So how do you go about choosing the right tubing and clamps for the build? The method of connection in between components in your setup can have a big effect on performance as well. We decided to work with Burns Stainless on the tubing. Despite their name, Burns offers a wide variety of aluminum tubing, including 3-inch to 5-inch diameters, in a variety of configs; from straight to 45 degree to 90-degree bends.
While many companies utilize lower quality 6063 aluminum for their intercooler tubing, Burns Stainless provided mandrel bent piping in 6061 aluminum.
Obviously, whenever possible, you want to select the tube sizes that match the rest of the components in the system–but no larger than the outlet of the intercooler or intake of the throttle body, of course. Sadly, the world is an imperfect place, and with complex builds like these, sometimes compromise is required. That’s where transition cones come in.
We picked 5.0-inch tubing for our application as we were looking for the best possible performance, lowest flow losses, and maximum horsepower — and we were willing to deal with the packaging challenges.
Burns supplied us with 15-feet of 5.0-inch aluminum tubing, 6 sections of 90-degree 5.0-inch J bends, and an assortment of Burns V-band clamps. The quality of the Burns aluminum hardware was outstanding.
“The more ‘hard’ plumbing, the better,” says Vince Roman, technical director for Burns Stainless. Transition cones are used to mate up tubing and inlet/outlets of differing sizes. While silicon hose is a quick fix, it’s far from ideal, so whenever possible, Roman recommends using aluminum cones to connect those components. Because we were running all 5-inch, we didn’t really have an issue with needing transitions. But in many applications, it would be appropriate.
“Aluminum not only provides benefits like reduced heat, increased pressure tolerance, and overall reliability, you also get the added benefit of better flow from smooth walls inside the connectors,” Roman added.
