3 inch intercooler piping?

[loweperf]

Not really,what are calling "outflowing"?Over 300fps?

The discussion seems to be if 3" intercooler piping would be worth the trouble of making it.

Just like exhaust where 2.5" maybe fine but a step up to 3" usually shows some gains.Not saying it will help everyone but I doubt anyone would notice a loss by going to 3" piping.

That's what I'm saying. 3" tubing will not increase performance unless your smaller diameter tubing was a restrition to the amount of air you are trying to flow. On the other hand it shouldn't hurt anyone either.

 

[RipperXX]

Wouldln't 3" pipeing reduce low end torq?

 

[oldman]

Just like exhaust where 2.5" maybe fine but a step up to 3" usually shows some gains

That is not a fair compairison. The question is, will the step down flange between a 3" DP and a 2.5" cat back cause tubulence therefore hinder some performance? Common sense tells me yes.

The discussion seems to be if 3" intercooler piping would be worth the trouble of making it.

.Not saying it will help everyone but I doubt anyone would notice a loss by going to 3" piping.

Whether it will hurt aside (don't forget lag), you just answered your own quesion.

I think whether one should go with 3" IC pipes depends on your goal and current situation. If you already have 2.5", you should stay with it until you're ready for 3". If you have big plans for sure but are still on stock pipping, for the purpose of not upgrading twice then yes, go with 3". Unless you have extra 3" pipping laying around and you're bored like the original poster , money can be better spent some where else.

 

[blue1]

Going by what most are saying is if you use a bigger intercooler the extra area the air has to travel through is not going to be a benifit either! I am running a 4g63 with only a TD05-17c on it with 3" intercooler plumbing, 3" inlet and outlet FMIC and a 65mm throttle body! no problems so far drives really good as a daily i really havent noticed any difference from the 2" plumbing it had on it when i first had it running. i think just to have the little bit more area for stored compressed air doesnt hurt, if you find your boost is dropping off go for a bigger turbo not smaller plumbing.

 

[97gstnick]

That is not a fair compairison. The question is, will the step down flange between a 3" DP and a 2.5" cat back cause tubulence therefore hinder some performance? Common sense tells me yes.



Whether it will hurt aside (don't forget lag), you just answered your own quesion.

I think whether one should go with 3" IC pipes depends on your goal and current situation. If you already have 2.5", you should stay with it until you're ready for 3". If you have big plans for sure but are still on stock pipping, for the purpose of not upgrading twice then yes, go with 3". Unless you have extra 3" pipping laying around and you're bored like the original poster , money can be better spent some where else.

yes your right, i may be a little bored. but i am very curious too. i havent seen a good thread about this yet and im not gonna sit around and wait till it pops up. i guess ill have to be the test subject here. its ok though, i dont mind. if i can help some people out than thats cool. and another good reason why i want such big piping is because i have goals later on of pushing lots of power. i might as well go big now.

 

[larsrya8]

Did you finish the piping yet? I'm thinking of doing this to get some more performance out of my T-25.

Haha just kidding. But seriously, let us know how it worked out for you.

 

[tsibryan]

I too am curious about this 3" piping business. My car is nowhere near the point that it needs anything that big, but I have an IC laying around w/ 3" inlet and outlet. If there's no downside to 3", I might as well do it that way the first time. Sure, it costs a little more and would require some piping ingenuity, but I think I'd be up for the challenge. Let us know how it works out please. And take lots of pictures. Thanks and good luck

-Bryan

 

[97gstnick]

I too am curious about this 3" piping business. My car is nowhere near the point that it needs anything that big, but I have an IC laying around w/ 3" inlet and outlet. If there's no downside to 3", I might as well do it that way the first time. Sure, it costs a little more and would require some piping ingenuity, but I think I'd be up for the challenge. Let us know how it works out please. And take lots of pictures. Thanks and good luck

-Bryan

dont worry man, i will post some pics and details about how it runs. i am actually installing the intercooler right now and most of the pipes. but i also have another problem that i need fix. like a blown head gasket or turbo seal. so it could be a little while.

 

[97gstnick]

whats up guys. i just wanted to update this thread a little. i did end up getting all the piping done. i will post some pictures up later. i cant drive it yet though, my turbo is being rebuilt. but anyways, it looks pretty good for me making it myself... you'll see.

 

[97gstnick]

whats up guys. i just wanted to update this thread and let you all know that i have the piping on now. the car drives good except for a stutter at 4500 which i believe is the plugs or i need to tune the maft. other than that, it will pull pretty hard up to it. i will get you guys some pics soon.

 

[tsibryan]

Awesome. I was wondering if you actually went through with it or not

 

[tsibryan]

Dead thread? Nick your mods list says your IC and pipes are on, can you post some pictures up for me? I'm working on the 3" piping for my 1G right now, and I'm curious as to how it went on a 2G

 

[Stapl3]

Post your results next to 2.25" piping results to let us know how much better the smaller size is.

 

[tsibryan]

Hehe. Well my SMIC was messed up in a collision, and I just happened to have an intercooler with 3" end tanks. I think it's cheaper to run 3" piping rather than buy 4 3-inch-to-2.5inch reducers. But I'll post up some pics. Should be done this week

 

[wret]

I haven't followed this whole thread but it seems slower spool due to higher volume of tubing is always an argument against larger pipe. Here are some numbers for consideration:

-6 feet of 2.5 inch pipe has a volume of 353.4 in³
-6 feet of 3.0 inch pipe has a volume of 508.9 in³ (155.5 more)
-It is not uncommon for an upgraded turbo to flow around 500 cfm
-At a rate of 500cfm or 14,400 in³/sec it takes about 0.011 seconds to fill the additional space.

So, from an oversimplified mathematical standpoint, it seems that It would take about a tenth of a second longer to reach full pressure with 3" pipe over 2.5".

 

[tsibryan]

I haven't followed this whole thread but it seems slower spool due to higher volume of tubing is always an argument against larger pipe. Here are some numbers for consideration:

-6 feet of 2.5 inch pipe has a volume of 353.4 in³
-6 feet of 3.0 inch pipe has a volume of 508.9 in³ (155.5 more)
-It is not uncommon for an upgraded turbo to flow around 500 cfm
-At a rate of 500cfm or 14,400 in³/sec it takes about 0.011 seconds to fill the additional space.

So, from an oversimplified mathematical standpoint, it seems that It would take about a tenth of a second longer to reach full pressure with 3" pipe over 2.5".

Doesn't .01 = 1/100th?

 

[wret]

Duh, just when I was trying to sound smart.

 

[Stapl3]

The air would probably move faster in a smaller diamater pipe than a 3". That's one important aspect not to overlook. I won't even try to figure out #'s on that, it's way over my head.

 

[XakEp]

Real world experience here. I was aware that 3" piping would slow down boost a little, but offset that by getting a BJ manifold, bigger TB, exhaust and ported 1G head. Oh, and a 4g64 block.

Boost comes on decently quick with the GT40, and I dont experience lag between shifts.

 

[97gstnick]

hey i wanna let you guys know that all my 3 inch piping is done. it looks real good. car drives good too. i will post up some pics later. i have to go to tennesse a bit, but in a few days i will.

 

[pboglio]

Buschur a long while back stated a pretty good gain when opening up the "intercooler" inlets and outlets to 3", along with adding 3" of core length. Something to do with a better distribution of air throughout the intercooler, not exactly a gain from bigger pipes per say.

I'm good with 2.5". I could probably gain tons and tons more by ditching my tiny 1.75" 90* elbow off my T28 and the dorky 180* 2" bend on my lower I.C. pipe.

 

[alcali247]

hey i wanna let you guys know that all my 3 inch piping is done. it looks real good. car drives good too. i will post up some pics later. i have to go to tennesse a bit, but in a few days i will.

if your car drives good why are you on another post saying that your car feels slower than it should be and that you got beat by an srt with an exhaust?

 

[oldman]

if your car drives good why are you on another post saying that your car feels slower than it should be and that you got beat by an srt with an exhaust?

 

[97gstnick]

well, tell you the truth, it felt like it was driving fine! then i got beat and was like.. wtf?!?! . i had to rethink my setup. i realize its not as fast as it should be. but its still quick, with traction i could easily see a 13. im trying to tell you guys that its quick, but it should be faster. at least according to alot of peoples experiences.

 

[oldman]

Without reading through the other thread, did you leak test after the 3" pipe project? It would be a big chance you're taking if a leak test wasn't done after an intake project such as this.