The biggest one you can fit with the best flow and cooling. While going cheap. Thats the best intercooler.
Isn't that like saying, "I want a hot a$$ wife who likes cars, sports and beer and sex, lets me do nothing, cooks and cleans, and pays me an allowance to hang out in the garage."
I take the easy way out and pick a quality Garrett core that is just slightly above the power level I intend for the vehicle it's going on, and make sure I make nice, flow directed end tanks. It's pretty hard to mess it up that way. But it's not the cheapest way always.
1989 FWD Turbo Caravan-2.5 TIII, GT35R, auto, a/c, cruise, pwr windows/locks, fully loaded with interior and ran with full exhaust. RETIRED FOR A FEW YEARS! 12.57@104 :O)
1984 Chev Getaway van, 6.2 Diesel with a remote mounted turbo setup burning WMO-For sale.
2003 GSW 2.0L TDI, auto, fully loaded, modified, 360K-wife's.
2004 GSW TDI, 5 speed, fully loaded, modified.
Aurora ignition wires for sale. Link to info
Super60 roller cams or custom/billet cams. Link to info
I'm not running a diesel intercooler. Im running an eBay fmic. I've ran the ---- out of my car and stopped and touched the hot side and cold side of the intercooler and it was not hot. Mine works. I didn't have to do any crazy math to figure out what the proper intercooler size should be for my car. Classic case of overthinking things always gets you in trouble. I'm a firm believer in the biggest intercooler I can stuff in there the better. I dont believe in spending money on a name brand intercooler. Friend of mine had a 500 dollar name brand intercooler on his 99 gsx. Cracked the end tanks twice and cracked one of the bar plates. My 100 dollar china man made intercooler hasn't given me one bit of trouble. I know the Volvo ones suck with the plastic end tanks. I know srt intercoolers suck. NPR seems to work well for people. Stock t2 sucks. You think I'm bad try arguing with impreza guys about going from top mount to front mount. Those dumb asses are saying that it's gonna make the turbo lag more because of the piping. Really? Its a small turbo. Lag isn't really an issue. They will swear up and down the top mount is better. Horse ----. Heat rises. Heat comes from exhaust and engine. Intercooler mounted underhood = bad idea.
1989 FWD Turbo Caravan-2.5 TIII, GT35R, auto, a/c, cruise, pwr windows/locks, fully loaded with interior and ran with full exhaust. RETIRED FOR A FEW YEARS! 12.57@104 :O)
1984 Chev Getaway van, 6.2 Diesel with a remote mounted turbo setup burning WMO-For sale.
2003 GSW 2.0L TDI, auto, fully loaded, modified, 360K-wife's.
2004 GSW TDI, 5 speed, fully loaded, modified.
Aurora ignition wires for sale. Link to info
Super60 roller cams or custom/billet cams. Link to info
Overthinking only gets you in trouble if you don't know how to think. Or if you're thinking wrong, I suppose.
Intercoolers are not all created equal, and if you see the gains from a real quality intercooler to a cheap unit is highly dependent upon how well your car is sorted out and how well it runs for it's respective modification level also.
Short, fat, straight pipes.
After the core is sized, the pipes - the shorter the better, the fatter the better, the straighter the better.
John Laing
"The sole condition which is required in order to succeed in centralizing the supreme power in a democratic community, is to love equality, or to get men to believe you love it. Thus the science of despotism, which was once so complex is simplified, and reduced . . . . to a single principle."
-- Alexis de Tocqueville
"One of the methods used by statists to destroy capitalism consists in establishing controls that tie a given industry hand and foot, making it unable to solve its problems, then declaring that freedom has failed and stronger controls are necessary."
--Ayn Rand
"To evolve, you don't need a Constitution. All you need is a legislature and a ballot box . . . . things will evolve as much as you want. All of these changes can come about democratically; you don't need a Constitution to do that and it's not the function of a Constitution to do that."
-- Justice Antonin Scalia
Damn, why didn't I think of that?
What is the PR, exactly? I know it stands for pressure ratio And how does it relate to the cooling ability of an intercooler?
---------- Post added at 05:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:37 PM ----------
Seems like that will flow well, but not cool well, unless you oversize it. Which may be what he is saying.
---------- Post added at 05:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:38 PM ----------
FTR, my SRT cooler worked good I was running like 20 psi on my 2.2 Daytona w/ it, on a Mitsu w/ the wga unhooked, I could run it hard and then feel the end tanks, and the engine side would always be cold. Turbo side would sometimes be almost hot enough to burn my hand. However, I was probably making no more than 200-215 whp.
1989 FWD Turbo Caravan-2.5 TIII, GT35R, auto, a/c, cruise, pwr windows/locks, fully loaded with interior and ran with full exhaust. RETIRED FOR A FEW YEARS! 12.57@104 :O)
1984 Chev Getaway van, 6.2 Diesel with a remote mounted turbo setup burning WMO-For sale.
2003 GSW 2.0L TDI, auto, fully loaded, modified, 360K-wife's.
2004 GSW TDI, 5 speed, fully loaded, modified.
Aurora ignition wires for sale. Link to info
Super60 roller cams or custom/billet cams. Link to info
As in if your boost target is 30 in the intake, but your core is requiring 37 for instance at the compressor housing outlet to achieve it, but your compressor wheel is off of its efficiency range, then youve exceeded its ability to keep up with the system. Does that make sense?
1989 FWD Turbo Caravan-2.5 TIII, GT35R, auto, a/c, cruise, pwr windows/locks, fully loaded with interior and ran with full exhaust. RETIRED FOR A FEW YEARS! 12.57@104 :O)
1984 Chev Getaway van, 6.2 Diesel with a remote mounted turbo setup burning WMO-For sale.
2003 GSW 2.0L TDI, auto, fully loaded, modified, 360K-wife's.
2004 GSW TDI, 5 speed, fully loaded, modified.
Aurora ignition wires for sale. Link to info
Super60 roller cams or custom/billet cams. Link to info
Nobody drives their car with a scanner that monitors the intake temperature like I do?
One of the few way you can put how good the intercooler cools the air into numbers.
1989 FWD Turbo Caravan-2.5 TIII, GT35R, auto, a/c, cruise, pwr windows/locks, fully loaded with interior and ran with full exhaust. RETIRED FOR A FEW YEARS! 12.57@104 :O)
1984 Chev Getaway van, 6.2 Diesel with a remote mounted turbo setup burning WMO-For sale.
2003 GSW 2.0L TDI, auto, fully loaded, modified, 360K-wife's.
2004 GSW TDI, 5 speed, fully loaded, modified.
Aurora ignition wires for sale. Link to info
Super60 roller cams or custom/billet cams. Link to info
I would, but the scanner I have only goes back to '89 and doesn't work on my Daytona However, come to think of it, this Lebaron I'm driving is an '89...