A2A or A2W?
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 66
Likes: 0
From: Henderson,TX
A2A or A2W? Im in the planning and purchasing stage of building a turbo setup for my Camaro and have come to two obsticles, single or twin turbo and whether to use a A2A or A2W intercooler. I already have a fairly large A2A that would fit fine, but if I cant get enough airflow to it thru the front of the car than really whats the point. As far as turbos, Im leaning towards a large single being the 383 isnt lacking bottom end power and well it would be easier to plumb, but the wife is insisting I go with twins, mainly for the coolness factor. What do you guys think? I think a large single and an A2W would be the best and easiest to plumb and take up less place(and cheaper). But thats just me.....Im open to opinions and suggestions....
i was in the same boat. I went one big single turbo but if i was to do it again i would go twin. its a lot easier. theres more work to customizing one big single and you have to find a place to put that big sucka. I have a 91.5 turbo. now twins, a lot less work but more money. so you have either more work or more money
Twins, A2A with a meth injection kit for when you add a little more boost. If it was an all out race deal a lot of guys like the A2W setups, but adding ice to a street car would suck.
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 66
Likes: 0
From: Henderson,TX
Street use is limited, thats what the daily driver is for. I drive the camaro maybe 3 times a week or so, never for more than an hour or so at a time. What size twins are you guys running? Some say that t3/t4's are too small, some seem to be using t04 and t04e's, which arent too different. Any suggestions?
One pass at the 1/4 mile strip is enough to melt the ice in my friend's 5 gallon tank. He has twins on a 348 and is pushing 10.45's at ~121. So driving around for an hour might be 10 minutes of fun and downhill from there with an A2W setup, especailly in hot Texas.
A2A with meth as mentioned above is the safest and most reliable combo.
Jim
A2A with meth as mentioned above is the safest and most reliable combo.
Jim
I use A2W on a street driven truck, it has been on for 77,000 miles now and still works fine. My inlet air temps are between ambient and 20F above ambient without any ice ever added. Best performance so far is 11.4X in a 5500 pound truck without driver.
Kurt
Kurt
9 Second Club
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 985
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From: Lake Orion, MI
Plenty of guys driving lots of miles on the street with the TTi F-body race kits using A2W.
Naturally summer days in stop and go traffic will warm the water up but you're not in boost so who cares. Once you get moving again circulate the water with the pump to cool it all back down. If you have a need for ice, almost every gas station in america has ice as well any any party store.
Worst case you stop at McDonalds and get 5 big Ice Waters for the quick cool off before making a run on the street.
Any decent water pump used for a A2W set up will be just as reliable as a dual fuel pump or an Alky pump with far less consequences resulting from a water pump failure than the other two pumps. Cause of failures are the same, bad pump or shorted wiring.
You really can't go wrong with A2W or A2A as long as you properly size your cooling for the application in your car. Once you are at the track though there is nothing like A2W for giving you cool thick air on a hot summer day.
Rick
Naturally summer days in stop and go traffic will warm the water up but you're not in boost so who cares. Once you get moving again circulate the water with the pump to cool it all back down. If you have a need for ice, almost every gas station in america has ice as well any any party store.
Worst case you stop at McDonalds and get 5 big Ice Waters for the quick cool off before making a run on the street. Any decent water pump used for a A2W set up will be just as reliable as a dual fuel pump or an Alky pump with far less consequences resulting from a water pump failure than the other two pumps. Cause of failures are the same, bad pump or shorted wiring.
You really can't go wrong with A2W or A2A as long as you properly size your cooling for the application in your car. Once you are at the track though there is nothing like A2W for giving you cool thick air on a hot summer day.
Rick
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FormerVendor
Joined: Mar 2006
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From: Hell AFB
The magnachargers and kenne bell setups are all A2W, while on the street it might not be optimal as far as heat soaking, its not like your road racing the car.
Ice is added at the race track as a little extra cooling, its not 100% needed, but its a cheap gain per say.
For a limited street car, there is no reason not to go a2w. At the race track you might end up being restricted as far as IAT's if your maxing your setup out.
Ice is added at the race track as a little extra cooling, its not 100% needed, but its a cheap gain per say.
For a limited street car, there is no reason not to go a2w. At the race track you might end up being restricted as far as IAT's if your maxing your setup out.
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For a somewhat dedicated drag car an A2W is pretty useless unless you use ice. A heat exchanger wont work unless its moving (ask the 03 cobra guys how many passes they can get in a row on a hot day).
On a driver I would use an A2A since there is nothing to go wrong with one and they seldom stop working
.
But if you dont have a spot to hang a big FMIC and get air to it you have little choice. Both have their pros and cons..
On a driver I would use an A2A since there is nothing to go wrong with one and they seldom stop working
.But if you dont have a spot to hang a big FMIC and get air to it you have little choice. Both have their pros and cons..
Last edited by kp; Jun 1, 2008 at 03:38 PM.
I went A2W and have a radiator with a fain on it inline the system to aid in the cooling. I also didn't want to hack up the front bumper and remove the bird on my bumper. This is also a mostly street car too than I can also add ice at the track when I go but I probably won't even bother!
FormerVendor
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 1,540
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From: Hell AFB
Honestly you just really need to decide how much driving it will really do on the street instead of 1/4 mile at a time.
Street cars can use w2a, they just cannot maintain a chilled water temp. Thus a heat exchanger. They work well when paired with a properly sized exchanger and coolant system.
At the strip a w2a will really show what its worth, having iats a little bit above ambient.
We use to see 130-150IAT's , now with a w2a and a little bit of ice per run we see 70-80deg iat's . Having converter issues has hindered us getting out experimenting more, stuffing the ice box with more will net a bigger gain and a larger temp drop.
Either way you can still *** meth to either system to help with cooling, low throttle driving around either is fine, at the track of course and iced water tank is going to work great.
I am undecided about which to run on mine, but either one will still use meth to help IAT and a little added safety when full throttle or past a certain amount of boost.
I am going with 2 80mm borg warner turbos, not the best turbo, but for what I plan to do they are fine and are also under 1000.00 each. I've seen a set make just over 2,000 hp on a 509 bbc.
I am undecided about which to run on mine, but either one will still use meth to help IAT and a little added safety when full throttle or past a certain amount of boost.
I am going with 2 80mm borg warner turbos, not the best turbo, but for what I plan to do they are fine and are also under 1000.00 each. I've seen a set make just over 2,000 hp on a 509 bbc.
