IPD, also known as Innovative Pro Design has been designing, testing and manufacturing plenums since 2004. Their plenums and thermal blankets are nothing short of top quality, and IPD has the best dyno proven bolt-on power in the industry. You can check out Vivid Racing’s entire stock of IPD plenums here.
IPD sales manager Greg Martin discusses the topic of heat soak and thermal conductivity with IPD plenums in the video below. He explains the reasoning behind why these plenums do not experience heat soak during driving and racing conditions.
Q: Do the cast aluminum IPD Plenums experience “heat soak”?
A: Aluminum has a relatively low thermal mass. It’s capable of heating up quickly but because of its molecular packing configuration it’s not capable of storing much energy. While theoretically it does have a higher thermal mass than plastic, the resulting change in inlet air temperature is minimal. At IPD we pay close attention to the whole package; not only the fluid effects of air flow, but also the thermal and mechanical. Extensive testing keeps our claims honest and we will continue to share data as we improve our product.
Comparing aluminum to plastic. Aluminum no doubt gets hotter faster, but it also gets colder faster. Once the car is parked, the Plenum as well as the entire intake system, experience “Heat Soak”. On the other hand, when the car is being driven the intake air being drawn through the intake system actually cools the Plenum more quickly therefore dropping charged intake air temperatures.
The colder the air traveling through the intake system the higher the increase in horsepower. Cooler air is “denser” air, because cooler charged air carries more potential energy. This increase in energy allows for greater combustion within a given volume, ultimately yielding more power and efficiency.
