tube and fin or bar and plate ? [Merged 7-7] intercooler I/C

[Ghost Rider GS]

Hello to all dsm tuners im pretty sure this might have been asked before but I am in the market for an intercooler and I have ran into a fork in the road and I don’t know which way to choose I have been considering a spearco 3"Dx10"Hx20"L (bar and plate design) w/side flow end tanks and I ran into a same size griffen intercooler w/top to bottom flow end tanks but it is a tube and fin design. Now I am going to be running a t-o4 hybrid ,port polished head ,550cc injectors those are the major upgrades most of the basic upgrades are done as well, what should benefit me more and by how much? Also how much flow differences would side flow end tanks give me in comparison to top flow if there were any difference?

 

[ProStreetOnline]

We like the Spearco Bar/Plate design and use it on all of our race cars.

 

[Ghost Rider GS]

sounds good to me ... would the positioning of the endtanks make a difference weather they are on the top or the sides or is it all the same?

 

[stingish888]

I was looking at intercoolers on the internet. I run a super 16g and right now am using a 1g sidemount. I was thinking about getting a hahn side mount or a new front mount. I found a couple that looked interesting? But which would be better a tube and fin the greddy or the bar and plate like the spearco cores? Please give me your opinion? i think the tube and fin is a little bigger core? Thakns Levi

 

[stingish888]

that first pic was the spearco core. This pic is the tube and fin. They are almost the same price.

 

[GSX4LIFE]

Bar and plate offer much better efficiency, less pressure drop, greater durability, and IMHO, better looks.

 

[DrZiplok]

Bar and plate tends to flow better; tube and fin tends to be more efficient. (Thankyou Corky Bell).

Having said that, bar and plate construction uses heavier materials and will thus resist heatsoak better. (Remember that the intercooler cools intake air by heating the body of the intercooler, not by radiating heat to the outside air.)

 

[irn__man]

Read These:

http://www.are.com.au/techtalk/intecoolersMR.htm Very Detail

http://www.are.com.au/feat/techt/intercooler.htm
Less Detail

Good to read, alot of mis-info out their.

iron

 

[RetardedAWD]

Originally posted by DrZiplok
Bar and plate tends to flow better; tube and fin tends to be more efficient. (Thankyou Corky Bell).

Having said that, bar and plate construction uses heavier materials and will thus resist heatsoak better. (Remember that the intercooler cools intake air by heating the body of the intercooler, not by radiating heat to the outside air.)

Tube and fin is more efficient. It is slightly more restrictive but it will make more power than a conventional bar and plate. PWR makes AWESOME tube and fin. Think about this though... heavier construction of the IC is all fine and dandy but once the heavier core starts to heat soak it also retains the heat longer. I would go with a lighter core, tube and fin as it would dissipate heat faster and it is more efficient.

 

[autronicDSM]

According to spearco booklet, tube and fin is more efficient because it's lighter and it takes less time to cool it. More mass the longer it takes to take the heat out. If I remember bar and plate has less pressure drop (I'm at work right now and don't have the book in front of me). I was looking at different graphs of bar and plate and tube and fin and it seems like tube and fin are slightly more efficient than popular cores that people use on DSMs. Unfortunately graphs are too small to show any small differences. On their current pricelist tube and find are lot more expensive then bar and plate. i think 3-183 core which i was thinking about buying was over $700.

 

[logic]

For those who still read Turbo Magazine, there's an article on this very subject in it this month. Actually, there's a bunch of really good tech articles this time around; intercooler design, deciphering a compressor map, etc; worth a read if you're bored one night and in the vicinity of a book store.

 

[FastRthenU]

just bought it yesturday. God I love that mag. It gave me a few some really good answer's too. Like which is better. Thicker core or more surface area. things like that. I still think its the best mag ever made.

 

[KenTSIII]

Ever seen a tube & fit after it got hit w/ a pebble or bottomed out.. they are pretty much trash. Bar & plate hold up much better. My partner bottomed out his car forcing the radiator support back into the IC piping punctuing the radiator.... the spearco core had some bend rows but would still be usable.. we pressure checked it & had no leaks what so ever. If I was gonna spend $1000 on a FMIC I would want one that was going to hold up. I would gladly trade a little efficiency for added flow & durability.

 

[irn__man]

As a general rule, with a level playing field (manufacturing quality, both fpi's, tube size, thickness, & a hundred other variables), bar & plate intercooler cores dissipate more BTU's than plate tube & fin & then tube & fin cores - per square centimetre. Please stop, go back & read that sentence again, as it is the most often asked question, but the most misquoted answer of all time. Please also note that it is very easy to change just one specification of a core to make it better than the other (forget plate tube & fin here), & it must be remembered right now that heat dissipation is only one parameter of overall intercooler performance. If there is enough area & volume available, I mostly recommend a tube & fin core to do the job, as it will get the temperature down close to bar & plate, but at less pressure drop & less chance of leakage.
http://www.are.com.au/techtalk/intecoolersMR.htm

Tube and fin cores are more common than bar and plate. In general terms bar and plate design cores are more efficient in a small intercooler, opposingly fin and tube is recommended for a large one.
http://www.are.com.au/feat/techt/intercooler.htm

iron

 

[NDgsx]

Let's stop talking about theory and just look at the two intercoolers he is actually looking at. All things are not equal between them.

The tube and fin IC uses some very small tubes, ie more pressure drop. It also is going to allow more ambient air through to the radiators than the spearco though because of this, that is the only way in which that paticular tube and fin core might be better though.
Between those two options I would go with the spearco.

 

[rforres]

choosing a fmic in a few days, i was going w/the dejon tool race fmic w/the upper pipe made for the gm maf, i was all sold on it already have it in my cart at that site. i talked to niu @ extreme psi and he said his was out now and its a bar and plate thats 3.6" thick, the dejon is extruded tube and fin, im still somewhat of a noob and do not know much about effeciency but i will be doing the pte 56 trim turbo and expect boost levels in the 25ish range on pump gas. i like that dejon has the pipe for my gm maf and i dont need to fab anything but the extreme psi is thicker and i thought bar and plate was better, any advice or ideas are defineitely needed.

thanks,


extreme psi race fmic kit



dejon race fmic,ck out the uicp for the gm maf also


niu from extreme also stated that his fin design was better than most out ther, something about the height or surface area, better tha IRC according to him, which they sell IRC there as well .

 

[peregrine]

which is the same as adfx racing sells. although i like the adfx because the kit comes with aluminum piping for better heat exchange.
www.adfxracing.com

the extrude core is very very good from all accounts.

 

[HOOKSH]

are they worth the extra money? i was planning on doing a custom setup with a Custom Coach FMIC (speedpartsrus.com). a buddy has the standard fin IC from them and i really like it, but they also offer bar and plate intercoolers as well, and i have no idea what the hell that is. anyone have one or know anything about them?

 

[DSMJim]

Here is a great website that will help you out with that question.

http://www.are.com.au/feat/techt/intercooler.htm
http://www.are.com.au/feat/techt/focus_on_intercoolers.htm

Here is a pic of tube and fin vs bar and plate.

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[HOOKSH]

i see the physical difference, but which would be more efficient? it says the bar and plate is more efficient for "smaller" intercoolers, but would a large front mount be better as a bar and plate or as a tube and fin? im looking for something about 28x8x3. which would you recommend? i was thinkin about getting a tube and fin because there are plenty of people who make crazy power with them, but would there be an advantage to getting a bar and plate? your $.02 would be appreciated.

 

[DSMJim]

I have a Spearco 28x8x3.5 on my car and the pressure drop is very minimal and provides excellent cooling. I have tested the pressure by having two boost guges in the car, and also the cooling is evident by touching my inlet pipe just before the intercooler and the outlet afterwards. The inlet pipe is warm the outlet is cool to the touch. I have never tested it against a tube and fin intercooler on my car inplace of my bar and plate to give a real different. From what I have read about the two intercoolers, bar and plate is always more efficient and provides more flow.

On an SRT4 when only the stock tube and fin intercooler was changed to a Spearco bar and plate unit it picked up a bunch of extra hp. If I can find the link I will post it.

 

[HOOKSH]

let me know if you can find a link to that. are all spearco ICs bar and plate? for about $50-75 more i can upgrade to a bar and plate so i think thats what ill do if its gonna be more efficient, and thats not enough money to damper my progress, ill just wait on another interior mod, my engine needs the money more than new interior details.

 

[TurboBlue]

I need some help here, i am planning on getting an FMIC very soon but suddenly i am very confused about what to get...

Since im in school and on a very tight budget, i was going to get an Ebay core and do all the piping myself...

So i need to know, Tube and fin, bar and plate, what the heck do i need to get some decent use out of this thing....

My mods arent very big, stock ported 14b, SAFC, full exhaust, stock fuel, nothing major, so i was gonna get a 17-20" x 6-7" x 3" core, im just really confused and need some help, any and all is welcome, thanks

 

[wishihadatalon]

i am going with bar and plate but i have only heard that they are better.

 

[fwdturbobov1996]

ok wow this is new to me .. .. there are different types of fmic? What is the diff and what are the advantages and disadvangteges?