I don't understand air flow path w/turbo.

[jared_gibbs]

Question of curiosity.

On N/A vehicles, the air enters through the air filter.

Turbo cars have an air filter and an intercooler.

When I look at my engine bay it looks like the air can enter from either point.

Why doesn't the intercooler have a changeable filter? What am I not understanding?

In general I don't understand the path of the air way. Does it switch from the IC or air filter?

 

[synthetek]

Air goes through the intercooler like water through a radiator. The air goes into the filter, gets compressed by the turbo then goes to the ic pipes then through the intercooler where cold air passing the outside of the intercooler cools it off. Fresh air only enters through the filter.

 

[Afizzle]

Lmao, silly. The IC is not an intake. It's a like he ^ said, a radiator. The air your turbo creates goes through it and it cools the charge.

 

[gofer]

The intercooler is a heat exchanger, similar to what a radiator does but the air flowing through the fins of the radiator cools the water (antifreeze) flowing through it. The intercooler works the same away accept there's no water flowing through the intercooler, it's the air that the turbo is pushing into the motor and it's already been filtered because it was sucked in through your air filter by the turbo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9_svLlM4oA

http://forums.superstreetonline.com/70/1006777/technical-support/what-is-an-intercooler-how-intercoolers-work-front/

http://www.turbosmart.com.au/technical-articles/how-an-intercooler-works/

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/news/industry/how-a-turbo-engine-intercooler-works

 

[jared_gibbs]

Okay that makes sense. Thanks for the replies.