I read an article in euro mag about the lindsey stage II intercooler replacement in our cars. In there, he put a temp in right before the engine after intercooler to see a difference. He noticed about a 20 degrees difference from stock to the stage II, if you ask me, I can feel a HUGE difference in going out in the car when it is 80 compared to 60. I was wondering if anyone did this upgrade and what they thought. Also, I would really like to make the car have some nice cold air going in, what else would be a good up grade for the car? I still have the stock airbox and afm, I plan on getting a maf with the stock air box to keep the cold intake air coming in.

 

Plus after reading more about it at Lindsey, why is pressure drop important? I don't understand what they mean by it. Is lower BETTER?

 

That's odd, because Lindsey themselves only claim a 9.5 degree differance.
The stage 1 however reduced the temp much more, but with more pressure drop than stage 2.
That's the tradeoffs you have to calculate when not changing the core. Less pressure drop equals less temp reduction.

 

Yes, lower pressure drop is better.
Think of it this way: You want 18 psi of boost into the engine. The intercooler has 2 psi of pressure drop. To get 18 psi into the manifold your turbo has to pump 18 + 2 = 20 psi to make for the pressure drop in the intercooler.
And the more pressure the turbo has to produce, the hotter the air will be when leaving the turbo.

Somewhere along the line there's a sweet spot. For an all stock car, the stock intercooler probably is optimal.

Hope this helps!

 

WOW, thank you SO much, that is SO clear. I have the guru 15 psi chips, new tial wastegate going in soon, 3" exhaust going in summer, maf going in the summer. So I think I will get the stage II to help cool everything. I am still tring to see how to get more colder air into the car without spending 2k on it.

 

much cheaper than 2k would be to vent the nose panel and add intercooler "ducting". which is basically two sheets of metal that run perpendicular to the intercooler at both ends....forcing the air coming in through the nose to go only through the intercooler. can be done for pretty cheap if your do the work yourself.

 

Any intercooler ducting you can put in by cutting a whole in the header pannel is bound to be less efficent than the factory duct. The factory duct in on the leading edge of the bumper on a nice flat surface (read as high pressure), if you cut a whole in the header pannel you are dealing with what is more than likely a much lower pressure area and the air would be under a good bit of turbulance because of how the bumper and header pannel come together.

Now where I do believe some significant gains could be made is on the back side of the intercooler, if you had a way to assist in the extraction of the hot air (sort of like the 968 RS) I think the intercooler could be much more efficent at speed.

but thats my .02

 

Mike1982.
if you really must, then do it.
but I have all of the mods you are planning and more and I do not have a bigger intercooler.
it is not necessary, the stock one works quite well.
just a suggestion!

 

I agree with you to some extent, but "not necessary" is difficult to say.
Many mods are not necessary, but that doesn't mean they don't provide some gains. Like bigger exhaust, intercooler pipes etc. They're not necessary but they do make some gains.

An intercooler upgrade might not provide most hp for its cost, but the good thing about upgrading the IC is that it doesn't have any real drawbacks. The cooler the intake air, the less the risk for detonation and at the same time makes more power.

With that said, I think an intercooler upgrade would be nice to have - but it's a long way down the list!

 

I agree completely. Furthermore I'm convinced that a more significant reduction in intake air temps was achieved by installing a crank case breather, and no longer venting the hot AOS back into the mouth of the turbo.

Just my $.02.

 

As per Corkey Bell, every 15 degree intake temp drop allows and/or recaptures 1 psi of boost.

Before I would spend that kind of money on a stg 2 intercooler for the 15 degree drop/1 psi, you could put a top of the line Aquamist systemon that drops temps 30-40 degrees and allows 2-4 psi more boost, and a hell of a lot of saftey margin.

"I think an intercooler upgrade would be nice to have - but it's a long way down the list!" EXACTLY!!

 

And if you did decide to go with an aftermarket IC, then go a water/air unit. Why upgrade to something that is only a minimal increase.

 

Air/water is less efficient, due to there being an additional heat transfer introduced into the system. The thermodynamic equation then has to run twice.

Sam

 

Air/water might be nice to have for short sprints like the quarter mile, but for sustained full throttle use like the track or autobahn an air/air IC is the way to go.

 

Sam - I'm not sure I'm with you on that one. Granted its physically more complex and weighs more (reason Subaru dropped it and went air/air) but IIRC water is a more efficent transfer medium.

We are talking air/air vs air/water no just water spray on the intercooler right?

I'm sure someone will provide further elightenment