Intercooler On a Stock 2.5 TI

[89spirites]

I'm installing a intercooler on my stock 89 Spirit ES turbo. Will I gain much boost by doing this??

[A.J.]

It's not a matter of gaining boost, but gaining power. An intercooler cools the boost that the turbo heats up while compressing it. That way you can run higher boost with less of a chance of detonation. If your running a stock computer with a stock 2 bar MAP sensor, the most you can run is 15 p.s.i. Intercooled or not.

A.J.

[blk86trbo]

If your car is totally stock, the biggest seat of the pants improvement is a bigger exhaust

[Juggy]

If your car is totally stock, the biggest seat of the pants improvement is a bigger exhaust

nitrous

[89spirites]

Is it safe to run 15psi on a stock car with a intercooler?? This is my first turbo car so i'm trying to get some idea's on some simple things to gain power.. How do you I adjust the boost on the car??

[iTurbo]

I would say yes, as long as the car is in good shape (healthy stock fuel system etc..) I've had a couple different intercooled 2.5L TI cars; one with stock TII intercooler and one had a big NPR intercooler. 15 psi was no problem with stock computer/MAP/injectors. Although you probably won't be able to run a steady 15 psi at WOT without the stock computer hitting overboost shutdown. Maybe 12-13 psi as long as the turbo doesn't spike too bad.

To adjust the boost, you can use a simple manual boost controller. I use these:

http://www.mm-racing.com/mbc.htm

[89spirites]

How much power are you gaining at 15psi?? How does that all work??

[bfarroo]

An average estimate is aproximately 10hp per pound of boost as long as you in the efficient range of the setup. I've had my 89 spirit intercooled with a factory setup for two years now and it's a blast to drive at 12 psi. Any more than that I tend to hit overboost on the spike which isn't fun. Like mentioned above you need a healthy fuel system. Replacing the fuel filter and all the rubber lines using fuel injection rated hose and clamps is a must for safety along with keeping the fuel flow up.

[89spirites]

thanks for all the info!!!!!

[tsiconquest88]

yea between adding an IC, straight through no cat exhaust, and boost to 13 psi (via man controller) the van has woke up A LOT!!!! and i have a cal'd chip from shelgame comming so im hopin to see even more improvement, mainly since i been rocking the stock auto comp after doing the 5 speed swap. Have a little drivability issue thanks to the auto cal.

[Vigo]

A stock-everything 2.5 t1 spirit probly puts down around 125 whp. With an intercooler and exhaust running at 12-13psi it will probably make 160-170whp but WELL over 200lb ft of torque, possibly over 250lb ft peak. So a big improvement!

[Sloride]

About 12psi on my 2.5 with 3" exaust made (g-valved)

170hp@4500 and 235tq from 1700 to 3200

[tsiconquest88]

are those the same numbers a van would make with the same mods? I kind of thought those are around my numbers cus its def faster than stock and the 145 it is stock it def is higher than that i thought since stuff i been doing to it. I have the same mods as you sloride plus an mp cal via shelgame. (which im still messing with as it seems to have slowed me down).

[Captain Chaos]

are those the same numbers a van would make with the same mods?.

Drivetrain doesn't care what body its in.

[tsiconquest88]

i know but i didnt know if the vans were setup with a different power output than the cars, thats all my point was. Cus from what i have read, the vans are 145 hp but i havent seen any of the cars t1 that low of hp? arent they all 165 or something? stock that is. As to stock the vans were 145?

[Captain Chaos]

A 2.5 T-I was factory rated @ 150 IIRC. 175 T-II and 146 early T-I 85 and up.

[tsiconquest88]

ah ok, cool thanks for the info.

[Captain Chaos]

I've read where there have been high torque models and detuned models through programming for the auto cars, but I can't say for sure.

[ShelGame]

There was a 2.5 T1 'High Torque' Cal for the '91 Manual cars. All they did was to set the boost at 11psi across all speed ranges. The 'normal' 2.5 T1 boost curve is limited to 9psi up to ~30mph. I think they did that becuase in '91 all the 2.5 T1 manuals used the A568 - which could easily take it.

Also, there was a 2.2 T2 Auto Cal that was used only in the Masi TC. It had a reduced boost schedule for auto trans durability. Don't know what it was rated at though.

[86Shelby]

Also, there was a 2.2 T2 Auto Cal that was used only in the Masi TC. It had a reduced boost schedule for auto trans durability. Don't know what it was rated at though.

The other TII/auto cal is in the '87 Shelby Lancers with an automatic. They also had a more tame cal than the regular TII cars.