aluminum vs. stainless charge pipes

[ch1873857]

im looking for some opinions. ive been using 2.5" stainless to make hotpipes, intakes, coldpipes, etc..polishing them up, tig welding them, using almost no couplers. i did a hotpipe for a dsm that was pretty nice. the owner of the car was the owner of the shop and he told me what he wanted. actually turned out really nice. the pipes were beefy. had weight to them, nice thick walls(for charge pipes). shit its exhaust piping and mandrel bends im working with. im wondering if they are any more efficient than aluminum. or less. is it a cost reason why companies use aluminum?

within the next week or two i'll get my precision core and redo my whole setup in stainless and i'll post some pics. ill update the thread then.

[vader3120]

i cant remember correctly, ill have to look for it, but for an ideal system i think that for the cold side you are supposed to alum because it will keep the heat out and the colder air in and on the hot side you ms/ss cause it will help disapate heat better. As far as pricing goes i have seen ms/ss as low as 17-22 per bend and al as low as 28 i think.

[PoorMans180SX]

Aluminum is lighter. That's why most people use it.

[Kouki]

Alum is lighter and will dissapate the heat better than the others.

[slw240sx]

i perfer working with aluminum because its easier to cut and work with. its also cheaper then SS depending on suppliers.

[vader3120]

ok so i did get that backwords, and yes it lighter then others

[ch1873857]

im sure with the velocity of the air, the material the pipes are made out of wont matter. the core is for dissapating heat. im using stainless because it looks better, easier to weld, heavy duty, and my price for material is awesome. thanks for the replies