Ive seen alot of companys that do silicone hot/cold side tubes for the intercooler. Is there a reason alot of them dont use steel?

 

Mandrel tube benders are BIG TIME EXPENSIVE machines!

It's much easier to make silicone pipes and more cost friendly.

 

What about as far as performance?

 

On this car, you won't notice any difference. The turbo does not move enough volume/pressure of air to cause any "bulging" of the silicone even at 20+ psi. On other high horsepower platforms that are boosted to the moon it's worth it to have hard pipes. The only tube that's worthwhile to upgrade is the turbo compressor outlet tube on the MINI. That tube has a muffler in it that's really restrictive.

 

sweet thanks for the input man!

 

The silicone is also flexible, and will absorb vibrations and movement. Steel is not so flexible, and will transmit movement and vibration. Probably not what you want.

 

This. That having been said, well build reinforced silicone is better: it doesn't conduct heat the way steel does.

 

It's also easier to create complex shapes out of silicone than steel. You have a limited minimum distance between bends on a mandrel bender. I'm pretty sure there are some areas on the boost tubes that would make it very difficult to mandrel bend.

 

And best of all, it looks WAY cooler than steel! My yellow one (washed out in this pic) looks amazing with my Yellow MCS!



Ok, yea, poserish, but still.... :D