We are very pleased to announce the completion of our boost tubing kit. We want to thank Daniel for driving 6 hours round trip to allow us use of his car. We evaluated all of the competitions offerings as well as the prices.

We wanted to keep the price down so the design was crucial. It had to promote better flow than everyone else, less work to manufacture and require fewer parts.

Here's a couple pictures of our design:

http://www.clearimageautomotive.com/...s/DSC00583.JPG
http://www.clearimageautomotive.com/...s/DSC00634.JPG

And our tubing kit compared to stock:
http://www.clearimageautomotive.com/P3260151.JPG

Over-all our tubing kit made an additional 6 HP on the dyno compared to our competitors design. The reason is smoother flow because we have no welds at all and less pieces and couplers which equal less turbulence. Our "Performance" kit is 10" shorter than our competitor which equals well over 3 cubic feet of volume less for the turbo to fill. In a nut-sheel, our design performs better than any other.
Also, our design:
Has less harsh degree bends than any other.
Allows better access to more under the hood than any other.
Looks very clean and straight forward.
Installs/removed easier than any other.
Will support gobs of power.
Is available in powder coated steel, ceramic coated steel, thermal dispersant coated steel, brushed or mirror polished 304 stainless steel and possibly 100% pure carbon fiber.

And here's the best part for you guys:

New pricing:

Our MSRP for black powder coated steel is $350.00 and includes the stainless T-bolt clamps.

We will offer the following Group Purchase:

$325.00 for 10 participants
$300.00 for 15 participants
25 Participants = $275.00
50 participants = $225.00

With worm drive clamps instead of T-bolt clamps , deduct $25.00.

Stainless pricing coming soon.
Ceramic and thermal dispersant prices will be posted Monday.

We will run this through March 31st.
uWe are also offer an "Appearance kit", as many members prefer the look of our competitors design. But, we one upped them: our finished kit will have no welds at all and the top (hot pipe) is one piece as compared to the other guys with two parts, and an extra silicone coupler.

Here's the prototype:
http://www.clearimageautomotive.com/...s/DSC00595.JPG

 

What about aluminum? If not to outrageous in price the carbon fiber would be my choice. I like the routing but would at least like it to be aluminum. I doubt aluminum would make it cheaper but there is a vendor that uses the longer route and the kit still sells for $400 with t-bolt clamps. Not trying to low ball or side bust because I do prefer the shorter route of this kit and still is not a bad price.

 

Aluminum is not available at this time. We bend either stainless or steel only. Why do you prefer aluminum?

Please PM me the link you are referring to for $400.00. Do NOT post it in this thread please.

I'll see about carbon fiber as soon as possible. Hopefully early next week.

Thanks for your feedback.

 

I couldn't tell but do you have holes for the sensors?

 

This will be a complete bolt-in kit. All sensor holes, silicone couplers, clamps, etc will be provided. Remember, we just fabricated this kit yesterday, pulled it off the donor car, painted the top tube and took some pictures.

 

Sorry but anything over $300 for some piping that MIGHT give you 2 whp is not worth the cash outlay....... I can't believe what these companies want for parts the have no real performance gain.. just looks........

If I were to do this I'd only want hot side piping only... becasue that's the only side\area that really restricts flow.....Aluminum dipserses heat, were as steel retains heat a long time.

 

We would be happy to split the hot and cold side into two different kits. As far as aluminum, sorry, we don't bend it. But we are offering the thermal dispersant coating which will allow the steel tubing to shed heat. Here's a couple pictures of an intercooler we had done for a customer:
http://www.clearimageautomotive.com/...0-%20below.JPG
http://www.clearimageautomotive.com/...ntercooler.JPG

Also, depending on the supplier we use for the silicone, we may be able to do better on the pricing. We'll take a look this week.

Thanks for your honest input.

 

looks nice! if only i had a TC.... but alas, superchargers are my deal...

 

Was my pleasure to come up, great shop! All i got to say guys is that this is a great buy, very clean and smooth lines which creates less turbulance in the charge piping!!

What he won't let you buy one???

 

We received our silicone couplers today. We managed to get them at a great price and I am currently re-working the price for the tubing kit. I'll have the new prices tomorrow. Also, since the looks of the tubing appears to be more important than the performance, when the donor car comes back up for dyno tuning, we will be fabricating another kit which looks like other kirts available. This will allow each owner the choice of two different tube configurations under the hood, for a great price and superior workmanship. For those of you with an HHR, this other kit will also work. This also explains why other companies chose to go with their particular design, it's generic to the Ecotec engine. We are proud to say our tubing kit, at least our original design, was specific to the Cobalt ONLY. But hey, we can't blame other companies for trying to cut costs on research & development.

 

Sounds like a great idea. Hopefully will be able to make it up there sometime in the next two weeks!!!!

 

Stainless > Aluminum

 

You have a PM. We are scheduling dyno time for next Saturday. If you can give up the entire day we would like to build and dyno test our 3" Down-pipe with hi-flow converter, 3" exhaust system, boost tubing kit and a cold air kit. Vince will be available to custom tune for all performance mods combined, as well as individually. We already have some of the most comprehensive dyno testing/tuning results for the ecotec engine in normally aspirated form:

http://www.clearimageautomotive.com/...%20Results.htm

With Vince of TriFecta not only being able to tune the computer, but actually being able to develop/write the programming language, there is no one in the industry who will be able to touch us when it comes to making power for this engine.

 

so this is charge piping? NOOB question...lol

 

hmmm

 

yes it is charge air piping

 

We can do stainless. It will cost more obviously but no problem bending up a kit for you. We only use 304L. Which some will refer to as "aircraft grade stainless". We are also working on bending aluminum for those who like aluminum.

Mild steel is readily available and works just fine for charge tubing. (Note: I have been asked about the mild steel we use; weather it is a "high-nickel steel tube". I have no idea where members are getting this from but the ONLY "high-nickel steel tube" is stainless steel. The greater the content of nickel, the higher the grade of stainless, which also results in a lower amount of iron. So, to clear things up, yes, we can provide "high-nickel steel tube", otherwise known as "stainless steel". If it isn't stainless steel, (at least a 300 grade stainless), then it isn't "high-nickel". PERIOD! How can you tell if your tubing is "high-nickel"? Simple: just take a magnet and place it on the tubing. If the magnet sticks, you have mild steel. Or, at best, 400 grade stainless steel which is still magnetic due to the high content of carbon steel. It will still rust. If the magnet doesn't stick, you have either aluminum or stainless steel, (otherwise known as high-nickel steel).

I hope this clears the air. There is too much "creative marketing" going on these days; otherwise known as BS.

 

how come this thread is getting no feedback? is this worth it or no?

 

I think it's because we don't have the same history as some of the other companies on this forum. Though we have proven our products and workmanship to be as good if not better than any other being offered. also, we have only posted the "pre-production" pictures of our kit. When we release the production kit with the new prices, i think members here will be speachless. It's like anything else, we are still the new kids on the block and most haven't heard of us. I'm sure our competitors are hoping it stays that way. LOL Stay tuned for more pictures, products, tunig and dyno results.

Thanks for your interest in our products.

 

Money is tight now aswell, as soon as I have some and get back on my feet I am pretty sure this is the kit that I am going to purchase.

Any word on the new prices yet?

 

I'm interested for Aluminum. I really like that design.

 

He is also going to be making another design as soon as i get back up there next week for those who want another look besides the one he already created.

 

Wow, I like that...... Having multiple designs.......... Is pretty cool. Keep up the good work.

 

you have a PM clear....

 

Thanks everyone. yes, money is definitely tight. That's why I am re-working the prices. As a couple other members already said, it is just tubing. To a point anyways, there are also the silicone couplers and band clamps as well as a little bit of welding/fabrication and bending. Powder coating is cheap so not a big expense there. I haven't been able to finsih pricing everything yet. I've been at home or with friends/family last night and today. It is New years Day ya know.

Multiple designs is not problem. We make everything ourselves in our own shop so we depend on pretty much no one else.

Keep the comments and feedback coming. without it we can't offer anything new or different or improve on what we currently have. Being a complete custom fabrication shop, having a dyno and flow bench available, and having the best software programmer in the world only a phone call away, you guys really don't need to look anywhere else. Have an idea? Let me know and we'll see what we can do.

Did I mention next week is being spent on getting the full CNC 3 axis mill up and running? That means we will be able to make our own flanges, billet dress-up parts, strut tower braces, and anything else imaginable. Lots more coming from Clear Image Automotive.