Amazing Facts About The Nickasil Cylinder Plating Used In Porsche
by Tribhuvan Singh Latest Updates through BlogsHigh performance and long life paired
together are a rare combination, especially when hinting to performance
air-cooled Porsche engines. It is conventional, even with the high-powered 911
cooling systems, and high-performance engines that run too hot. As a result of
the high operating temperature, there is a thermally overloaded engine that has
cylinders against the head and has a significantly shorter life span than stock
displacement engines. Here Nikies cylinders work to reduce cylinder head and
oil temperatures, while OEM pallets provide greater durability than Nikasil plated
cylinders.
How nickies are different
from a factory Porsche cast-aluminum nikasil cylinder?
There are three varieties of aluminum
cylinders typically found in air-cooled engines. First biral cylinders, that work
as cast-iron cylinders, then there were early aluminum cylinders, utilized for
chromal plating, typically identified by its dimpled bores. Later on, Porsche
turned to Mahle's Nikasil plating and Kolbenshmidt's Alusil. Although they both
are aluminum, that's where the comparison with Nickies ends.
How does the plating
used on nickies cylinders differ from mahle's nikasil used on factory Porsche
cylinders?
Historically, the first way to allow the
use of solid aluminum cylinders was the chromal developed by Mahle that used
hard chrome on the bore of the cylinder. Many aircraft have used it for years.
The major problem with this plating is that it is fast - it is satisfactory in
a low-performance, light-duty, low-rpm aircraft engine, but these chrome
platings do not fare so well in high-rpm turning engines.
Similar to wear characteristics for cast
iron, Porsche used a thin flame-coated "feral" coating. Although it
is not needless to say that this was an unsatisfactory solution, that
ultimately led to Mahle's development of Nikasil. So to this day, high-end
Porsche engines use this exhaust plating process. Nickel's only pure cooling
allows the elimination of cast iron, rather it is harder and more oleophilic
than cast iron.
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Created on Apr 15th 2020 00:24. Viewed 278 times.