Aluminum Intake Piping and Other Aftermarket Parts Fitment Guide

Did you know that our universal parts have been used by customers in over 100 different types of vehicles? Unfortunately, unless we start accepting tips, we can't afford to buy and modify 100 vehicles to give application specific data, so here are some tips to help you decide what fits.

For those who don't want to figure out what they need and just want a vehicle specific kit, there are probably two or three specialists who just sell parts designed to fit your vehicle. Expect to pay 3-5 times our prices, but you won't have to figure anything out. Many of these guys are great and can make your vehicle do amazing things; we are even suppliers for quite a few of them. Their prices are fair when you consider how much time they spent determining what you need.

Check out some forums for your car. People with experience can tell you what you need. Any search engine can help you out - just search for something like "(your vehicle) forum" or "custom aluminum intake piping for (your vehicle)". Once you find an appropriate forum, browse and search it and you might just find someone who has done exactly what you want to do and lists everything that you need.

In case you're still not sure what you need, here are some tips that will help you decide. Remember that you can forgo these steps by eyeballing it and ordering from us. Then if you decide the parts won't fit your needs you can return them: Return Policy. There is no guide, no kit, and no formula that will give you anything other than a good starting point, because

"Real race teams tune with a dyno, not a calculator."

The Checklist:

• Parts support the horsepower and CFM goals of the vehicle
• Parts fit
• Necessary lines can be run to and from parts

Make sure the product supports your horsepower goals. Most of our products have horsepower capabilities listed in our product details pages. If not, please let us know and we can tell you and add it to the description. Remember that horsepower claims for almost all manufacturers are optimistic. Also remember that a high-revving race engine with nitrous and racing fuel is not the same as a Civic engine on pump gas. Generally, if you plan to be pushing horsepower within 20% of our listed capability using a street tuned, factory engine, we would recommend using the next size up.

An important factor to consider when purchasing parts (Aluminum intake piping and aluminum intercoolers in particular) is the CFM/HP required in your vehicle. Depending on many factors, your engine might need 1.2-2.5 CFM of air per 1 HP. A common rule of thumb for a typical engine is 2 CFM/HP, however there are several rules of thumb that use different numbers; anywhere from 1.4 to 2.2. The bottom line is it will vary by application.

You should choose aluminum intake piping and an intercooler that supports both your horsepower goal and the air volume required to achieve that goal in your particular application. For example, if you determine that your engine needs 2.5 CFM per 1 horsepower and your horsepower goal is 900 HP, your required CFM is 2250. you might end up with one of our largest intercoolers which supports 2000 HP and 2500 CFM. It supports your CFM requirement well, but more than double the amount of horsepower you intend to produce.

Make sure the parts fit. Check out the tool that no garage should be without: Priority Mail #7 Boxes. You're only supposed to use these for shipping with USPS Priority Mail! However, they are totally free, and if you have some left over after all your shipping, they would be amazing for building a mock-up of whatever part you're thinking of installing. They're also great for moving, storage, putting on the ground to catch oil leaks or fluids when taking things apart, and a dozen other off-label ideas. Disclaimer: using these boxes for uses other than shipping is a federal crime most likely punishable by death.

Just use our diagram, available on our product details page, to build a rough copy of the part out of cardboard. Then you'll easily be able to put it where you are thinking of installing, to make sure it fits and that the lines can be run, if applicable.

Here's a handy trick. If you have an oval pipe, to determine what size coupler you need for it, what you can do is wrap a string around your pipe and then measure the string, then divide by pi (3.14159) to get the size you need. Fitment will depend on the exact shape of your pipe and type of coupler, but this is a good starting point.

Here's some information about using silicone parts to design your intake: Intercooler Pipe Fabrication

Here's some information about water to air intercoolers: Water to Air FAQ

Food for thought: Remember at the beginning of this article when we mentioned vehicle specialists who sell vehicle-specific parts or kits at a substantial markup? Most of them got their start just like you - modifying their own vehicles and passing on their acquired knowledge through parts sales, making money in the process. If you need it, chances are that someone else does too, so why not market your own product? Under the right circumstances we'll even carry it on our website for you.

When you're modifying a vehicle, getting there is half the fun! If you design and install a system yourself it will be more fun, more educational, and typically more effective than just having someone tell you exactly what to order.