Phil99vette

iTrader: (11)

Still need to decide if I should go with an Air to Air vs Air to water, car will be a 75/25 drag/strip car. Would love to hear some pros and cons.
Phil

Juiced

iTrader: (2)

Phil,
i'm trying to decide the same thing from what i have seen the only real con is the added weight and HUGE amount of $$$$$$$ it will take to cool the s95

While a good FMIC will cost ~1000, the A2W will be 1500 for the intercooler, plus 200 for heat exchangers, a 250 dollar water pump 150 water tank plus all the misc fittings and hoses. But with the A2A you could never expect anything below ambient.

chuntington101

i still think A2A is the answer unless your car is 100% race car! you can get great reuslts from a well designed intercooler and you have none of the hasstle of the a2w system. plus with alky injection system being soo good these days, there is no reason why you cant have sub ambient inlet temps with an A2A!!

but if you are really serious on racing then A2W has some advantages. but they aren't that great unless you want to take another car with you (with a boot full of ice) to the track.

i have seen A2W setups work on roadcourse/high performace road cars but its a pain in the A** and they have only been used cos A2A simply couldn't (one was a positive diplacment and the other was midengined). and you really do need a MASSIVE pre rad if you want to keep inlet temps down during normal driving.

either way be sure to post plent of pick!

thanks Chris.

Phil99vette

iTrader: (11)

I like alcohol...

Fireball

iTrader: (21)

most classes I've seen say gas only. A2W is way more efficient as water can pull heat much better than air. A2W is HEAVY though.

qqwqeqwrqwqtq

How much power at what PSI and how much total space (length/width/depth) do you have for an intercooler core and end tanks.

DeltaT

iTrader: (5)

The same efficiency that lets it absorb heat (from air into the water) quickly at the beginning of a long run makes it just as hard to shed the heat back into the air (from water back into the air). Like chuntington101 said, "I still think A2A is the answer unless your car is 100% (drag) race car!". Anywhere you live where it's warm, after you get your water mass above ambient you'll never get the temps down as consistently as with a properly sized and fed A2A.

Jim

motorbuilt

iTrader: (17)

Id say A2A with a methanol setup...itll work great.

NicD

iTrader: (7)

Even in the 120 deg summer heat in AZ my intake air temps on my A2W sit about 10 deg above ambient at most and don't go any higher. When beating on it intake air temps don't rise up more than 5 deg over that and go back down right afterwards. This is the standard TTi race kit A2W setup and it has a good sized water tank and radiator setup but nothing huge.

Juiced

iTrader: (2)

Anyone ever try the ebay A2W?

Alot use the FMIC just wondering if the A2W ones are any good.

Phil99vette

iTrader: (11)

Who makes the most efficient A2A ICs? Is it still spearco? Haven't heard from them in a while.

Juiced

iTrader: (2)

i'm going to checkout bell intercoolers, they have all shapes and size cores, price doesn't seem to bad either.

FastKat

iTrader: (10)

This is all very true... I am just wondering around what temperature the water stabilizes at during normal driving. It seems like the A2W would give you a more consistent inlet temp... not necessarily always cooler than A2A all the time, but still more consistent.

I like the A2A better (lighter, simpler, less parts to break) but if packaging is a problem then A2W might be your best bet. If you are afraid of heat soak at idle, put a fan on your A2A and run it when you are not moving.

-Dave

427

iTrader: (3)

The problem we have run into with A2A is when they are sized properly for 1200+hp they are big and thick causing the engine radiator to overheat in spirited driving. I am putting a big A2A in my station wagon with twins, but I was able to keep the factory engine driven fan. I am hoping to flow enough air to cool the inlet charge as well as my engine coolant and the AC condensor, but this is not tested yet.


Kurt

Juiced

iTrader: (2)

Kurt how large an intercooler would you recomend to cool 1300hp?

427

iTrader: (3)

I have a 3.5 thick core from Spearco that I think is about 14 inches wide and about 15 inches along the flowpath. I have two of them side by side flowing in at the bottom out at the top. These two should support my engine with min pressure drop at 1200hp range.

Kurt

Juiced

iTrader: (2)

so do you think a 6" thick core, 20" wide and 8" along the flow path would be sufficient to cool?

it's rated for 2200cfm

StingrayCrazy

iTrader: (5)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Steal...spagenameZWDVW

Give this one a look...

Frank

DeltaT

iTrader: (5)

I planned for that with a huge Griffin dual 1.5" core rad, running Evans waterless coolant. The FMIC is 4.5" thick, and I built ducting around it to force all the air that comes through my bumper to go through the FMIC. No cooling issues even when it is 100 out. I actually have to come up with something to stop excessive cooling when it is cool out - can't get the coolant above 160.

Jim

alwaysinboost

not much that already hasn't been mentioned above. I've had both on a few different cars though and overall I would perfer the A2A IC.

The advantage to the a2w is the ability to cool below ambient temps, if your car was going to be used as a drag only vehicle then thats the way to go IMO. Otherwise an A2A unit is the ticket.