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C&L Racer or Street? Best price?

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Old 03-29-2007, 06:12 PM
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richmod
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Default C&L Racer or Street? Best price?

I already have the XCal2 with canned tunes. Planning on getting some tunes from Doug at B amachips.

As far as CAI, narrowed it down to C&L racer or street. Seems like main difference is metal vs. plastic tube. other than weight, is there any advantage/disadvantage of one or other? I seem to remember reading something aboutmetal causing heat turbulence or something like that- true or no?

Also, who has the best price? Just need CAI, no combo tuner deal.
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Old 03-29-2007, 06:31 PM
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CrazyAl
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Default RE: C&L Racer or Street? Best price?

The racer has a larger diameter MAF housing. This means that if your engine has serious mods (heads and/or cams) then the Racer will make a little bit more power....but the opposite is also true. If you don't have heads or cams then the Street makes a little bit more power.

I don't know who has the best price. I would buy from Doug as long as his price is at least OK. It's a good thing to keep your tuner happy with your business.
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Old 03-30-2007, 12:00 AM
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richmod
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Default RE: C&L Racer or Street? Best price?

Any opinions on the metal tube heat issue?
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Old 03-30-2007, 12:09 AM
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steelcomp
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Default RE: C&L Racer or Street? Best price?

Aluminum is a great heatsink...which means it transfers heat real well...directly to the incoming air. The plastic is a good insulator, and although will saturate and transfer heat, not near as much as the aluminum. There shouldn't be any power loss with the 95mm MAF tube...it still dosen't flow what the throttle body will. I've heard before what Al said about the street making slightly more power, but I think it's more circumstantial, and that there were other factors involved. If there is a power difference, it's not enough to notice. The one thing you may consider...if you intend to use nitrous, get the alum. version. The all-too-frequent nitrous backfire will make little plastic pieces out of the race model.
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Old 03-30-2007, 12:17 AM
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richmod
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Default RE: C&L Racer or Street? Best price?

ORIGINAL: steelcomp

Aluminum is a great heatsink...which means it transfers heat real well...directly to the incoming air. The plastic is a good insulator, and although will saturate and transfer heat, not near as much as the aluminum. There shouldn't be any power loss with the 95mm MAF tube...it still dosen't flow what the throttle body will. I've heard before what Al said about the street making slightly more power, but I think it's more circumstantial, and that there were other factors involved. If there is a power difference, it's not enough to notice. The one thing you may consider...if you intend to use nitrous, get the alum. version. The all-too-frequent nitrous backfire will make little plastic pieces out of the race model.
So, just so I'm clear - the aluminum may actually warm the air, thus making it a bit less effective than the plastic. Also, the 95 mm MAF tube, although arguably a bit less effective than the 85 mm, will not cause any problems. Correct?
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Old 03-30-2007, 12:19 AM
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jonpo
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Default RE: C&L Racer or Street? Best price?

Heat soak is not a problem because the air is coming in so fast, the tube does not have time to warm the air. If search would ever work, there are some good threads on this
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Old 03-30-2007, 12:31 AM
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richmod
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Default RE: C&L Racer or Street? Best price?

yea, search is pretty much worthless lately.
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Old 03-30-2007, 12:36 AM
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CrazyAl
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Default RE: C&L Racer or Street? Best price?

Steelcomp is correct that Aluminum is an excellent conductor of heat. However, Intake charge warming is not a real concern. Here is why:

1) When are at a stop then yes, the intake tube heats up. When you start moving, however, the underhood air is no cooler than the intake tube anyway so there is no real difference to be had.

2) Once you are up and moving beyond about 10 MPH or so, then the air coming through the tube will start carrying away some heat (in other words, will be heated up slightly). But due to how fast the air is moving through the tube, the temperature rise will be very small per unit volume. You might see intake temps go up by a degree or two, but that is not enough to noticeably affect performance.

3) While aluminum is a good heat conductor, it's specific heat (aka "heat capacity") is low. So the amount of heat that the intake tube could "store"--even if it were 100% transferred to the intake charge--is fairly low.


As for the power loss one way or the other due to MAF sizing, the logic is as follows: Any sensor has an accuracy that is tied to it's operating range. The larger the capacity of the sensor, the less precise the measurement is. For example, a bathroom scale typically has a minimum resolution of one pound. However,one of the scales used for weighing produce in the grocery store can weigh down to a 1/4 pound or so. A scale at the post office can weigh down to a fraction of an ounce, and so on.

The issue is that while the racer's MAF could support more airflow (if you need it, of course), it is also less precise than the smaller MAF. That means that at partial throttle conditions, the ECU will be getting a less accurate determination of how much air is entering the engine. As with any other engine, the key is to match your parts based on the whole system. You wouldn't put a 1000 CFM Dominator carb on a 260 cubic inch small block--it would run horribly. Does that mean it's a bad carb? Not at all. But it is bad for that application.

Now I will freely admit that these points are nitpicky, and the difference in performance is not going to be large (in either direction). But,in my opinion the choice is clear:

If you have heads or cams then buy the racer. If not, buy the street. That way you will have the best match of the MAF to your engine's airflow needs.
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Old 03-30-2007, 12:41 AM
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Default RE: C&L Racer or Street? Best price?

Thanks everyone for the great info.
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Old 03-30-2007, 11:49 AM
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Default RE: C&L Racer or Street? Best price?

Not sure about best price as there is always someone out there willing to sell something for less. However we have both intakes in stock with same day shipping at very competitive pricing.

Give us a call if there's anything we can help you with. Thanks, Jared

http://www.lethalperformance.com/pag...d-filters.html
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