which do you prefer for street/strip car....And why?

 

Air to air is what I prefer, and this is taken from ProCharger and sums it up very nicely.

"Air vs Water
Accessible Technologies manufactures both air-to-air and air-to-water intercooler systems, and the guidelines for their usage are fairly straightforward.

For automotive street applications, air-to-air technology is easy to install, highly effective, extremely reliable since it has no moving parts, and requires no maintenance. Air-to-water intercooler systems, on the other hand, are much more difficult to install as they contain an intercooler, a separate radiator to cool the water, a water tank, and a pump. But probably the biggest drawback to air-to-water on the street is that this technology requires the addition of ice to match the efficiency of air-to-air technology. Additionally, the requirement of ice and the possibility of pump failure or leakage means that air-to-water is also inherently less reliable.

For race-only applications, air-to-water works well since the need to add ice at the track prior to each run is not a big drawback. The other issues are the same as listed above for street applications, and efficiency will be comparable with the use of ice."

At the old shop we switched over from air to air to an air to water on my Camaro, it became a hassle having to add ice every run, and we went back to the air to air. Bob

 

There are other factors that need to be addressed as well:

The following is not an arguement to use A2W intercooling just a reminder that A2A also has some negatives associated that many can overlook, it does however only apply to street driven vehicles.

Also adding ice to an A2W is awesome but with a properly built A2W system its not necessary. There are weather conditions that can occur that limit A2A intercoolers too ie. 90*+ summer days.

The F-Body’s cooling system is very sensitive.

Any changes to the air dam or plastic panels that
channel air to the radiator, is asking for trouble.

I see all these turbo cars with the radiators stood up or a huge intercooler blocking the condenser and radiator, and I wonder how well does the cooling system really work after thats been done to the radiator of a street driven car.

I can see the replies coming now, “mine stays cool”,
“no problem’s here”, “can idle it all day, no issues” .

But what most people don’t understand is that the fans are running
close to 100% of the time when these things are done to the cooling system.
This is taxing the electrical system and everything suffers,
mainly the fuel pump or pumps, ignition system, and injectors.

Not to mention it puts a big load on the alternator
and that causes more parasitic drag and HP sucked away from the motor.

It is a very counter productive thing to do.

Take a stock F-body and drive it around for 20-30 minutes
at highway speeds to warm it up and pull over, get out and stand there
then watch how long it takes the fans to come on “with the ac off”.

When they finally do come on they are at about 30% capacity,
you can barely hear them.

They will run for 30 secs to a minute and then back off for 4-5 minutes maybe longer.

About the only time you will here them at 100% is when the AC is on and the head pressure in the AC system gets high, the ECM will then turn them back on to get the head pressure in check and they will drop back to 50% or so.

To sum it up, a street car with the radiator stood up or with a huge A2A intercooler blocking air flow, is crippled.
If I can’t sit in traffic with the AC rocking and not baby sitting
the water temp gauge I don’t want it.

A street car should perform well on the street, and this is part of the performance.

My 2 cents,
PS we did use the word STREET CAR not RACECAR so anyone with ac ripped out or the condenser removed or some sort of not stock front bumper please don't tell us how yours works great. We are expressly talking about unmolested street cars, that maintain there factory amenities.

thanks for reading
Rob@modularturbo.com

 

Thanks guys..I'll keep my air to air on..

 

lets face it, we don't have that much room to work with. I wish someone made a heat exchanger that could sit on top of the motor like the vortech unit. A small radiator and coolant tank could then be squeezed in. I could see one in the forward wheel well panel where the horns are located or the opposite side with the cruise control. I think it could cut down on piping and it would place the exchanger close to the throttle body. The exhanger could also be placed on the core support like the Procharger air box.

 

We have an A2W kit for F bodies that is included in our TT kit.
The heat exchanger lays flat in front of the steering rack, the reservoir/pump is in the back hatch, and the A2W intercooler is in the front bumper not impeding airflow at all.

 

Really? I guess this boils down to how your radiator, Intercooler, and Fans are setup. I will be the first to Say that a A2W setup is more effictive than a A2A setup. I will also be the first to say that a A2A setup is all 90% of the cars on here will ever need. I have never had the heating problems you spoke of using a Large A2A intercooler and having my radiator Stood up vertical.

If you really want to get into the meat and potatoes of the down falls of an A/C setup with an A2A FMIC then you need to address the air flow across the A/C condensor. The factory condensor is retarded. There are multiple Compact condensor units that are better suited, and work just as effectively.

Once again, it boils down to how you have everything setup.

Properly Built A2A FMIC setups FTW.

 

The heat exchanger needs to be as forward of the motor as possible. U can mount it in the place of a air to air unit.