What intercooler are you running and for what reasons have you made this selection?

[krazy86t]

420 posts and the useful information can be summarized in a few sentences:

Pressure drop in FM and SL horizontal IC's limits power - no one has conclusive data on "usual suspects" IC;s
Vertical flow IC designs have allegedly lower pressure drop than horizontal, therefore better upside for power
If you are on E85, you might see better performance with no IC (possibly with methanol spray)
some fab pics of couple vertical IC's and cryptic comments about tests/data forthcoming...

Poor SNR in this thread

 

[No disintegrations]

420 posts and the useful information can be summarized in a few sentences:

Pressure drop in FM and SL horizontal IC's limits power - no one has conclusive data on "usual suspects" IC;s
Vertical flow IC designs have allegedly lower pressure drop than horizontal, therefore better upside for power
If you are on E85, you might see better performance with no IC (possibly with methanol spray)
some fab pics of couple vertical IC's and cryptic comments about tests/data forthcoming...

Poor SNR in this thread

Allegedly is not correct. If a tube or passage is longer the flow is reduced. Shorter cores do flow better.

 

[TURBOELKY]

Allegedly is not correct. If a tube or passage is longer the flow is reduced. Shorter cores do flow better.

This thread is misleading, that's what it is.

 

[nat86]

Boy oh boy lots of different information on this post. Ok any idea on how much psi drop through RJC big intercooler?

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

 

[Ttype6]

This thread is misleading, that's what it is.

This statement offers no information or inside. It leads us nowhere. What is misleading and what fact/facts would you add that would give us a greater compilation of information thereby leading us in a different direction?

 

[TURBOELKY]

I already posted a link from spearco intercoolers. Everything the manufacturer said, coming from an actual intercooler company I would take as factual information. This thread however, stated something totally different. What is this threads purpose?? To make people think their intercooler is inferior, 1-2 psi drop and your intercooler is junk, that's what I have taken from this thread.

 

[TURBOELKY]

All of your precision, RJC, cottons performance, anything with a 3" core, your super ultra mega front mounts...allllll junk. Please send them to me and I will dispose of them. Put a pipe from turbo to your throttlebody and spray more meth. Thank you.

 

[Pronto]

The purpose of this thread was to gather factual information on Turbo Buick intercoolers, which there is very little. Hardly anyone has real data on what a specific intercooler will flow or cool for our cars. There is a tremendous amount of anecdotal evidence on this board about all intercoolers. We only have a few choices now compared to years ago. They should be made wisely with data to back them, wouldn't you agree?

 

[TURBOELKY]

The purpose of this thread was to gather factual information on Turbo Buick intercoolers, which there is very little. Hardly anyone has real data on what a specific intercooler will flow or cool for our cars. There is a tremendous amount of anecdotal evidence on this board about all intercoolers. We only have a few choices now compared to years ago. They should be made wisely with data to back them, wouldn't you agree?

I can agree to that. The overall size of the core however, can be found online. Regardless of the manufacturer or name of intercooler, I do believe there can be some comparison is made by specific charts found on intercooler manufacturers website in general. I was told on this thread that my cotton's performance intercooler is probably only a 400 CFM unit. Then I find websites with core measurements that contradict what I was told.

http://www.turboneticsinc.com/performance/products/intercoolers/custom-fabrication

 

[TURBOELKY]

The link I posted shows the largest intercooler with a 3 inch core able to support the highest amount of flow and horse power. This thread is saying thicker core shorter smaller core best flow which would equate to more horsepower.

 

[Pronto]

I think you would find sizable differences in flow, cooling and pressure drop on same sized cores from different manufacturers. I would bet money on worse numbers from China cores. I noticed the link you posted doesn't mention pressure loss across the core. I would think an intercooler manufacturer would want to include that info too.

 

[TURBOELKY]

I think you would find sizable differences in flow, cooling and pressure drop on same sized cores from different manufacturers. I would bet money on worse numbers from China cores. I noticed the link you posted doesn't mention pressure loss across the core. I would think an intercooler manufacturer would want to include that info too.

I agree with the China cores being inferior. That's from turbonetics website. All the talk here has been pressure drop, and I understand that's one important measurement of an intercooler. When you went from a stock intercooler to a good intercooler, I'm sure there's measureable gain. Now if you go say RJC front mount to a comparible precision front mount, I wonder what gain if any, or loss there would be?

Like I mentioned, for the most part this has all been about pressure drop, no so much intercooler heat exchange efficiency. Does this thread pertain strictly to a drag car or a street car?? If it's a drag car, liquid/air really should be the discussion. For the average Buick owner, intercoolers available I'm sure would suffice. Guys are plenty fast to worry about 1psi drop from one intercooler to the next. That is why I say this thread is misleading?

 

[czimpel]

All of your precision, RJC, cottons performance, anything with a 3" core, your super ultra mega front mounts...allllll junk. Please send them to me and I will dispose of them. Put a pipe from turbo to your throttlebody and spray more meth. Thank you.

So you're saying that Bison and turbobitt shouldn't be testing/gathering information for us to make our cars better? Never did they say that any intercoolers was junk, they have only stated that they are working on a design that could possibly make our cars faster. I'm not sure why there has to be so much negativity at times when someone is trying to be forward thinking and inventive.

Bison and turbobitt, thank you for what you do and contribute to this community, I LOVE READING YOUR POSTS.

 

[czimpel]

And, they have stated that they aren't necessarily sure about the pressure drop of most intercoolers due to the fact of people not logging all of the valuable data that they would require to truly understand the real life pressure drops. I wish I had the knowledge to help them out.

 

[TURBOELKY]

So you're saying that Bison and turbobitt shouldn't be testing/gathering information for us to make our cars better? Never did they say that any intercoolers was junk, they have only stated that they are working on a design that could possibly make our cars faster. I'm not sure why there has to be so much negativity at times when someone is trying to be forward thinking and inventive.

Bison and turbobitt, thank you for what you do and contribute to this community, I LOVE READING YOUR POSTS.

Where did I say that? I'm glad they are testing, I hope actual data is posted! If healthy debate is interpreted as negativity, you can continue to dislike my posts, that's fine. How fast is your car? How much faster will you go with 1-2psi boost? How much money will you spend for those gains?
What intercooler are you running now? What modifications are done to your car? If I were to tell you my iron heads outflow champion irons by nearly 15-18cfm with my stock valves, would you want a pair or would you stick to a champion iron head because you know the name?

All relevant questions because you are following names at this point.

 

[TURBOELKY]

This thread has been great. I'm going to take me, my big ass turbonetics "400cfm" intercooler and drive over to a massage parlor for a happy ending. Have a good day guys.

 

[No disintegrations]

This thread has been great. I'm going to take me, my big ass turbonetics "400cfm" intercooler and drive over to a massage parlor for a happy ending. Have a good day guys.

Hey don't be mad. This is for future improvement. No one is saying you have to go switch coolers. Wait and see how it works and make your call at that time. Maybe you won't want it for the money. Who knows until it's ready for market.

 

[V6sleeper]

The purpose of this thread was to gather factual information on Turbo Buick intercoolers, which there is very little. Hardly anyone has real data on what a specific intercooler will flow or cool for our cars. There is a tremendous amount of anecdotal evidence on this board about all intercoolers. We only have a few choices now compared to years ago. They should be made wisely with data to back them, wouldn't you agree?

x2....

 

[Ttype6]

This thread is saying thicker core shorter smaller core best flow which would equate to more horsepower.

Very generally speaking,yes. The intercooler that cools the best will be the intercooler that can act on the hot air as long as possible. This involves slowing the air down/restricting the air flow. This intercooler forces the turbine to work harder resulting in a hotter air charge entering the intercooler and higher exhaust pressure which results in a more contaminated air/fuel mixture on the intake stroke. The intercooler that flows the most,doesn't cool the best because the air doesn't stay in the core as long. Since the turbine doesn't have to work as hard/heat up the air,it produces a cooler /denser air charge that isn't in as much need of cooling and with less pressure in the exhaust,we have less contamination on the intake stroke . We're just trying to find the best compromise between the two for the area that we have to install the intercooler into.

 

[forcefed3.8's]

This thread isnt for most. Most people on here have bigger issues hindering performance of their cars, and the available intercoolers on the market will most likely suit their needs anyway. Pressure drop becomes a major concern when looking to push the combo to the limits. The more cfm you are pushing through an intercooler, the higher the pressure drop. My intercooler is very efficient temp wise, which is raising our eyebrows to its pressure drop. I ran out of time this season to test pressure drop, but it is definitely going to be looked into this coming spring.