Well, that is becuase the fork has many many times the MASS of the aluminum foil. Don't forget about that. In your scenario, the aluminum foil would never get as hot as the fork.

Again, I appreciate your feedback, but its not consistent with what Clint, living in sunny and hot So Cal, and myself..living in hot and humid Charlotte, have experienced with this particular ****. Our **** also has a matte machined finish to it, and this might help as well.

And regardless of the heat soak propeties of the ****, the look, feel, and function of the ****....are really the primary selling points.

 

I think I'm well qualify to make the following comments, as this is something I do deal with professionally.

Respectably, you have what we commonly phrased in my field as having the right idea wrong strategy. What I should have listed was the ‘Specific Heat’ for each material to really clear things up. It is the measure of amount of heat per unit mass required to raise the temperature by one degree.

Material ............. Specific Heat [J/kg-K]
----------------------------------------
303 stainless ........ 502
Titanium (alloy) ..... 390 - 519
Aluminum 6063 ........ 920

I decided against using Specific Heat ratings in my previous post for the interest of not further confusing people. Instead I listed the Thermal Conductivity rating, which has a name that is virtually self explanatory to most. The two ratings are not the same, but do have a strong correlation with each other.

Under a particular setting, the amount of heat (from the sun and air) subjected to the shift **** is the same regardless of its composition (whether aluminum, stainless steel, or titanium). However, aluminum with roughly twice the specific heat rating will have gotten twice as hot as either stainless steel or titanium. Simply put, under the same condition an aluminum **** gets much hotter than its stainless steel and titanium counterparts, period. That is Chemistry 101. It is for this reason why aluminum makes for a poor choice in this case. Most 350Z and G35 owners will have experienced this hands on when they got burned by the ‘aluminum’ plate atop the OEM **** during the summer. They will also notice the vinyl (or was it leather?) that surrounds the rest of the **** was lukewarm at worst. That is because the specific heat of vinyl is many folds lower than even the best titanium. At the same time, vinyl makes for a pretty lousy heat sink because of such a low specific heat rating. Indeed, aluminum makes for a great heat sink as it captures and sheds heat relatively fast. That is no surprise as the specific heat rating can also be interpreted as the amount of heat lost per unit mass required to lower the temperature by one degree.

There is one other problem with the notion aluminum sheds heat faster. In order for that property to be significant, say the time it takes for a person to get into the car and start driving/shifting, generous surface area is needed and ambient air temperature be lower than that of the **** itself (or it'd readily capture even more heat!). Most shift ***** simply do not have much of a surface area to rapidly shed heat, so unless cooling fins are integrated, the best heat sink will actually be one’s hand upon contact! Let’s also not forget aluminum has a lot more captured heat to lose from the get go. Remember it is one thing to reach for a **** and think, “hmm … this thing got pretty warm”, versus a reacting with a quick wince of the hand followed by a four letter word.

As previously mentioned, I had a clone of the same **** made of 6063 aluminum alloy. It was simply brutal during the Californian heat. It took several dances of touch and goes with my hand before it was cool enough to grab. Never an issue w. the stainless steel version. I was trying to make it inexpensive, but it was not worth the cost savings.

Window tints will certainly help, but that isn’t the point here. Stainless steel and titanium will simply remain even cooler in that case.

 

I've lived in both Charlotte and currently live in Cali and have had no problems with aluminum *****, but I just guess it depends on how you like your heat, less of it but over a long period of time, or hotter at first but cools quicker

 

Even though I can't care less and the heat issue is totally beside the point. And I have one of the ***** on order...

NSX-r **** is aluminum
momo makes aluminum shift *****
gruppem makes aliminum shift *****
etc...

some may have a plastic film on them though

 

the only problem with this theory of yours is that if your car is sitting in the sun and you hop in and grab the shifter... that medium that your shifter **** is "cooling down" into is your hand.

and since Aluminum "cools down faster" (i.e. has a higher specific heat & thermal conductivity as Clint stated), it gives your heat-perceiving nerves in your hand the sensation of being hotter. This is what causes the burn.

Burns (and thus the burning sensation) are not caused by a thermal temperature of a material, but are caused by the thermal transfer load placed on the cooler material in the contact arrangement (in this case, your hand). Since Aluminum has a much higher specific heat and thermal conductivity, in order for a steel (303) **** to cause the same burn it would have to have a much higher "temperature" (stored potential energy in terms of a thermal differential).



Cliff Notes:
Aluminum will feel hotter than steel at any set temperature because it is more efficient at "releasing" the heat into your hand when you grab it. QED.



EDITED TO ADD: This is why you don't burn your *** off when you sit on the wood benches in a sauna, though the wood is 180 deg. F or so (which would destroy epidermal tissue) it is SO inefficient at transferring the heat that you barely feel it.

Also edited for grammatical clarity, lol

 

Hey, enjoy your steel **** and I will enjoy my aluminum ****. Opinions vary.

 

your attempt to belittle us and misinform the public has proved to be a tough job right? Well I have had aluminum ***** here in Louisiana and let me tell you, it is IMPOSSIBLE to hold your hand on the **** on a hot day (above 80) for more than a second. I have 5% tint all around and the **** ALWAYS got extremely hot. I am sorry but you are wrong. Numbers dont lie, and in this case they support our arguements quite strongly.

 

Funny how this thread turned into a clinic on Chemistry, taught by none other than Dr. Clint.

For those of you that dont know Clint personally, he is one VERY smart guy. He is a mechanical or electric engineer (I always forget which one...becuase he knows much about both), and used to work for JPL, and now works for Boeing. This guys knows his stuff...and I trust his engineering opinion, like the professional that he is.

 

Geez man I think you're being just a little sensitive here, I gave my opinions based upon MY personal experience. I've never lived somewhere that has regular 120 degree days or whatever, so I can't really comment on that. I'm sure there is a difference when you are talking extreme conditions like those but to the majority of people extreme temperature is not even an issue anyway.

Second, you must be a programmer or lab rat or something if you can't handle an aluminum **** on a wimpy 80 degree day. Common toughen up those hands man LOL

 

Doesn't a higher specific heat cpacity mean the more heat energy is required to increase the tempreture of 1 kilogram of the substance by 1 degree celcius or kelvin. The specific heat capacity of aluminium is higher than that of ss or titanium therefore more heat is energy is required to raise its tempreture, so why didn't you choose aluminium?

Edit: Im not at all trying to be argumentitive, I just want to learn a little bit on the topic of thermal physics. Im only 15years old so I can not a possibly have the experience you have, just learning from the professionals

 

Exactly, there are tons of aluminum ***** that have been in production for a very long time. Listening to these supposed "scientists" you would think that you're risking third degree burns by using one, lol.

It's ridiculous and nothing more than scientific razzle dazzle being used to push a product, simple as that.

Gettin it straight from the 'bait

 

paid.

As for the heat issue, I prefer the stainless for the added heft of the ****. I'm gonna powdercoat it clear to reduce smudging and to reduce any heat issues, (which I don't anticipate as a problem).

 

But If your PRIORITY is a cold shifter, any metal shifter is the wrong way to go! Have a wooden , resin/composite, whatever one made. THAN it would make a difference.

there are lot's of aluminum ***** around, there are also awesome steel ones around. Stainless steel is way more expensive than aluminum.

the heat issue is totally beside the point.

 

Again..I wanna stress that the heat issue is just ONE feature of this ****. I dont think anyone would buy a **** just for the heat resistance. This is a really cool, and funtional ****, and very sexy to boot. That is the main reason people are interested in it.

I cant wait to see the "road tests" of this ****, once we get it in 15 people's hands.

 

Paid! Damn you both

Can't wait to get this ... something new for the car, even on my month off from mods!

She is gonna be looking good now. Just got three coats of Zaino .. two more next weekend .. and a new shift know.

 

Terrific..thanks.

Oh, BTW, welcome to the Cult of Zano. I just joined, myself, about a week ago. The shine and depth is absolutely sic on a black car. I clayed the car, 2 coats of Z-5 and 1 coat of Z-2, and finished off with the detail spray stuff. More coats to come soon!!!

 

Im in

1) Conceited [PAID]
2) GZire [PAID]
3) 2003z
4) Nano
5) G3po
6) AlanG35 [PAID]
7) Machupo
8) disturbed2483
9) jonathang35
10)dave079 [PAID]
11)JimRHIT[paid]


Zaino ... even on my Chrome Silver was amazing. I did Z18 claybarred, then Z5, Z8,Z2,Z8, Z2 Z8 .... more to come

heres a pic I took 5 days after I waxed it (driving back and forth to Mexico everyday) ... the dust just doesnt even stick.
http://members.***.net/jimrhit/front34

 

nice....love the C4's...sweet!

 

Sorry folks ... this will be last off topic post I'll make. I just can't resist a good educational discussion.

No worries. A good intentioned post is always obvious. Now to answer your question...

Specific Heat is easily misinterpreted, which is why I hesitated to include it in the original post. Sounds like you understood the basic concept of specific heat, but is really thinking in terms of thermal conductivity. Think of specific heat as ‘capacity’ and not the rate of heat exchange. I should also point out that heat and temperature are two separate entities in scientific terms (in case you were not aware of this). Aluminum, having such a high specific heat, can hold (or lose) a lot more heat per unit mass for every degree gained (or lost) than stainless steel and titanium. My poor choice of words in some passages of prior replies may have contributed to some of the confusions. Heat supply from a real-world system is essentially infinite from the sun and the ambient air (i.e. they do not get used up), heat continues to be transferred to the **** until the equilibrium point is reached. Simply put aluminum accumulates heat ‘faster’ and stores ‘more’ heat per every degree raised.

Aluminum is a wonderful material to work with. It is a machinist’s best friend for the following reasons:

- extremely inexpensive (1/3 cost of stainless steel)
- extremely easy on the cutting tools (cuts like butter)
- can be cut quickly as the result (labor reduction)
- metal shaving is reclaimable (cost reduction)

In the eyes of the OEM and most third-party developers it is also a clear winner with emphasis on cost reduction, which is significant when dealing with hundreds of thousand units at a time. Heat property is rarely on the list of agenda to consider. This **** could very well have been made of aluminum, but as a limited custom piece it made perfect sense to incorporate additional advantages possed by the more costly stainless steel or even titanium. I was really pressing for titanium from the start, but my machinist did not want to deal with all the cons. Stainless steel was the next best choice.

FYI …

The 2nd-gen NSX-R, as well as the NSX Type-S (Zanardi in the US) and NSX Type-S Zero all come with Titanium *****.
Momo also makes ***** of other than aluminum
Team Voodoo (Copbait’s **** manufacture) also makes titanium *****.


Copbait,
I have no doubt you are extremely happy with your choice of **** and it's material. Voodoo makes a fine piece of product. I've used the voodoo tiantium on the S2000 on numerous occasions ... and have no complains for it. But it isn't the end-all of all ***** and neither is this one here.
None the less, facts are facts ... that is aluminum is indeed widely used (discussed above) and aluminum is much hotter to the touch than stainless steel under the same condition. Metal composition was not the sole attribute of this ****. It is the ergonomics (feel) and aesthetics that highlights this unit. That is all.

Have a nice day.