Good intercooler for 900whp?
05-16-2012, 07:40 AM
#61
9 Second Club
I could ask the same question...why are intercoolers rated on HP ? Which is completely and utterly nonsense. Almost the same as rating them by CFM.
I could hand you a 4" diameter pipe with some fins on it and call it an intercooler. And to a degree it will cool. It will also flow enough air for 2000bhp without restriction. What's that, maybe 2500CFM ?
So is that what you need ? a 4" pipe with fins on the outside ? It's rated CFM will exceed your needs. It's HP rating will exceed your needs too.
All intercoolers are sold based on these two factors, so they must mean everything ?
The first and most important thing an intercooler has to do is cool the air. Then secondly it needs to flow air. The two do not always go hand in hand.
Chinese intercoolers do have a reasonable ability to flow air. Cooling is where they fall down.
You can see on the thread I linked the abortion of an IC setup I had been using, which was made from stuff I had lying about using 2 old cores welded together. Far less area than a 4" chinese core, and horrific in terms of flow due to how the two cores were welded together.
Yet I still had less than 2psi pressure drop across it. My new core which was about double the size still has a similar pressure drop, but cooling ability has increased massively.
But again based on your own testing, the solution is a simple one. Buy the biggest and best core you can and fabricate your own end tanks.
It's clear that no chinese unit will ever meet your goals, so a proper core is the only answer.
Or send all your test data to an IC manufacturer like Garret, Bell, Spearco etc etc stating HP goals, airflow required, boost pressure used, temps before and after the IC core and type of turbocharger, engine size etc.
They should be able to calculate core size required to cool the air properly and flow air.
I could hand you a 4" diameter pipe with some fins on it and call it an intercooler. And to a degree it will cool. It will also flow enough air for 2000bhp without restriction. What's that, maybe 2500CFM ?
So is that what you need ? a 4" pipe with fins on the outside ? It's rated CFM will exceed your needs. It's HP rating will exceed your needs too.
All intercoolers are sold based on these two factors, so they must mean everything ?
The first and most important thing an intercooler has to do is cool the air. Then secondly it needs to flow air. The two do not always go hand in hand.
Chinese intercoolers do have a reasonable ability to flow air. Cooling is where they fall down.
You can see on the thread I linked the abortion of an IC setup I had been using, which was made from stuff I had lying about using 2 old cores welded together. Far less area than a 4" chinese core, and horrific in terms of flow due to how the two cores were welded together.
Yet I still had less than 2psi pressure drop across it. My new core which was about double the size still has a similar pressure drop, but cooling ability has increased massively.
But again based on your own testing, the solution is a simple one. Buy the biggest and best core you can and fabricate your own end tanks.
It's clear that no chinese unit will ever meet your goals, so a proper core is the only answer.
Or send all your test data to an IC manufacturer like Garret, Bell, Spearco etc etc stating HP goals, airflow required, boost pressure used, temps before and after the IC core and type of turbocharger, engine size etc.
They should be able to calculate core size required to cool the air properly and flow air.
05-17-2012, 06:16 AM
#62
Got my car dialed in last night. It made 850whp on 18psi last year, I have it set at 20psi now and no dyno but a difference. Made some passes last night down the road testing my boost controller probably 1000ft, Made 2 passes at 6psi, 2 passes at 14psi and 2 passes at 20psi all in a row... Temps hit 86 on low boost, 96 on 14psi and highest my intake temp got was 100 degrees on the 20psi. Granted it was in the 60's for temp outside, I did not give it much of a break.... got on it for 1000ft and then drove about 1000ft before turning around and doing it again. I have the 12x4 chinacooler.
05-17-2012, 06:54 AM
#63
9 Second Club
Got my car dialed in last night. It made 850whp on 18psi last year, I have it set at 20psi now and no dyno but a difference. Made some passes last night down the road testing my boost controller probably 1000ft, Made 2 passes at 6psi, 2 passes at 14psi and 2 passes at 20psi all in a row... Temps hit 86 on low boost, 96 on 14psi and highest my intake temp got was 100 degrees on the 20psi. Granted it was in the 60's for temp outside, I did not give it much of a break.... got on it for 1000ft and then drove about 1000ft before turning around and doing it again. I have the 12x4 chinacooler.
With my terrible DIY twin core I was seeing as high as 140degF at the extreme end. Although more typically it was no more than 110-120degF on the road.
Now with my much larger/better core they rarely ever go above about 95degF, but would typically be around the 80's with ambient around 60's
Pressure drop across both was pretty much the same.
