I didnt say intercoolers didnt work i just said no one had proved upgrading an intercooler helped. Yes i know they do work. I used to own a TT 3000gt with stock side mount intercoolers and several people had told me that upgrading intercoolers will provide little if any gains. It's not just one guys, i just happened to find those in my first search on the first page.

An intercooler isn't going to make air any colder than it is outside. The air is going to be hot from compressing and the intercoolers allow this air to get colder to help with detonation. The intercooler will not make the air more compressed. You have twin turbos flowing 300cfm each compressing the air to 15psi. If you cool this down, it's still going to be 15psi. Intercoolers help with detonation and knock retard. That is their main purpose. On N/A cars air is sucked in. The more dense the air is when it's sucked in the more power you will have. Turbo cars air is forced in to a certain point, say 15psi. Regardless of air density prior to compressing it, it will only ever be 15psi. You will only notice a difference becuase of the knock retard do to predetonation from the overly heated air/fuel mixture.

 

I just thought you meant noone can benefit from a better intercooler. I see your reasoning now.

But, you have to remember, intercoolers don't only help in the detonation department. You said it yourself, "You have twin turbos flowing 300cfm each compressing the air to 15psi. If you cool this down, it's still going to be 15psi." What happens if you cool this air down? It becomes denser and that means more oxygen=more power. But like I said before, too big and you can lose boost and that will outweigh the benefits of cooling the charge.

 

So in that case it can be very very bad if it does compress it even to 1 psi better. A stock pump on a stock 3000gt with stock 360cc injectors reaches the fuel systems maximun safety threshhold at around 14.6psi. If you can cool and compress that even 1 psi more BOOM fuel cut if you are lucky. It will feel like slamming into a brick wall. If you are unlucky you injectors are dirty, you havent replaced your fuel filter, and you pump is wearing out. This means you will be running to lean and melt your pistons.

With intercoolers you can loose boost if they are too big. That's not too common though. What realy happens is you get increased turbo lag. Say you have an extra 70 square inches of intercooler space. Your turbo will now need to compress enough air to 15psi to fill this before the air even reaches your plenum. This will wear your turbos out faster, slow down spooling time, and lower your maximun boost potential. Even if it does cool the air down and make it easier to compress it will cancel it out with the added space it needs to run compressed air though.

Usually it's not the intercoolers maximun efficiency that is reached, it's the turbos. A 9b setup(stock mitsubishi turbos) can flow about 17 psi effieciently (with supporting fuel). Anymore than that and the turbos are so hot from exhaust gas that the air heats up and is too hot to compress much further. You can upgrde your intercoolers but they will just become heat soaked and be worthless. The bigger the heat soaked intercooler is the longer it takes to dissapate that heat.

 

If we are talking about a car running on the edge of destruction, then yes, more air without fuel would be detrimental. But why run it there. Have some room for mistakes, if you want a reliable street car. If I was given the option of running 200F temp air intake temps vs 100F, I would be ignorant to run hotter.

I admit, I know little about turbos but I don't see where a bigger intercooler will cause lag to more than a negligable effect. Also, I don't see where it will wear more on the turbo. It is still only boosting what the wastegate will allow.

Really, what I am trying to stress is: the closer to ambient the ait is, the better. Doing that via a better intercooler is the way to go. Better than running way rich to use fuel as a cooler. Better than turning ignition advance to nothing to fend off detonation. Better for making hp.

 

i say go with the after cooler the kit that sprays n2o on your exhaust tips lol. you would make the same amount of power as the radiator kit if not more

 

I would assume that you would use the CO2 kit to cool down an IC after a track run, before your next run so the IC won't be heat soaked...

Rick Jensen @ GMHTP just did this a few months back. I don't consider nearly 30 RWHP insignificant. It's common knowledge that a more efficient IC will increase the intake air density, therefore increasing the amount of oxygen available for combustion. If you read "Maximum Boost" by Corky Bell, it will give you a much better understanding of intercooling.

As for your example of them going slower...THEY DID NO TUNING! These guys made changes to their combo and didn't bother to tune for the increased air density? No wonder why their car didn't run any faster.

Nope. Standard oil is in trouble at 250-260 degrees. Standard oil operating temp for an LT1 is probably in the 220-230 range.

It makes the air DENSER, not more compressed. As a matter of fact, it is not uncommon to see the boost numbers go down, but actual air volume go up due to the increased density. That increase in density does no good if the engine is not properly tuned.

This is a common misconception. Again, your not "losing" boost, but the actual intake pressure is lower due to the lower air temps (but with increased density). This is a good thing!

 

I'm still learning about cars. You obviously know more then i so i will shut up now.

 

We're all still learning, so don't sweat it.

 

So you mean spray N2O on your intake pipe?

Think of this though.....spray it in the intake not only do you cool down the charge but you get more O2 from the nitrous it's self.......that's what a nitrous kit is.

 

what about kits that spray water on the radiator? would that do anything