My Burkhart Intercooler setup!!!

As for efficiency, as previously stated by the other poster, the pressure will find the path of least resistance. Remember that your backpressure (after the initial hit) goes all the way back to the compressor housing. That means that every passage is full in the IC and everywhere else in the system all the way to the top of the intake valve.
We are dealing with boosted applications. We tell the newbies, "Boost is a measure of Restriction", all the time.
We need to be looking at this as a pressurized system, "Under Pressure" being the big picture. Air flow under pressure will follow the path of least restriction. Center IN/OUT intercoolers make better use of the core space. With that being said, in a pressurized system the core space is gonna be used period. Its all about core effectivness.
Sorry Guys. I had one of those Geek It Up moments
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but its not to hard of a concept to grasp, try to imagine the air is now water traveling down a river that widens. The speed of the water is highest toward the center of the river, indicating that most of the air volume is going down the center. If you have a top inlet and top outlet you keep the speed of the air the same, or utilize more of the core.
you will have a slightly more restrictive cooler but since your using more of the core you get a slightly cooler charge, its a bit of a trade off if you would rather have a cooler charge or less pressure drop.
but its not to hard of a concept to grasp, try to imagine the air is now water traveling down a river that widens. The speed of the water is highest toward the center of the river, indicating that most of the air volume is going down the center. If you have a top inlet and top outlet you keep the speed of the air the same, or utilize more of the core.
you will have a slightly more restrictive cooler but since your using more of the core you get a slightly cooler charge, its a bit of a trade off if you would rather have a cooler charge or less pressure drop.
I did a little research today. Here's the most technical write up that I was able to locate that even mentions the subject and is backed by some amount of ALMOST relevant data. LOL
http://www.dvdtfab.com/intercoolertestlab.pdf
basically that doc says partly on what i was trying to get across, now your bringing up turbulence issue, which i dont think that cooler will have an issue with.
ever see intercoolers with diffusers in them, they also help with bringing the air equally across the whole of the core.



