are HUGE intercoolers needed?

[ShapeGSX]

I'm sorry, I must have missed something along the way. What did we prove that Shep was "getting away with?" What benefit is he getting by not using the biggest IC he can cram under his bumper? Why does this guy need this IC?

That isn't obvious? Lower weight.

Shep runs nitrous. Nitrous cools down the intake charge.

 

[GPTourer]

Since Shep is only running for 8/9/10 seconds at a time, heatsoak shouldn't be his main concern. I assume (I don't know him, so I'm only guessing) that he is more concerned with volumetric efficency, flow rate, and pressure drop across the IC. He can deal with heatsoak by spraying the IC down inbetween runs, icing it, etc. You don't have those options when road racing.

Thanks for the info, that makes sense to me.

That isn't obvious? Lower weight.

But that doesn't. I understand that nitrous cools down the intake charge, which would go along with the benefits explained above like vol. eff., flow rate and pressure drop. But really, how much is their a difference in weight between a big ass core and a REALLY big ass core?

 

[GSX_RCR]

That isn't obvious? Lower weight.

With him being around 2600 lbs in competition trim, I doubt it's a high priority for him to lose some weight with a smaller core. Besides, he's going to need to lose alot more weight this season to stay competitive in that new class.

 

[Victory]

With him being around 2600 lbs in competition trim, I doubt it's a high priority for him to lose some weight with a smaller core. Besides, he's going to need to lose alot more weight this season to stay competitive in that new class.

As I stated before his intercooler is currently providing him with less than 1lb psi pressure drop and is adequately cooling the charge so replacing it at this point rewards him with no gain. When I say cooling adequately, I mean it's cooling the air to ambient temp. or somewhere close to. A longer intercooler provides him with no more benefits.

The nitrous does the rest of the work.

Hope this clears it up.

Scott
VPE

 

[johnalomu#11]

It looks good .....I had mine custom made from a semi intercooler,it's completely powdercoated,I find its more efficient for my turbo set up...Can u ever have too much cold air

 

[Black95TSIawd]

powder coating your core will have an affect on its cooling capabilities. You should have anodized it or hit it with a light coat of spray paint.

 

[The Foos]

As I stated before his intercooler is currently providing him with less than 1lb psi pressure drop and is adequately cooling the charge so replacing it at this point rewards him with no gain. When I say cooling adequately, I mean it's cooling the air to ambient temp. or somewhere close to. A longer intercooler provides him with no more benefits.

The nitrous does the rest of the work.

Hope this clears it up.

Scott
VPE

You make an excellent point here. 1 psi drop is nothing. That isn't much worse than a straight pipe. The whole idea of an IC is to cool the air passing through it back down near ambient temperature (ambient would be ideal, but that isn't likely). If he is able to do that with a "small" IC, then he should use a "small" IC taken the benefits I listed previously for a small IC. (pressure drop and flow rate)

What I would suggest to figure this stuff out is by trial and error. Start with the smallest IC that you think would work for your app, measure the ambient temp and install a temp sensor just past the IC outlet and measure that temp. If you are fairly close to ambient, go with it. If not, get a bigger IC...

 

[johnalomu#11]

powder coating your core will have an affect on its cooling capabilities. You should have anodized it or hit it with a light coat of spray paint.

Sorry i never specified all the piping is powdercoated the intercooler itself is spray painted with a crome paint

 

[IPT]

powder coating your core will have an affect on its cooling capabilities. You should have anodized it or hit it with a light coat of spray paint.

Power Coating do not hurt your heat transfer as much as you think. Powder coatings effect the heat transfer around .5%. That is not too bad considering that you can have custom colors and the durablity goes up, especialy here in the northern states were salt is used in the winter and can corrode an unfinished intercooler.

 

[rsunahar]

Power Coating do not hurt your heat transfer as much as you think. Powder coatings effect the heat transfer around .5%. That is not too bad considering that you can have custom colors and the durablity goes up, especialy here in the northern states were salt is used in the winter and can corrode an unfinished intercooler.

I agree. Powdercoating probably won't affect heat transfer to noticeable levels.
However, having said that, I'd be awfully weary of sending a nice, expensive, thin walled aluminum intercooler to be either bead blasted or media blasted, which most powdercoated parts are. Although probably inconsequential, the thought of risking damage to all those fins scares me.

 

[BluemeanieTSi]

Power Coating do not hurt your heat transfer as much as you think. Powder coatings effect the heat transfer around .5%. That is not too bad considering that you can have custom colors and the durablity goes up, especialy here in the northern states were salt is used in the winter and can corrode an unfinished intercooler.

powder coating is WAYY too thick for use on an intercooler

 

[IPT]

powder coating is WAYY too thick for use on an intercooler

I am speaking from personal experience and doing testing on heat exchangers. What are you speaking from?? That is why I said it is less than .5%. Those are the numbers that can from the testing.

 

[BluemeanieTSi]

I am speaking from personal experience and doing testing on heat exchangers. What are you speaking from?? That is why I said it is less than .5%. Those are the numbers that can from the testing.

speaking from powdercoating experience and having to drill out/remove material in every hole it's in and how thick the fins are vs how thick the powdercoating is. powdercoating the core itself on a bar/plate would plug the whole face of it up <--speaking from experience

 

[johnalomu#11]

powder coating is WAYY too thick for use on an intercooler

i agree..since powdercoating does create a soild thick layer and would decrease the efficenity..i opted for the light coat of spray paint....works wonders...do any of you guys know what a new intercooler would use(like a greddy or hks??). just wondering if they chrome them and if the chroming would affect the cooling properties as powdercoating would??? thanks

 

[IPT]

Here is a picture of the powder coated intercooler. I will have to go back and check the thickness or the coating.

 

[BluemeanieTSi]

i agree..since powdercoating does create a soild thick layer and would decrease the efficenity..i opted for the light coat of spray paint....works wonders...do any of you guys know what a new intercooler would use(like a greddy or hks??). just wondering if they chrome them and if the chroming would affect the cooling properties as powdercoating would??? thanks

i wasn't even talking about efficiency i was talking about plugging up the find on the cores

 

[JiveMasterT]

i wasn't even talking about efficiency i was talking about plugging up the find on the cores

i always thought you should only anodize intercoolers if you want to change the color because anything else will form a coating over the intercooler and lower the efficiency. anodizing does to, but it is minimal since anodizing isnt really a coating, its more of a metal dye.

i mean, really, if you think about it though, painting it, anodizing it, or poweder coating are all going to have some marginal effect on it... the way i see it...

paint: cheapest way to go
anodized: least loss in cooling capability
powder coating: makes for a more durable finish

 

[talon514]

personally i think people overlook too much the ``spray `` kit which is by a lot less expensive, so more bang for the $, it ll let u run more boost and more timing
i don t know how many times less complicated to install than a fmic, with the pipings and shit, seriously, why do u guys keep on bothering with that if it s not for the cool look of a fmic, which i love 2...

 

[coltboostin]

With him being around 2600 lbs in competition trim,

Is this a guess? He still has most of his dash, someother interior peices, a a full cage, and hell even sound deadening in this whip!

 

[GPTourer]

Is this a guess? He still has most of his dash, someother interior peices, a a full cage, and hell even sound deadening in this whip!

The full cage I can understand, but the rest I don't. Why wouldn't he lighten the car further unless the class has him capped at a minimum weight? I had heard that it was getting tougher for him to compete since a lot of "Supra friendly" rules had been implemented to handicap him.

I can't see how coating an intercooler with any sort of paint or coating would be favorable. Any more then a painted logo and I would think you would be defeating the purpose.

 

[JiveMasterT]

The full cage I can understand, but the rest I don't. Why wouldn't he lighten the car further unless the class has him capped at a minimum weight? I had heard that it was getting tougher for him to compete since a lot of "Supra friendly" rules had been implemented to handicap him.

I can't see how coating an intercooler with any sort of paint or coating would be favorable. Any more then a painted logo and I would think you would be defeating the purpose.

well, there are a number of reasons why painting it would be benificial...

having the big toothy grin attracts attention. if you are one of those kinds of people who races for money it also helps to not have that stand out on your car. furthermore, the big ic sticking out just screams "break into me and steal all of my expensive stuff!" i have 2 friends who have had stuff stolen out of their car, including the intercooler, and i think that if their car didnt attract as much attention that might not have happened. personally, the less obvious it is that your car is modded, the better, in my opinion.

 

[crankbender]

Is this a guess? He still has most of his dash, someother interior peices, a a full cage, and hell even sound deadening in this whip!

It was in an article not too long ago...and use to be on his site.

2600+-Lbs with driver.

 

[GPTourer]

having the big toothy grin attracts attention. if you are one of those kinds of people who races for money it also helps to not have that stand out on your car. furthermore, the big ic sticking out just screams "break into me and steal all of my expensive stuff!"

I see two sides to that. Hardcore money racers are probably going to be able to pick apart a car no matter what just by looking at it, and once you start breaking people off, it won't matter anymore. With all the people sporting big IC's, fake IC's, those goofy IC like intakes these days, it doesn't necessarily mean ten second street car, plus if you are going up against domestic guys, they aren't going to be scared of you until you prove yourself. But, point taken.

To me flashy chrome wheels, bumping stereo right brfore you park, flashy paint and body kit screams break in and steal my stuff. But most all of us could recognize a nice set of wheels and a lowered car which could mean expensive goodies inside - it be hard to pick on every car like this.

 

[coltboostin]

It was in an article not too long ago...and use to be on his site.

2600+-Lbs with driver.

About 95% of the magazine write ups I have seen have had some incorrect fact or misinformation in them, so I would trust what I read in a tuner mag to do nothing more than wipe me ass.

I do not know his gross weight, but I can tell you there is much more that can be removed, but just has not been. Don’t ask me why, its not my car.

 

[The Foos]

well, there are a number of reasons why painting it would be benificial...

having the big toothy grin attracts attention. if you are one of those kinds of people who races for money it also helps to not have that stand out on your car. furthermore, the big ic sticking out just screams "break into me and steal all of my expensive stuff!" i have 2 friends who have had stuff stolen out of their car, including the intercooler, and i think that if their car didnt attract as much attention that might not have happened. personally, the less obvious it is that your car is modded, the better, in my opinion.

If you want a sleeper, stick with a big side mount.

Scott