Liquid intercooler heat exchangers

[buick231]

Hi, i am having a hard time to pick out a intercooler heat exchanger set up. There are those china ones on ebay, but They seem a bit small and i am scared of the quality and effectiveness. I'm try to achieve 800 rwhp on the street with a liquid set up. Any suggestions for radiator size?

[buick231]

ANother question, what is better a thicker core or a longer and wider thin one?

[JoeThaMan]

Well, when it comes to liquid to air, the smaller ones are going to be a lot more efficient than an air-to-air. You want to make sure it's thick enough to flow enough air through it, but have enough surface area for the liquid to thorougly cool the core. In my opinion I find it difficult to trust a chinese liquid-to-air intercooler. If it leaks a significant amount of coolant into the cooler, then suck liquid into the engine when you start the engine it could hydrolock the motor and cause major damage.

[ender]

i think he's referring to the heat exchanger in the AWIC system, not the intercooler core itself.

look into the SVT cobra cores, a lot of MR2 guys use those in conjunction with the ST205 IC core. you could also look at a standard civic AL radiator if you have the space for it at the front of the car. the wider thinner core would be more efficient, since as thickness increases, effective airflow to the back half of the exchanger decreases dramatically.

another MR2 guy used the heat exchanger for the electrics in the lexus RX330 hybrid as his exchanger, but they're more expensive and harder to find.

VW scirocco radiators are also popular choices for AWIC exchangers.

i had also looked at welding custom end tanks onto a chevy cavalier radiator adn using that as a heat exchanger. just make sure you use a core that's designed for water flow and not oil flow, and use the highest flow pump you can.

remember, it doesn't need nearly the exchange capacity as the car's radiator because the turbo generates A LOT less heat than the engine, so nearly any smaller car radiator will work provided you can make it fit.

[buick231]

Thanks for the replies. This is what i have purchased for the radiator portion.

Liquid to air intercooler heat exchanger radiator - (eBay.ca item 150198475759 end time 22-Jan-08 21:38:50 EST)

I am sticking with a Garret core for the intercooler part, too scared of the China stuff. I was going to buy a oil cooler, whats the difference in them?

I have a jabsco centri-puppy pump rated at about 15 gpm at 7 ps, and a 5 gal cell in the trunk.

Only concern is if i put ice in the system and the temps go below ambient would consensation form on the intercooler radiator and intercooler iteself?

[ender]

on the outside of it, maybe. below ambient temps are good

don't be scared of chinese IC cores. thousands of people are using them with success. it's pretty hard to screw up an intercooler. now, the turbos on the other hand... heh.

[GSXGUY98]

i just got some emails from the reps at AEM a few days ago maybe we can look into the set up of the Memphis audio/ AEM Drift 350Z set up that they are using for heat exchange.

[buick231]

keep us updated on a good exchanger!

[czecho]

I was looking into this myself air-to-water set-up but idk yet i think i stay with the basic air-to-air setup dont want to complicate anything more then it already is