1G To upgrade Intercooler or not

[SasaniFab]

Ok boys, id like some of your opinions on this. So im getting my car ready for the upcoming season. My current setup consists of a dbb pte 6266 flowing through a 3 inch ets race core. The website claims it can handle 650hp. Im running e85 through 8 1650s and nitrous to spool the convertor. Do you think upgrading is worth it in my situation. Im looking at the jmfab race core. Its huge in comparison and also 840 bucks. Im wondering if upgrading is worth it in the long run. Im aware e85 has awesome cooling abilities. What you guys think? Oh.... my plan is for 40+ psi

 

[Brandon Mau]

I would keep your current one on there. If your iats go above 160* on a pull then upgrade it.

 

[92AWDHX40]

Leave it alone for now and upgrade when you need to.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

I run 40lbs. Still running thru my VRSF and just over 600hp on E85. Like said, keep that ETS until you can't control IAT's

 

[Vegas Smith]

ETS has admitted that their intercoolers are great for airflow but also flow to the radiator whereas the Garrett cores block flow to the radiator. In other words, if you want a street car then get the ETS, perhaps. If you want maximum cooling then the Garrett could be for you. Of course, some guy will post in 5 minutes that he overheated on his ETS but the Garrett didn't so who knows.

 

[Auto RS T]

Look over your logged intake air temps after a long pull and see if they are in an acceptable range like others have mentioned. We could use some real data to form these opinions of ours.

 

[bling5tatus]

Water to air and be done with shenanigans.

 

[Stapl3]

I kinda regret going a/w and view it as pure shenanigans.

Eventually the temperature of the coolant becomes static. So it's only as good as what can be removed, which best case scenario puts you at ambient.

Then there's the complexity and weight (edit: and amp draw), none of which I really care about, but that's a factor.

Then assuming you're at ambient temp with a great exchanger, you're relying on the core, which has half the surface area as a a/a, and unless its a $$ core, it's from frozenboost or ebay - which lets be real are all the same China cores that perform subpar and flow subpar.

Also, e85 doesn't care about IATs. I did pulls on the highway one summer and forgot to flip the switch for my pump. IATs were through the roof into the 190s. I had NO idea until I went home and weeded through the logs.

So, in my opinion, on the street there's no benefit at all over a quality a/a setup. Get the best core you can afford with good flowing endtanks, good flowing piping, and forget about it.