Water to Air Intercoolers
Thread Starter
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 610
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From: Redondo Beach, CA
Water to Air Intercoolers How many of you guys use these and at what power levels? How streetable are they (can you use one in a semi-daily driver or are they strictly track only)? Any details on setups would be greatly appreciated! 
right out of maximum boost.
air/air will have greater simplicity, reliability, lower maintence, lower cost, greater thermal eficinecy at higher speed.
air/water better thermal eficency at low speed, may have better throttle responce, lower boost loss, less compresor surge, take up less space.
that wasn't exactly what you were asking but i thought it might help. i have always been told a good air to air is the way to go mainly for the simplicity and lack of maintence unless you plan on doing the ice in the water trick and that would only be for drag racing.
air/air will have greater simplicity, reliability, lower maintence, lower cost, greater thermal eficinecy at higher speed.
air/water better thermal eficency at low speed, may have better throttle responce, lower boost loss, less compresor surge, take up less space.
that wasn't exactly what you were asking but i thought it might help. i have always been told a good air to air is the way to go mainly for the simplicity and lack of maintence unless you plan on doing the ice in the water trick and that would only be for drag racing.
Originally Posted by InvisibleSun
How many of you guys use these and at what power levels? How streetable are they (can you use one in a semi-daily driver or are they strictly track only)? Any details on setups would be greatly appreciated!
I have a air to water intercooler for my car. I would have to say that with it's size a lone and where you can mount them that it is race only. Plus most guy's do put ice in them to help lower the charge. There is a bunch of other stuff that goes a long with them too, liek a water pump and lines.
mine will be used as a daily driver.
the water intercooler is much smaller than air/air and in my case wont block the radiator (important to me)
water is 9 times more thermally conductive than air.
my research has shown with about 15# of boost you are leaving about 60hp on the table by using air/air vs air/water assuming water is at ambient temperature. nearly 90 hp when using ice.
also the discharge temperature will remain to be lower than any air/air intercooler until water temperatures over 100*F at that boost level... this is really an impossibility when you add a small radiator to the system.
if you can... do it!
there is more to keep track of but hey.. you allready got an F-1 going in there!
the water intercooler is much smaller than air/air and in my case wont block the radiator (important to me)
water is 9 times more thermally conductive than air.
my research has shown with about 15# of boost you are leaving about 60hp on the table by using air/air vs air/water assuming water is at ambient temperature. nearly 90 hp when using ice.
also the discharge temperature will remain to be lower than any air/air intercooler until water temperatures over 100*F at that boost level... this is really an impossibility when you add a small radiator to the system.
if you can... do it!
there is more to keep track of but hey.. you allready got an F-1 going in there!
If you're adding ice, get a BIG beer cooler for the track. You'll need alot of ice in a full day.
My dyno pulls were melting 10 to 12lbs of ice per pull, and the few track runs the car has seen resulted in 16 lbs of ice turned to warm water. intake temps remained a comfortable 75° to 80°, i'll have actual before and after temps on the cooler in the spring.
I've got no cooler for street use as of yet, althoug it's on the list.
My dyno pulls were melting 10 to 12lbs of ice per pull, and the few track runs the car has seen resulted in 16 lbs of ice turned to warm water. intake temps remained a comfortable 75° to 80°, i'll have actual before and after temps on the cooler in the spring.
I've got no cooler for street use as of yet, althoug it's on the list.
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still toying with the idea of making the power tour
I'd like to get a water to ambient heat exchanger in there so i'm not relying on the IC cores to cool the system when outta boost. Cause how often does that happen??
still toying with the idea of making the power tour
I'd like to get a water to ambient heat exchanger in there so i'm not relying on the IC cores to cool the system when outta boost. Cause how often does that happen??
oh, i thought i saw a radiator or two on the car during the build pics..i guess not.. if you have no way to cool the water back down then.. you need one! i thought you were talking about converting to air/air for the street.. didnt sound right.
TECH Junkie
Joined: Mar 2002
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From: memphis tn
The air to water intercooler on my truck is fairly effective at reducing intake temps I'm presently installing a larger heat exchanger(a VW sirroco radiator)and a larger coolant resevoir.What I'm planning to do is isolate the heat exchanger at the track with valves so I'm running ice water only at the track.I'll use a radiator flush valve to drain the system between runs and simply replenish the ice water before I make another pass.
Thread Starter
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 610
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From: Redondo Beach, CA
It sounds like a great setup for the track but what about running it on a day to day basis? Assuming you don't drive on the city streets like you do on the drag strip would you be able to say, drive 90 miles on the freeway under little boost or in 20 miles in stop and go traffic with an occasional boost of boost without having to refresh your water supply? I gotta find my Corky Bell book....
would you be able to say, drive 90 miles on the freeway under little boost or in 20 miles in stop and go traffic with an occasional boost of boost without having to refresh your water supply? I gotta find my Corky Bell book.... it would work fine on the street, not ideal for something like a road course but for short blasts it is great.
my question is if you have pleanty of time for the liquid to get to ambiant air temps will it actualy work better than an air to air?
my question is if you have pleanty of time for the liquid to get to ambiant air temps will it actualy work better than an air to air?
ok, that is one opinion, lets hear some others, the typical air/water is much smaller so it would have to work much better just to get the same results. lets say you are working with a core that is 1/3 as large as an air to air will it still work better?
10 Second Club
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 1,755
Likes: 2
From: Cincinnati, Ohio
Using the stock Vortech aftercooler (which is small for my application) my IAT's rise from 90 to 150 in ten seconds during a drag run. I'll have to put some ice in there and see how it reads.
