint. Great idea but he lost some of the qualities of the tape by painting over the reflective tape. Definitely not knocking the idea still a great idea and still helps, everyone has their own vision.
My idea and I am just looking for some feed back... Whether it would be a waste of time or would hurt or possibly a good idea. I'm thinking of taping the inside of the Stillen air box with the same tape then painting it on the inside, figured the reflective qualities were not needed inside the box as they would only be reflecting on to the air filter. Then on the outside tape the side towards the engine and the bottom but not painting them as to allow the tape to work as intended. this would give two layers of insulation to the air box and a heat reflective barrier. I was also thinking of taping the Stillen Z Pipe and not painting it either. I know it would not be the best looking idea but looking for function not a beauty queen. I live in Dallas TX, and it gets pretty hot in the summer.
Any ideas or comments are welcome thank you for any help.
Also planning on MD 5/16 spacer and grounding cables as soon as my back gets better.
Thanks Again in advance
My idea and I am just looking for some feed back... Whether it would be a waste of time or would hurt or possibly a good idea. I'm thinking of taping the inside of the Stillen air box with the same tape then painting it on the inside, figured the reflective qualities were not needed inside the box as they would only be reflecting on to the air filter. Then on the outside tape the side towards the engine and the bottom but not painting them as to allow the tape to work as intended. this would give two layers of insulation to the air box and a heat reflective barrier. I was also thinking of taping the Stillen Z Pipe and not painting it either. I know it would not be the best looking idea but looking for function not a beauty queen. I live in Dallas TX, and it gets pretty hot in the summer.
Any ideas or comments are welcome thank you for any help.
Also planning on MD 5/16 spacer and grounding cables as soon as my back gets better.
Thanks Again in advance
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 154
Likes: 0
From: McKinney, TX
This is the Tape I was planning on using...
http://www.heatshieldproducts.com/heat_shield_tape.php
http://www.heatshieldproducts.com/heat_shield_tape.php
Registered User
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 379
Likes: 21
From: Planet Earth
Wrap your intakes and airboxes if you wish. How about we do a little math though to try to understand what we're accomplishing by doing this?
3.5 Liters = ~214 cubic inches
Every cylinder will ingest air/fuel once every two revolutions.
Therefore, at 6000 r.p.m., the engine is "breathing" it's 214 cubic inches of displacement 3000 times per minute.
That means the engine is consuming 642,000 cubic inches of air per minute at 6000 r.p.m.
Divide 642,000 by sixty to find that our engine is consuming 10,700 cubic inches of air per second at 6000 r.p.m.
Still with me?
I don't have enough ambition at present to walk down to my workshop, get a tape measure, walk to the garage, raise the hood, and measure the dimensions of the air intake system on the car...and mine is stock anyway, which may not be the case for yours.
Therefore, please allow me to guesstimate that we have an airbox with the dimensions of 18" x 18" x 18". I suspect this is about 50% larger than what we actually have, but I'd rather over estimate the size for this mental excercise than underestimate it.
Let's also assume we have intake tubing that is equally generously sized. How about 36" long x 4" in diameter?
This means the amount of air we can have in our airbox at any given time is 5832 cubic inches.
The amount of air we can have in our intake tube is 452 cubic inches.
The total amount of air we can have in our hypothetical intake system is only 6284 cubic inches.
At 6000 r.p.m., our engine is consuming 10,700 cubic inches of air. That means the engine is completely refreshing the air in the entire intake system once per .59 second, or if you prefer...the engine is evacuating the entire intake system 1.7 times per second.
If you're still with me, I ask "Is it reasonable to believe that in six tenths of a second the amount of b.t.u.'s (British Thermal Units...measure of energy in the form of heat) the engine is giving off as waste that are actually finding their way into the intake system have enough time to even fractionally raise the temperature of the air moving at high speed through the system?"
Keep in mind only a very, very small percentage of the volume of intake air is going to be in direct contact with the airbox and tubing at any given instant.
Once again, wrap your intake tubing and airboxes with heat insulation if you wish. Just don't tell everyone it gives you any performance gain. The laws of thermodynamics don't support that claim.
This is written in the spirit of promoting rational analysis, not to make anyone feel stupid. I hope someone finds value in my effort today.
Respectfully submitted for your consideration.
3.5 Liters = ~214 cubic inches
Every cylinder will ingest air/fuel once every two revolutions.
Therefore, at 6000 r.p.m., the engine is "breathing" it's 214 cubic inches of displacement 3000 times per minute.
That means the engine is consuming 642,000 cubic inches of air per minute at 6000 r.p.m.
Divide 642,000 by sixty to find that our engine is consuming 10,700 cubic inches of air per second at 6000 r.p.m.
Still with me?
I don't have enough ambition at present to walk down to my workshop, get a tape measure, walk to the garage, raise the hood, and measure the dimensions of the air intake system on the car...and mine is stock anyway, which may not be the case for yours.
Therefore, please allow me to guesstimate that we have an airbox with the dimensions of 18" x 18" x 18". I suspect this is about 50% larger than what we actually have, but I'd rather over estimate the size for this mental excercise than underestimate it.
Let's also assume we have intake tubing that is equally generously sized. How about 36" long x 4" in diameter?
This means the amount of air we can have in our airbox at any given time is 5832 cubic inches.
The amount of air we can have in our intake tube is 452 cubic inches.
The total amount of air we can have in our hypothetical intake system is only 6284 cubic inches.
At 6000 r.p.m., our engine is consuming 10,700 cubic inches of air. That means the engine is completely refreshing the air in the entire intake system once per .59 second, or if you prefer...the engine is evacuating the entire intake system 1.7 times per second.
If you're still with me, I ask "Is it reasonable to believe that in six tenths of a second the amount of b.t.u.'s (British Thermal Units...measure of energy in the form of heat) the engine is giving off as waste that are actually finding their way into the intake system have enough time to even fractionally raise the temperature of the air moving at high speed through the system?"
Keep in mind only a very, very small percentage of the volume of intake air is going to be in direct contact with the airbox and tubing at any given instant.
Once again, wrap your intake tubing and airboxes with heat insulation if you wish. Just don't tell everyone it gives you any performance gain. The laws of thermodynamics don't support that claim.
This is written in the spirit of promoting rational analysis, not to make anyone feel stupid. I hope someone finds value in my effort today.
Respectfully submitted for your consideration.
Registered User
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 175
Likes: 1
I quite agree, and mentioned something similar in another post, but did you take account in your calculations that the engine can only ingest the amount of air that can be physically pass through the throttle plate and plenum, so in practise i very much doubt that it will be the projected amount, but i think the point is made
I do agree that heat lagging will make very little difference to the running engine IATs,it may have a slight positive effect when sat in traffic or at low speeds, but where the air intake is drawn from will make a bigger difference, although velocity will have a slight effect on temps.
I do agree that heat lagging will make very little difference to the running engine IATs,it may have a slight positive effect when sat in traffic or at low speeds, but where the air intake is drawn from will make a bigger difference, although velocity will have a slight effect on temps.
Stillens CAI/Z-Tube is made of plastic composite and isn't really effected by heat like and open filters and metal intakes. Wrapping it won't really make a significant difference. If you want more/better cold air, hook up with Sean (SxExCx) on his idea of redirecting better air to your intake filter....
Gary
Gary
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 154
Likes: 0
From: McKinney, TX
Thank you guys for the reply's... Irrelevant very good write up makes sense. I wasn't really expecting performance gains. After reading multiple post thought every one seems to rotate around the heat soak topic. I know this is better with the stock box but I didn't have that option as my G came with the stillen box, I was just trying to minimize this and thought this might be an option. After reading your post and the others I see that this is probably just a waste of time and resources. I'm going to check out (SxExCx) on his idea of redirecting better air to your intake filter.
Thanks for the reply's, I really appreciate it.
Chris
Thanks for the reply's, I really appreciate it.
Chris
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 154
Likes: 0
From: McKinney, TX
Sean (SxExCx) on his idea of redirecting better air to your intake filter....
If anyone can help me find a link to this, I have tried searching and have been unable to find it. I have tried several combinations but still no luck.
Thank You
If anyone can help me find a link to this, I have tried searching and have been unable to find it. I have tried several combinations but still no luck.
Thank You
Trending Topics
So Sean, how soon will you be putting the kit for better cold air distribution on your page? $49.99 with detailed instructions coming soon? 
Gary
Gary
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 182
Likes: 0
From: Bergen County, NJ
.. maybe the praise will overshadow the secret
Wrap your intakes and airboxes if you wish. How about we do a little math though to try to understand what we're accomplishing by doing this?
3.5 Liters = ~214 cubic inches
Every cylinder will ingest air/fuel once every two revolutions.
Therefore, at 6000 r.p.m., the engine is "breathing" it's 214 cubic inches of displacement 3000 times per minute.
That means the engine is consuming 642,000 cubic inches of air per minute at 6000 r.p.m.
Divide 642,000 by sixty to find that our engine is consuming 10,700 cubic inches of air per second at 6000 r.p.m.
Still with me?
I don't have enough ambition at present to walk down to my workshop, get a tape measure, walk to the garage, raise the hood, and measure the dimensions of the air intake system on the car...and mine is stock anyway, which may not be the case for yours.
Therefore, please allow me to guesstimate that we have an airbox with the dimensions of 18" x 18" x 18". I suspect this is about 50% larger than what we actually have, but I'd rather over estimate the size for this mental excercise than underestimate it.
Let's also assume we have intake tubing that is equally generously sized. How about 36" long x 4" in diameter?
This means the amount of air we can have in our airbox at any given time is 5832 cubic inches.
The amount of air we can have in our intake tube is 452 cubic inches.
The total amount of air we can have in our hypothetical intake system is only 6284 cubic inches.
At 6000 r.p.m., our engine is consuming 10,700 cubic inches of air. That means the engine is completely refreshing the air in the entire intake system once per .59 second, or if you prefer...the engine is evacuating the entire intake system 1.7 times per second.
If you're still with me, I ask "Is it reasonable to believe that in six tenths of a second the amount of b.t.u.'s (British Thermal Units...measure of energy in the form of heat) the engine is giving off as waste that are actually finding their way into the intake system have enough time to even fractionally raise the temperature of the air moving at high speed through the system?"
Keep in mind only a very, very small percentage of the volume of intake air is going to be in direct contact with the airbox and tubing at any given instant.
Once again, wrap your intake tubing and airboxes with heat insulation if you wish. Just don't tell everyone it gives you any performance gain. The laws of thermodynamics don't support that claim.
This is written in the spirit of promoting rational analysis, not to make anyone feel stupid. I hope someone finds value in my effort today.
Respectfully submitted for your consideration.
3.5 Liters = ~214 cubic inches
Every cylinder will ingest air/fuel once every two revolutions.
Therefore, at 6000 r.p.m., the engine is "breathing" it's 214 cubic inches of displacement 3000 times per minute.
That means the engine is consuming 642,000 cubic inches of air per minute at 6000 r.p.m.
Divide 642,000 by sixty to find that our engine is consuming 10,700 cubic inches of air per second at 6000 r.p.m.
Still with me?
I don't have enough ambition at present to walk down to my workshop, get a tape measure, walk to the garage, raise the hood, and measure the dimensions of the air intake system on the car...and mine is stock anyway, which may not be the case for yours.
Therefore, please allow me to guesstimate that we have an airbox with the dimensions of 18" x 18" x 18". I suspect this is about 50% larger than what we actually have, but I'd rather over estimate the size for this mental excercise than underestimate it.
Let's also assume we have intake tubing that is equally generously sized. How about 36" long x 4" in diameter?
This means the amount of air we can have in our airbox at any given time is 5832 cubic inches.
The amount of air we can have in our intake tube is 452 cubic inches.
The total amount of air we can have in our hypothetical intake system is only 6284 cubic inches.
At 6000 r.p.m., our engine is consuming 10,700 cubic inches of air. That means the engine is completely refreshing the air in the entire intake system once per .59 second, or if you prefer...the engine is evacuating the entire intake system 1.7 times per second.
If you're still with me, I ask "Is it reasonable to believe that in six tenths of a second the amount of b.t.u.'s (British Thermal Units...measure of energy in the form of heat) the engine is giving off as waste that are actually finding their way into the intake system have enough time to even fractionally raise the temperature of the air moving at high speed through the system?"
Keep in mind only a very, very small percentage of the volume of intake air is going to be in direct contact with the airbox and tubing at any given instant.
Once again, wrap your intake tubing and airboxes with heat insulation if you wish. Just don't tell everyone it gives you any performance gain. The laws of thermodynamics don't support that claim.
This is written in the spirit of promoting rational analysis, not to make anyone feel stupid. I hope someone finds value in my effort today.
Respectfully submitted for your consideration.
lol
....
....that's an engineer practicing his trade, kinda like a carpenter telling you what size hammer to buy or a store clerk telling you the dog food is on isle 4....
Gary
....that's an engineer practicing his trade, kinda like a carpenter telling you what size hammer to buy or a store clerk telling you the dog food is on isle 4....Gary
Heat wrapping the interior of your intake tubing would not be recommended. Not only will it decrease the tubing size but it will also disturb the intake air flow, causing turbulence. Pretty much the smoother and longer the tubing the better, that's why the z intake tube is better than the G without the resonators.