I'm in the middle of modding my starion intercooler.

The tubes I cut off the intercooler are about 1.75" ID. I had planned on chopping up the long pipe and reusing it.

My question is this: Does it really make a big difference to use a larger pipe size? If so, why did mitsubishi use 1.75? I keep reading about everybody using the bigger pipes tho....

If the recommendation is to use a bigger in/out pipe, where can I get a short (~1 ft) length of that pipe in aluminum?

Thanks,
John

 

first of all, if you can afford someone to weld new/bigger pipes on the intercooler, do it! If not, it's useable as is, but the smaller tunes will cause a restriction to the air flow. The more the restriction, the bigger the pressure drop between you turbo and intake. For example, your turbo may have to put out 8 pounds of boost to see 5 pounds of boost at the intake due to small/poorly run tubing. AS far as why mistubishi used that size...who knows...maybe that size matched the throttle body...I've never had a starion TB in my hands so I don't know how big it is. And as far as where to get the aluminum pipe. try jegs/summit/jcwhitney. You may not be able to get just a 1 ft. section but they'll have what you need. A large truck (semi) repair shop may also have what you're after.

 

If you are going to modify it, get some 2 1/4 end pipes (atleast!)

Jeff