Refrigerant Intercooler

[RUQWKNF27]

Has anyone run or know of someone who has run one of these.. They look very efficient since you are using refrigerent from your A/C to cool the incoming air. I think they are about $2000.00. Maybe that is why I have not heard of them. Like my friend said one of these an maybe 28 pounds of boost with alcahol injection would make one sweet street car. Here's the link...= http://www.coolflow.com/prod1.htm

 

[turbo buicks]

those seem cool but id bet you can make on for wayyyyyyy less. one thing i dont know about is their WOT runs. only 140* pre-ic at WOT? they must not be running too much boost. oh well does anyone know how they work? do they flow the crap thru a core or is air flowed over a internally chilled core?

 

[GN SBS]

It's a great idea and one that I believe folks here have tried in the past.

FYI, the new Ford Lightning (the concept is now being shown at the big auto shows) will have such a system from the factory! Supposedly worth 50hp when activated. Obviously take the claim with a grain of salt, but still a fantastic idea.

-S.

 

[49-blues]

What would you have to do- run the a/c and then before a 1/4 run shut it off?

 

[RobV6]

Looks like a great idea. Funny but years ago. I knew of someone that put a plate over the fins. Then would freeze it.
Before a run.
This looks so much smarter.........How difficult would it be,
to do this? Great idea!

 

[granatl]

As far as I know, I'm the only one that has one of these. It typically works very well. You drive around for a few minutes and chill the water, then use the cold water for the 1/4 mile pass.

One problem that I've had with mine is that water expands (of course) as it heats up. So this tends to cause a small leak, and eventually an air bubble in the lines. Once the bubble forms, the pump will not circulate the water. I plan on adding a reservoir tank to alleviate this, but haven't done so yet. I also had to grind about 1/4" off the water pump nipple to keep it from grinding into the intracooler. Pretty minor problems, really.

 

[turbo buicks]

would this be a good idea in a street car or does it do better when time is allowed for it to recharge? how about a DIY system? what are we talking here? does it use a different core?

 

[granatl]

Works great in a street or race car. Keep in mind that I live in Vegas, so the interior A/C isn't as good as it would be w/o it. Usually it doesn't take long at all (less than 5 minutes) before I notice an increase in low-end torque, etc. To shorten the story, I had one time that I was driving in 3rd gear and punched it. At ~16 PSI, the wheels broke loose and started putting me sideways.

At some point, I'd like to put freon solenoids inline, so as I can only cool the interior or only cool the intracooler.

Essentially, it's a stock intercooler that (I assume) has the fins removed. Instead it contains an evaporator core, and then the whole thing is encased in water-tight aluminum. At the top are 2 water nipples (1 in, 1 out, direction shouldn't matter). Then there's 2 freon lines (direction does matter). All that it is stuffed between the 2 intercooler necks (one of them being the Dutweiller neck).

 

[turbo buicks]

the water is cooled by the refridgerant right? kinda like a water/air cooler just the water is no longer being cooled off by ambient air like a radiator. am i right?

 

[turbosam6]

Out of curiousity, doesn't the unit sweat? I would think that would get you booted from the track in a hurry!

 

[87grandnat]

looks like a really good idea, but seems to me that you could make one for a hell of alot less.

 

[granatl]

Refigerant indeed cools the water, but it doesn't have to be. You can let it be dry.

I live in a desert, so I've never had condensation problems like you're speaking about.

I've never welded anything in my life. If you're good at aluminum welding, understand A/C, etc., I suppose you could do it for considerable cheaper.