intercooler & winter

[tsiryan]

ive been ondering, what would be the effects to the intercooler during the winter, if any, seeing asi would keep my dsm to dailydriver, so i wouldwanna drive it in teh winter

 

[silvreclips]

The intercooler would get colder in the winter which would give you colder intake temps. I cant think of any ill effects you would get. But then again the winters here are very mild.

 

[turboglenn]

The only bad thing that you'll get from colder intake temps is having to burn more fuel to match it. My MPG rating goes way down when it's super "nebraska cold" out here

 

[kenamond]

Your car will just be a bit more powerful. Colder air means that the intercooler will cool off the intake air charge more which means a denser air charge in the combustion chambers. The ECU knows this and will add the appropriate (more) amount of fuel. So you get more bang in the cylinders and more power to the crank.

 

[tsiryan]

well i was wonddering, because i couldnt find much info on this, if a intercooler could get clogged with snow or any debree due to winter, would it ruin the core to get it wet like that, or could it freeze up if it was soaked with water?

 

[silvreclips]

If you like run through a pile of snow some might get stuck in there. The heat from the hot air would melt the snow eventually.

 

[turboglenn]

Getting snow in it just helps keep it cooler Just like some of the subaru guys that put ice packs on their stock intercoolers between passes to cool it even more, just pack some snow in that mofo!

 

[xxraptor660xx]

Getting snow in it just helps keep it cooler Just like some of the subaru guys that put ice packs on their stock intercoolers between passes to cool it even more, just pack some snow in that mofo!

That doesn't sound like a bad idea. Except if there was that much snow out, I wouldn't be able to drive my silly fwd .

 

[turbodsmawd420]

It all depends on how much snow falls in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. But as long as it's not a crazy amount you should be fine. They survive chicago winters.

 

[DSM Jeff]

I've never had any issues. My car comes out for the winter and gets parked for summer. I actually have some fiberglass type window screen in front of my fmic to help prevent road salt getting in between the fins. (btw, the screen is durable, its suppose to be used on windows or doors if you have pets, its said to be resistant to clawing. Its held up great for 2 years now and the intercooler is clean.)

 

[Nofear20]

Time to go and pack 2 inches of snow in front of my side mount ...

 

[stevieraywolf]

The only bad thing I can think of is it might take a little longer to warm up.

But if you don't have a problem cold starting, you shouldn't have to worry too much.

 

[turbizzle]

you dont have to much to worry about, if you can try to always drive long enough to get the engine warm as im sure you know. the worst thing that could happen is, my instructor at wyotech was telling me this, it gets cold enough that frost can develop on the inside of your intake manifold. having forced induction makes it even worse. like i said the worst would be your car stalling out, but then if you just sit and let the heat of the engine melt it, you can start it right back up and your good to go. But thats if your in laramie wyoming where the winters get to -40. i have a couple of friends from wisconsin and they say it gets pretty cold there, but im not sure that it would get that cold

 

[tsiryan]

well in wisconsin it gets that cold everyonce and a while, ye thatwas i was worried about, all the salt they lay down rusts and that might end up meaning a new intercooler, so i wwould just sturn boost down and take intercooler out and run it with some other intake, i mean comeon how much can extra horse power get oyu in the snow, awd is all i care about. but thanks for the tips great stuff, never could find a place that could answer that question