Intercooler = Power?

[cookiebear]

I want to know by changing a bigger FMIC but with the same set up, is that going to have any power increase on the dyno? I've heard people say no, unless you adjust the boost or further tune, but on the other hard, I've also read a Zoom magazine before, that car changed from a front mount standard Supra's intercooler (the big one) to a bigger FMIC, and it had 30rwkw increase by doing that, so I've no idea what to believe.

[sh@un]

if the intercooler is more efficient, you will have more power at the same boost level (with tuning tweak). simple

[RB20_ZED]

if the intercooler is more efficient, you will have more power at the same boost level (with tuning tweak). simple

exactly - but a bigger cooler will just make it lag more also.

[Munna1]

lag will be the same but you will loose a little thottle response

cheers

[mad082]

it really depends on the cooler.

if it has a better flow rate, and a better cooling efficiency then you will gain power, but lose a little bit of throttle response.

if it flows more air, then you will gain power. if the temp of the air going into the motor is cooler, you will gain power. its as simple as that.

people will go on about how you don't gain power since you lose repsonse, but that is a load of crud. all that means is from the moment you put your foot down to the moment you go "vroom" may be a split second longer. once the air has filled up the space, whatever cooler flows better/cools better will give you more power.

[tiesto]

basically up the boost and you will notice see noticeable gains to power.

[rev210]

..

Edited November 6, 2006 by rev210

[mad082]

you do lose throttle response. imagine the piping being like a hose. the shorter the hose, the sooner the water comes out the end.

and you don't get accleleration lag from a bigger cooler. you get response lag, but not acceleration lag. once the turbo is up to speed the air will be flowing at the same speed as normal, so the air going into the motor will be the same. this means it will create the same power. if it creates the same power, it will accelerate the same.

now you can post up drag times that fit your story if you leave out every other variable other than the size of the cooler. but the simple fact is that if a cooler flows the same amount of air as another cooler, other than the initial response, acceleration won't change.

if you have 2 identical cars with 2 identical power graphs, with 1 just having a bigger cooler than the other, their acceleration times will be extremely similar. the only difference will be in initial acceleration since there is more lag on the bigger cooler. once going they will accelerate at the same speed. if you don't believe this then go and study physics.

[govich]

I'm registering my agreement with mad082.

You're generalising too much, it depends more on design than size to a point.

Edited November 6, 2006 by govich

[IMPUL R33R]

By changing to a larger fmic you can gain a little power on a dyno due to the way an intercooler works, it cools the intake charge thereby making the inlet charge more dense and containing more oxygen by volume. useually the power will increase because most systems are tuned RICH as a precaution so with the added oxygen you get a better burn in the cylinder. You wont always get more lag with a larger cooler either as it depends on the design of cooler wether it is a BAR & PLATE or TUBE & FIN. factory coolers are usually tube and fin design so charging to a larger bar and plate cooler can often reduce lag. It also depends on the length of the cooler piping and the diametre, keep the pipes as short as possible, usually 2.5in to the cooler (for average & mid size turbos) and then 3in from cooler to manifold as the denser air from the outlet of the cooler needs a larger diametre pipe to keep the air speed up, hope this helps.

[MR331307]

What is in your Setup

larger the intercooler the Cooler your air temps are gonna be.With cooler air temps the More Timing you can run.MORE TIMING = More Power + Torque

As for lag

JUST REVVVVVVVVVV n DUMP

no lag there

Mate ive got a 600x300x128 mm cooler on my car and it does have a lil longer lag then usually but when u dump it or rev it honestly doesnt matter

But as for a intercooler on its own increasing power

Wont happen You need to tune it more to notice any power gain

UNLESS your car is Pinging due to increased Timing then you will see an increase in power

[Cubes]

it really depends on the cooler.

if it has a better flow rate, and a better cooling efficiency then you will gain power, but lose a little bit of throttle response.

if it flows more air, then you will gain power. if the temp of the air going into the motor is cooler, you will gain power. its as simple as that.

people will go on about how you don't gain power since you lose repsonse, but that is a load of crud. all that means is from the moment you put your foot down to the moment you go "vroom" may be a split second longer. once the air has filled up the space, whatever cooler flows better/cools better will give you more power.

There's been a few R33's making near 200rwkw on a stock IC.

Rev210.. Didn't you manage a high 12 on the stock IC some years back?

The only benefit of an FMIC I see is CONSISTENT power.. At near stock boost levels and stock turbo the stock ic will make the same power on the dyno, on the street after its little ic has heat soaked its going to be down on power.

I don't believe the stock ic is a massive restriction to airflow when running the stock turbo, it does however have a massive restriction in regards to its heat sink ability. This is its downfall.

I run a sperco bar/plate IC thats rated to flow 580hp worth of air with a 1.5psi pressure drop.

Running 12psi I picked up 3rwkw.

On the road.. First didn't feel as if it boosted as early and the hit didn't snap as hard. Second was the same however it felt as if third and fourth pulled a little harder.

Prior to fitting the fmic I cruised, pulled over strapped it to 4th gear pulled over felt the stock ic and it was cooking. So a simple quick strap was enough to have it heatsoak.

The FMIC.. 3/4 of the fmic is cool the first 1/4 goes from hot to cool.

[Cubes]

As for lag

JUST REVVVVVVVVVV n DUMP

no lag there

lol bah to rev n dump... Drop a rb30 in it and pull ~700odd maybe a touch more off that turbo spool threshold.

Drop a GT30r .82 on the rb30det and have it spooling the same as a stock rb25det.

[paulr33]

im with cubes

i reckon if i dynoed my car with

stock fmic

china poor mans core fmic

arc fmic

i reckon they would all make the same power

the better ones would come out on top for battling heat soak and taking away some throttle lag perhaps, but all would make the same power

[recce]

This is what I think. With a FMIC, you will notice very little gain on the dyno as there is not much air flow to cool the charged air from the turbo. But on driving on the road is different story. You will feel the difference but you cannot measure the power unless you have got some sort of instrument to measure power on board. I feel the difference when I change to FMIC even on stock boost. Pulls harder as the charged air is cooler so more dense.

[Cubes]

recce,

Which illustrates how quickly the stock IC becomes heatsoaked.

[600hp]

YES!!!

[RB20_ZED]

This is what I think. With a FMIC, you will notice very little gain on the dyno as there is not much air flow to cool the charged air from the turbo. But on driving on the road is different story. You will feel the difference but you cannot measure the power unless you have got some sort of instrument to measure power on board. I feel the difference when I change to FMIC even on stock boost. Pulls harder as the charged air is cooler so more dense.

just get dyno'd in a wind tunnel

[rev210]

..

Edited November 6, 2006 by rev210

[paulr33]

and remember that an intercooler core with no air ducting around is going to have less air go through it than one that has proper air ducting forcing the air through. check out the radiator setup on a v8 supercar