intercooler question?
Thread Starter
Rennlist Member
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 14,893
Likes: 300
From: san francisco
intercooler question?
Can someone tell me what it does? It supposedly cools the charged gases from the turbo but how does it do that? Is it like a radiator? Whats the internals of the intercooler. I see air to air and air to liquid. How does it all work. Does the intercooler lower the intake air to the engine? Regards. Mike
Rennlist Member
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 12,944
Likes: 1,365
From: North Bay Area, CA
[quote]Originally posted by 996FLT6:
<strong>Can someone tell me what it does? It supposedly cools the charged gases from the turbo but how does it do that? Is it like a radiator? Whats the internals of the intercooler. I see air to air and air to liquid. How does it all work. Does the intercooler lower the intake air to the engine? Regards. Mike</strong><hr></blockquote>
Mike, an intercooler is very much like a radiator through which the heated pressurized intake charge from the turbo passes on it's way to the engine and helps bring down the temperature before it gets to the combustion chamber (cooler air is denser and hence contains more oxygen than hot air .... more oxygen means more power)
An air to air intercooler uses airflow over and through it to accomplish this, while an air to liquid intercooler uses engine coolant pumped through the intercooler to help bring the temperature down.
<strong>Can someone tell me what it does? It supposedly cools the charged gases from the turbo but how does it do that? Is it like a radiator? Whats the internals of the intercooler. I see air to air and air to liquid. How does it all work. Does the intercooler lower the intake air to the engine? Regards. Mike</strong><hr></blockquote>
Mike, an intercooler is very much like a radiator through which the heated pressurized intake charge from the turbo passes on it's way to the engine and helps bring down the temperature before it gets to the combustion chamber (cooler air is denser and hence contains more oxygen than hot air .... more oxygen means more power)
An air to air intercooler uses airflow over and through it to accomplish this, while an air to liquid intercooler uses engine coolant pumped through the intercooler to help bring the temperature down.