Best budget A2A intercooler ?
Depends on your budget and many other things. Picking up about 1% HP for every 10 degrees off your charge temps seems typical. So for the average guy making sub 1000hp I'd say no. Then again, if its in your budget to spend an additional $700+ for a few HP... More power to you! Personally I'd go with the known heavy hitter Garrett cores if I were spending "real" money on an IC. Id say TS is more than adequate for most mild builds.
Agreed. The gains I got going from the On3 3", to the Treadstone 4.5", now at a measly $260 on sale, there's no way I could possibly justify 5X the money for the ProCharger one.
https://www.treadstoneperformance.co...1000hp/p104562
https://www.treadstoneperformance.co...1000hp/p104562
Agreed. The gains I got going from the On3 3", to the Treadstone 4.5", now at a measly $260 on sale, there's no way I could possibly justify 5X the money for the ProCharger one.
https://www.treadstoneperformance.co...1000hp/p104562
https://www.treadstoneperformance.co...1000hp/p104562
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Folks have made much more than that on a junk IC, or no IC at all for that matter. The typical Ebay IC's are pretty darn bad. Pressure drop across the cores are horrible and they don't cool well.
Just going by direct comparison between the typical 31x12 units I ran. I'd see 170-180 over 20lbs on my ebay unit. I also couldn't get on the 2 step easily because of the pressure drop and restrictive core. (unfortunately didn't measure pressure drop) the TS unit was a direct bolt in and I was suddenly able to get up on the 2 step easily and would barely see 140*. I've seen an 11psi pressure drop on the ebay unit. That's insane imo! To the point that people have gone faster simply removing it. The old 5.3 SBE record holder actually went faster removing the ebay unit and running no IC. That said I've seen guys run bottom 8's on that IC as well. Doesn't' mean it works well was the only point I was trying to make.
another good comparison.
https://ls1tech.com/forums/forced-in...ific-test.html
another good comparison.
https://ls1tech.com/forums/forced-in...ific-test.html
Last edited by Forcefed86; Dec 18, 2020 at 06:00 PM.
Yeah just depends on what the goals are. Any heat sink is going to pull heat out. A SBE record holder going faster without it isn't exactly proof a DD streetcar should pull their ebay FMIC.
This is from Bells site. I am sure build quality has some impact but seems one has to decide how much they want to spend per hp, just like any other mod.
Does one style core cool better than another?
No, almost no difference. With three decades of testing intercooler’s, we have found no appreciable difference between any core style or manufacturer. Keep in mind, that the merit of a core is it’s efficiency versus its internal drag characteristics. When sized for a tolerable flow loss, virtually all cores will produce essentially the same efficiency results. Perhaps a core with slightly less flow area per linear inch, or one with longer tubes, will need perhaps 5% more tubes to equal the best of intercooler’s with regard to flow loss and efficiency. Not a very important difference. I'm in no way saying IC's are a bad idea. Just that if you run one, you might as well spend the extra money for the "mid grade" TS over the Ebay unit IMO.
It was Chris Bishir's S10. He completed drag week with an 8.5x average with a 3300lb chassis. So not like it was an all out "race car". Then went 8.19 with it turned up. (Twin s366's) Depending on the base fuel used, it proves no IC can be better than a garbage IC. Holdner also did a test with a pretty restrictive IC and a blower. He made more power removing it since the poor flowing core reduced the overall boost amount too greatly.
I'm in no way saying IC's are a bad idea. Just that if you run one, you might as well spend the extra money for the "mid grade" TS over the Ebay unit IMO.
I'm in no way saying IC's are a bad idea. Just that if you run one, you might as well spend the extra money for the "mid grade" TS over the Ebay unit IMO.
All intercoolers are a restriction so of course if you've got the octane and are max effort you can end up going quicker without one. Again, none of that proves that on a daily drive REAL street car that someone has to spend the extra money on a good FMIC just like someone doesn't have to spend the money on ported heads.
Some china cores are a HUGE restriction while doing little for charge temps. I don't agree that a non octane limited setup will be faster w/o an IC. Even with the octane, youll always make more power w a GOOD IC. As a good ic will see less than a lb of pressure drop and can cool more than enough to overcome that small pressure drop. Esp. A2W units.
How is it not proof? Blowers are fixed displacement. If a crap ic is robbing you 4lbs of boost (even tho it cooled the air charge a bit) It wasnt enough of an improvement to overcome the large loss in boost. And when the IC was removed and the boost jumped 4lbs, it made enough power to overcome the higher charge temps.
Same thing happens w a turbo. Only it can make up for the pressure differential across the core somewhat. So its not noticed as much unless the unit is tapped or has issues spooling. It some cases it will still have to make 15-18lbs before the engine sees 10. So response is crap. Then the turbo makes more heat because it has to run more boost to compensate. It also taps out sooner. So w a crap core u get crap response, makes less power per pound of boost, and taps out early.
Weigh a TS unit compared to an ebay unit. The cores are much denser... they simply work better. Anyone who has switched out the like sized ebay cores has been amazed at the difference it makes.