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Hybrid Intercoolers - Voice your opinion!!

Zensoku

By Zensoku,
in Engines & Forced Induction

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Zensoku Collaborator

Zensoku

Posted
Posted

Guys, I know that this has no doubt been covered a million times before, the whole bar & plate VS. tube & fin intercooler debate, so please don't be critical, but, here goes...

I am considering ordering the "Hybrid" brand of intercooler which is of bar & plate & fin design and the core measures 600x300x76mm with cast alloy end tanks which have 3" inlets and outlets. I am getting this at trade price, but this unit retails for around $880. (See www.powerdigger.com for a look.)

Actually here is the link:

https://secure-krakatoa.commercevault.com/p...INTERCOOLER.htm

I know all about the general rule of thumb in regards to the pros and cons of each type of intercooler: The Bar and Plate having exceptional charge air cooling performance and a slightly higher pressure drop compared to an equivalently sized tube & fin design which offers more charge air flow at the cost of cooling efficiency.

My question is of build quality and efficiency of this particular brand and type of bar & plate intercooler. How many people have a "Hybrid" brand intercooler fitted to their car? (Come on, put your hands up!)

Please feel free to comment on them, both good and possibly bad.

I realise that most Australian made intercoolers are of tube & fin manufacture and all bar & plate cores are imported from either USA or Japan, but after reading an in depth study of intercooling here: http://www.are.com.au/techtalk/intecoolersMR.htm

I am even more confused and really questioning the quality and efficiency of this brand of intercooler, especially for the low price.

Is it too good to be true? Are these just cheap and nasty or an absolute bargain? Before you ask what application i am hoping to using it in, or what power i am hoping to safely develop with this intercooler, i would prefer unbiased opinions based around the quality and efficiency of the "Hybrid" Intercoolers in general...

SLY33 Mentor

SLY33

Posted
Posted

i have one fitted. what can i say? it works, looks good, the exit pipe is always cold (unless its a HOT summer day, it gets a bit warm, but i would think this is the norm). i know of quite a few 33's with them on.

im not sure that opinions from users such as myself will help you, as while i think it works good, its not like ive used multiple other FMICs to give a comparison. Pretty much any large FMIC will do an adequate job and id say that unless your shooting for megga power or exceptional high boost, then for a street car any one will do. pretty much every decent intercooler brand states they have low pressure drop etc etc, and ive never heard of anyone bagging any reputable name brand cooler.

personally i dont think it is a cheap and nasty cooler. however i was sceptical at first due to its price, but its serving me well.

Zensoku Collaborator

Zensoku

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks for all of your replies and opinions...

Just like SLY33 said that he was sceptical at first because of it's price, I feel more at ease now that your responses were nothing but positive and feel like this well priced cooler isn't a cheap and nasty piece of work that goes with the saying "you pay for what you get"...

Thanks again, and one hybrid intercooler will be on the way!

Cheers.

Grim Proficient

Grim

Posted
Posted

I love my Hybrd cooler. After thrashing the car around a bit I pulled over and put my hands on the entrance and exit pipes...entrance was warm/hot exit was cold. What more can I say? I'm running 0.9bar boost at the plenum which makes it about 14-15psi at the turbo and that's with a stock turbo that hasn't blown so the flow must be good.

Sydneykid, you've raised another point, by having a cooler infront of the radiator how much efficiency does the radiator loose?

Cubes Grand Master

Cubes

Posted
Posted

I've got a fairly small Bar and Plate that is apparently optimal at 580hp with 1.5psi pressure drop.

It is close to 90mm thick so I imagine not to much air would be getting to the radiator. I don't have any problems with over heating but I also have twin 12" thermo's on the radiator.

It sits behind the stock bar and is obvious.

If you get a GTR cooler get a 33 Cooler. They are better. :)

rsx84 Veteran

rsx84

Posted
Posted

can I ask what price you can get it for as i'm thinking of one for my car, its just three days ago i found an add for the hybrid intercooler in issue 31 of HPI and the price on the 660x 300x 76 was 635 plus gst (700) now just about ten minutes ago i was at there site and the price was 880 so by my thinking there are going up about hundred bucks a month. Cheers

skysaresilver Community Regular

skysaresilver

Posted
Posted

there sold on ebay if i'm not mistaken for something like $650

yeah... here's a link to it....

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi...&category=43808

hope it helps, btw.. if there is anyone that knows where i can get one cheaper can u either pm me or post it here cause i'm also in the market very shortly of buying a hybrid intercooler

Sydneykid Grand Master

Sydneykid

Posted
Posted

Hi Grim as with all things automotive it's a matter of compromise. Being simplistic, there are 3 basic things an intercooler has to do;

1. allow movement of the pressurised air through the cooler

2. transfer heat from the pressurised air to the ambient air

3. allow movement of the ambient air through the cooler

I have yet to find an intercooler that does all three perfectly, but as Meatloaf says "2 out of 3 ain't bad". For our purposes (circuit racing) the cooling of the pressurised air and the flow of ambient air to the radiator are the most important 2.

We run as big a turbo as we like and therefore having a bit of restriction in the intercooler and loosing a few horsepower is the lesser of the evils. Keeping a consistent inlet air temperature and engine water temperature for the length of the race are far more important. So a tube and fin with not too much thickness (less than 100 mm) and a large frontal area would be our choice.

This would not be the case in a drag car which needs every bit of horsepower it can get. Over a 10 second 1/4, engine water temperature is not likely to be a problem. So a thick (125 mm or so) bar and plate would be our choice.

For a road car I would suggest choosing the one that fits your own personal usage patterns. If your turbo is restricted in size and you want to make the best of it (max horsepower) and don't use the engine hard for long (consistent periods) then choose an intercooler for its pressurised airflow efficiency and sacrifice a bit of ambient airflow.

At around 125 mm, both the HKS Drag and Trust bar and plate intercoolers show no restriction to speak of at the max airflow our Superflow bench can generate (over 700 bhp). On the other hand, for up to 500 bhp the standard R33 GTR intercooler is a pretty hard to beat all rounder as I posted previously. Next step up from that is a tube and fin core from PWR with cast end tanks. It starts to show some restriction at 650 bhp which is plenty enough for a circuit race car.

Hope that makes sense.

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