intercooler

[bboyt3nsk]

does an intercooler add more horsepower or does it just keep the air cool and doesnt let HP slip as the engine heats up and the air gets warmer?

[Raziel]

adds hp and quicker spooling.

[GRiDRaceTech]

An intercooler adds horsepower through a more dense intake charge. More dense= more oxygen= better burn. Why is the air more dense? Because it is cooler. Cooler air is much more dense than warmer air. It helps prevent heat soak the same way. The hotter the engine bay gets, the less power the engine can make due to less dense intake charge. With an intercooler, the hot air the intake sucks out of the engine bay is then allowed to exchange heat with the outside air, thus cooling the charge and making more power.

[marshun]

Originally posted by Raziel
adds hp and quicker spooling.

quicker spooling? i'd love to hear why you think so

[GRiDRaceTech]

Marshun, a red flag went off when you heard that, too? I've heard that even the most efficient intercoolers drop a little boost along the way.

[Tuner]

Originally posted by marshun
quicker spooling? i'd love to hear why you think so

Yes, please elaborate. And pressure loss too?

[Ziptyed]

Wow I just had a science class flashback!

[180fan]

simple. PV=nRT. as temp drops (which an IC does) pressure and or volume drops granted the other stuff remains constant. so although you increase air density, you drop the pressure if the volume of the system remains the same ie. in a turbo system you don't have significant changes in the piping, IC, etc so pressure drops.

[style54109]

So you're saying that since the pressure drops, it's easier for the turbo to spool? I don't see how this could make a turbo spool that much faster, yeah maybe a little, but not so much that you could tell when you're driving probably.

[mranlet]

The local air pressure drops when the air is cooled, but overall pressure remains high because there is still more hot compressed air forcing the cooled air through the sustem. A large part of the pressure loss from intercoolers is that something like a FMIC is a big piece that isn't a straight-shot. Ignoring the effects of temperature change, it's simply an obstacle for airflow.

Having lower temperatures can also help prevent knock/detonation, especially at high boost levels.

The more you compress air the hotter it gets.

-MR

[jasonaries]

nice intercooler thread

nice intercooler thread - I enjoyed that read.

[SilverGhost]

umm, question...

i am currently working on my sr20 swap, and when i got my motor it did not come with an IC, so i was thinking of going with a medium sized FMIC. so my question is, would that drop my boost, since im planning on running max of 8 - 10 psi?

[mranlet]

It depends on how efficient and how big and how well it has been installed.

8-10 psi isn't that much, so you might not get that much rob. If you were running something like 27psi then it might be a different story.

Basically, if you put anything in the way of a straight unobstructed path, it will cause a little boost loss. The best that you can hope to do is to run appropiate sized piping with large radius bends and efficient air delivery to the intercooler both in the turbo system and from the ambient air.

-MR