To Intercooler or Not?
 

At what point of the mod sequence does it make sense to consider improved intercoolers? Assuming the basic mandatory tune and exhaust up to 500+ HP have already been done. Strictly for track usage, or worthwhile for the occasional spirited drives on streets and highways? Seems like an easy bolt-on with no downside other than the cost. Lots of posts on intercoolers, but nothing seemingly definitive.

I'm planning to upgrade to 997 GT2RS intercoolers while my motor is out. My only other power mods will be exhaust and tune. They seem like a no-brainer to me.

At ~500 hp I'd stick with the stock intercoolers.

"spirited" street drives aren't *typically* what contributes to significant heat soak.

tracking, will though.. and quickly.

At any point. You'll see benefits right away from a quality intercooler setup.

I noticed it right away in logs and feel after doing Kevin's ZC16 turbos.
After a leak test, tune & exhaust, it would be my next move along with inlet pipes while the engine's out.
Do the plugs too while the bumper is off.

Here's some more:
https://rennlist.com/forums/996-turb...996-turbo.html

Agree.

I run Kevin's ZC K16s with his tune and a europipe (along with clutch kit). My car post this originally had the stock intercoolers and I immediately noticed the flat spot that comes in the rev range with cars on stock coolers. Swapping these out for 997.2 coolers immediately fixed this and the car pulls hard. I mainly use mine on weekends and for track work.

At what RPM?

Similar to Mr. keyboard above, my recollection is the stock X50 coolers felt as thought there was a restriction from about 3k+ compared to the 997GT2 ones.
Not sure that I'd describe mine as a flat spot because it's the kind of thing you may not really notice until after you use the superior part.
I changed to a 100 cel Milltek and Evoms inlet kit and fueling and FPR at the same time, then added the ICs but I'd guess you'll notice butt dyno verifiable improvements with just the ICs and a tune/exhaust, especially in hot weather and track/heavy load runs.

Are non-RS 997.1/.2 (is there a difference between the two?) intercoolers a worthwhile upgrade over the standard 996 units?

The ones you mention would be an upgrade, as are X50 ones but you want these:
997-110-639-71
997-110-640-71
Ryan/Greg/Gina are great to work with:
https://www.sonnenporscheoemparts.co...er-99711063971

I have stock X50 ones in perfect shape, PM offer

Any improvements in horsepower and torque or an improvement in power delivery (or all of these) based just on the addition of the intercoolers?

Do you track your car?

Yes, noticeably more HP and torque by my butt dyno, which means it would probably register another 20+ on a real dyno. I'd guess noticing any less could be a pair of double blind placebo intercoolers.
On hot days in high load/boost scenarios, you'll pull less timing and get more power. I'm not sure how much of a difference it would make for around town stuff since I noticed it most in gears 3/4/5, at which point you're moving at 70+

It's worth it on even a mildly modded car.