That is a nice product. The soft ones always seemed a little too amateurish to me.

 

Thanks Jeanmarc - I agree, I would never feel comfortable with a soft tubing intake on my car or one of our customers cars.

 

I was reading through this and just had a question. I will be pulling my engine and trans this winter (installing lsd, clutch and flywheel, and welding the coolant fittings) and was going to build and intake system as well. Is there any problem with going with alum piping all the way to the turbos instead of the plastic piping? That or maybe stainless for the bottom half if there is a concern about rubbing through the alum.

 

Aluminum can fail quickly, it's very soft. I know of one aluminum rub through failure this year that was not installed very long and also resulting in turbo damage.

 

Aluminum has horrible insulating properties and will heat up quickly further raising IATs. My car originally came with RUF double walled steel spring reinforced rubber/fabric intake pipes which lasted 8 years without issues. They insulated well but were starting to show some wear and I replaced them. The pipes that Speedtech sells are made by EVOMS. They are a very durable plastic with wall thickness approaching 1/4". The drawback is that they fit rather poorly and involve a lot of cussing during install. It helps tremendously if you cut them into a few more section which will give you more flexibility in adjustment. Even so, it's not a plug and play fit. I spent a better part of the day fitting them with the engine out and than a couple of hours of final fitting while the engine was going in. At the end of the day the hassle is worth it vs. fitting the soft pipes or anything made out of aluminum.

 

Powders comments are very accurate pertaining to the installation and the quality of the hard piping piping and aluminum properties, etc.. It does make the installation a lot easier to make one more cut in the pipes to fine tune the fit and it's pretty easy to do. An additional cut on the long leg with a silicon connector allows additional in/out and rotational adjustment of the pipe for precise alignment with the turbo inlet. This is best carried out with someone familiar enough with fabrication to make a call on the fly as to where to make a cut for perfect adjustment. In our experience, not all customers have had to make an additional cut for a perfect fit, but many have had to do so, including myself. Like he says, it's a bit of a hassle to install for a few hours, but well worth it in the long run once fitted, as you never have to worry about it again and there is a peace of mind knowing the quality of the piping fitted.

We offer two styles of intake - one is the modified OEM plenum, which is an EVO product that we re-sell. This is a less expensive option and works well, but if you are going to go to the time and expense of this modification, we feel it is best to do it once and maximize your performance and flow with our custom Hi-Flow Plenum.

Our Hi-Flow Plenum, which is pictured above is our premier intake product. This plenum offers improved flow over the modified OEM plenum and is fabricated by SpeedTech. We utilize the EVO hard piping with this plenum, as we feel it is the best piping available for this application. With the hard piping mated to our custom plenum, we feel we produce the highest quality, safest and best flowing OEM style intake solution available for the 996TT.

 

Wondering if you would've said that, "yes our product is made by someone else and a headache to install. Even on my own car I had to cut it to fit"...if another member didn't chime in. You certainly praised it before.

 

Most of the hard pipes I've seen had to be cut and or 2 engine drops to adjust. That is another reason I don't push hard piping which I do sell.
I personally had the soft version for 4 year no issues. Had a few clients revert to stock and pipes and put no drama no holes. This is not about any particular hard piping version out there. This is about them all rubbinh eventually because when installing you can't put the subframe mount on to check for clearance. It's only when the engine is on car and the frame is on that you realize angles are off and you have to them drop the motor again to adjust the top in back of motor that now has no access too. Been there done that. I have not heard any client be it my soft version or anyone else's complain of holes and or damage.
Now k like the evoms for one reason - it's not going to rub thru. But had a client who took it out because it never fit and when he called they said you had to cut it to fit. Well a little to late when you just paid a shop to install it and now you have to take it out all over again. Not posting fingers in just sharing what I've seen , touched , and experienced.
I sold at least 100 soft version intakes not one complAint. Yet 2 out of 3 hard piping was very difficult to install and in the end very very costly. Not worth it when you install the soft version without dropping the motor.
Markski

 

Let me clarify a few things.

1) Our Plenum product is made by us and we source the hard pipe portion only from EVO. The we will sell the EVO modified kit, if someone wants it, but most buy our plenum.

2) Obviously you have no idea of our business ethics. I have been on this site since the day it opened and on Rennlist for several years prior to that. Many customers that use our products have become friends, some personal and some internet, but the bottom line is that we do not try to mis-lead anybody. I have told every customer this since we learned it was a common issue a few years ago (after a few customers in a row had to cut and required support) and include the necessary parts in the event they need to adjust the pipe. I cut it to get a perfect fit, but at first had it on my car without cutting for a year or so. When I did a clutch job a year later, I cut it for fine tuning. We have had several customers install without cutting, so it's an unknown. I include an extra silicon connector and hose clamps with every kit, in case it is required (as well as explain upfront why it's included during the sales call). This is a product that requires professional or skilled installation - that's just how it is and as powder pointed out, it is well worth the effort. I still praise it because I feel it is the best solution on the market for this particular upgrade. If you want the best, this is what you have to do, you may have to make a cut in plastic pipe and add a connector. It's no big deal and very easily done by a competent tech. Simple as that...

 

I figures it might be a problem with it particular location. I will make it out of stainless. I have a hard time paying 1000 bucks for something that I can make for 150-200 bucks. I like to build parts and I have a full race and metal fab shop at home so it no big deal. Again thought you only want to do it once. Cut the cast piece and weld an alum pipe with a bead roll on it, coupler then stainless after that.

 

Stainless is a poor insulator also. It will heat soak quickly just like aluminum. You can get the whole EVOMS kit including the manifold for $695 on their website. They will likely sell you just the plastic pipes for couple of hundred less so you are nowhere near $1000, likely less than half that. John at Speedtech might be able to sell you just the pipes also so I'd check with him. Good luck regardless. One thing I would do is relocate the stock fuel filter and modify the intake manifold post MAF where it severely pinches in to clear the filter. This is what RUF does (they mount the filter up higher against the roof of the engine bay) which allows them to use a plenum that does not have the large constriction of the OEM plenum. It looks like the RUF plenum is a recast piece of the OEM plenum minus the pinched in area.

 

I'll have to consider just the plastic pieces. Even with stainless I could ceramic coat to help keep the temps down. Other option is just the same heat high/high abrasive resistant hose I use on my grinding and grooving vac systems. That kinda looks ****ty though. Thanks for the info on the fuel filter. I will definitely do that. Once I have more time to look I can come up with a good plan. I just know there are huge gains there and if the motor is out, why not do it you know.
I also considered doing a single maf and doubling the flow of the maf on the tune and do filters in the intercooler intakes but it doesn't look like anyone has really tried or been successful at that idea yet. I don't have enough money to take the lean and possible pop the motor at the moment