The fun continues. This weekend I stripped the back half of the car for some more detailing and to install the 997.2 intercoolers.

First step was cleaning everything.



And the topic of clearance has come up in the past when talking about my fender well intakes. Here's how much clearance I have, the wheel/tire combo is 19x11 et32 with 295/30s. Plenty of room. The intakes use 2.5" piping.

 

So, you've given up on the ICs I sold you...?

I like the purple springs.

 

Yes and no. I think I fixed the bad one, but I haven't rigged up a means to pressure test it yet. Since the 997.2 intercoolers are pretty much plug and play I'm going to install those for now while I figure out what I want to do with the Evo units I bought from you.

 

Gotcha...

 

wondering, do you think the evo units will outperform in terms of heatsoak vs the 7.2's?

i almost pulled the trigger 7.2's awhile back but my driving style and quick bursts don't really over tax my 996gt2 cheese graters. the cars track days are behind it.

nice job on the screens btw. i did mine the same though i shoulda painted them - or used some rustoleum lol

 

Based on the reading I've done comparing the Evo units against the 997.2 units I've come to the following conclusions:

The Evo units flow a bit more air so might be a better choice if I was going for 900hp or something. They would also be a good choice if I was into drag racing or drove the car in a way where I would drive it very hard for a short period of time and then give it time to rest to offload all the heat.

The 997.2 units are a bit more restrictive, but they lower intake temps quite a bit more than the Evo units and don't heat soak as easily. They are a better choice over the Evo units if you do track days, or longer duration power pulls.

I also appreciate the OEM-ness of the 997.2 units so I'm going to go with those for now.

 

that makes perfect sense. oem performance upgrades when possible - all else usually being inequal. GL with them.

 

I have the 997.2 in my car and yes you can clearly see that the end 'tanks' are far less restrictive than the 996 variety. And I agree stay OEM if it works and if you are only going around 600bhp the 997.2 are more than up to the task.
keep us informed capt. 👍😀🇬🇧

 

The 997.2 intercoolers are in and happy in their new home. For what seems like a pretty straightforward project it sure is time consuming! I partially attribute that to the fact that I didn't exactly follow the directions in docwytes DIY guide and came up with a slightly different method that didn't require as much trimming of the shrouds. It also eliminated the need to make the little extension plate out of aluminum. I believe the lower shrouds line up with the bumper cutout a bit better with my method. My method requires trimming the top of the upper shroud though where it meets up with the fender ducting, but I still maintained a good seal.

I was too busy working to take many pictures, but if you compare this picture of my car to the second picture from the DIY, you'll see how my trimming was done in a different place on the shrouds (pay attention to where the straps are):

 

And the EVO ones are sad, so very sad, that they have not found a new home...

 

As much work as it is, this is why I'm mystified people still put in plastic end tank intercoolers. This is one upgrade that I'd do the best you can get. I get these are a (marginal) upgrade, but they're still plastic.

 

The end tanks are frequently branded as "plastic" but they are actually a composite material which is used across the board by every OEM from Porsche, BMW, Audi, Lambo, Ferrari. I do not know of any instance where the end tanks would crack or fail. The issue is frequently the fact that the end tanks were not quite fully crimped from the factory and may leak at that location. If one simply makes sure all the tabs are fully fully crimped prior to install, there will be no issue. I have run the 997.2s for several hundred track hours over the years at 1.3bars without any problems whatsoever at 620whp. While I no longer use the 7.2s, they are an excellent choice which I would recommend for a 600whp application over almost anything else available on the aftermarket, certainly over EVOMs. In the end, people can run whatever IC they choose but I'm probably harder on equipment than just about anyone here on these forums and I was nothing but happy with the overall performance and durability and bang for the buck of the 7.2ICs. They work well, are lightweight, have OEM fit an finish, are easily replaceable, and above all, are cheap. I've never understood the general bad mouthing of the 7.2s oftentimes by people that have never used them to begin with..

 

This is exactly what I did, it took maybe 5 minutes to do both intercoolers. Sure enough, there were a couple crimps that were a bit loose.

Also, the .2 intercoolers are far more than a marginal upgrade. It's pretty well documented that the cores are damn near aerospace grade in terms of fin density.

 

I found extending the stock metal clips wasn't all that much work. Trimming the shrouds was the most work. Zip ties work well too and are obviously faster than extending the metal clips. I suppose my OCD got the better of me and I wanted to retain as much of the OEM fitment as possible.

 

I was originally planning to extend the clips, but I zip tied them to do a test fit and realized that once you mount the intercoolers in place the ducts are held in really tight whether they are fastened or not so I decided against the extra work.