Reddy

Who the hell is running a 600hp intercooler on an A6 with a T25? If you think big intercoolers are ricey than more power to you. The more surface area of a heat exhanger, the better it works. Thats not my opinion thats just want I learned in my Engineering thermodynamics classes. There is really no downside to running a big intercooler, if you want the bare minimum and think thats acceptable than more power to you. But as for my I'd rather buy one that leaves me plenty of room to upgrade so I don't have to deal with the hassle of having to sell the inefficient one and buying a new one. Its kind of like running these huge exhausts, there really is no downside to it. The greater the pressure differential on the turbine wheel the faster it will spool, I don't give a ---- what Corky Bell says.


And also the mentality that "one kid did it this way and it worked so it must be the right way" is wrong. Back in the day people were running lots of boost with FMU's and booster pumps and it worked, does that mean its good...no.

scottsi

alot of these old guys are very one track minded, they dont listen and are very opinionated. many of them think that since were younger we must not know as much and they are alot smarter. It really pisses me off to see this because ive seen it from time and time again, espeically at the drag strip with a bunch of domestics and 50 year old guys, they think that we arent ----, and our cars arent fast. we get stereotyped because of our age.

J-SMITH69

fight the good fight mang!

shadetree

Yeah that was kind of a dumb example.. I know peeps with mini-me's and junkyard kit aren't blinging the $800 spearco....they're buying the egay knock-offs of similar size......which have worse flow, more pressure drop, not as good cooling efficiency. I just put those numbers up, cuz I could find them quickly and thought most peeps would trust Spearco's opinion.
Search egay for fmic and civic.
http://search.ebay.com/civic-fmic_W0QQsojsZ1QQfromZR40
If you really want I could find you some cars with pinner turbos and gigantuan ICs, like no need for bumper the IC is the bumper.

Everything has tradeoffs. A bigger core has more cooling, but also more pressure drop. Also every bend in your charge piping causes a bit off pressure drop. So say a small IC(with less bends in the charge piping) takes out 70% of heat, and causes 1psi pressure drop from compressor outlet to the intake manifold. If you put a bigass FMIC on there that took out 85% of the heat, but caused 2.5psi pressure drop, where would you be? You'd be cranking up the MBC, making the turbo work harder to get the same 8psi in the IM. The temp of the charge coming out of the compressor outlet would be higher, so that85% heat removed is of a higher heat. It'd take the turbo longer to reach 11.5psi at the comp out than 9psi, so you'd get more lag. You'd also be running a little T25 out of efficiency range. You'd also have the factor of significantly more volume btwn the comp outlet and the IM, again causing lag.
I mean it seems just like a turbo to me: you don't want it too small, but you also don't want it too big either. Like 17"s on a civic, I think a bigass FMIC on a low boost small turbo and small engine, is too big, works worse, is for looks=RICE. On a built motor running lots of boost from a big turbo, yeah it is right for the job. I hear what you're saying about buying with room for upgrades, though.

Same deal with the exhaust. Bigger is better for WOT under boost....but it's bad for low end torque and non-boost. Big *** exhaust makes n/a to boost more on/off....not so hot for being on and off the throttle when cornering and stuff.

As far as my car goes, I don't want to spend crazy $$ on it, and don't have any crazy goals for it. I like driving rolly twisty roads fast. I just want to have more fun in it, and have fun working on it, learning how to make it work better. That's kinda why I was bringing up these differences. Learning new **** is half the fun for me.

jung4g

Wood doesn't work well in engine bays sucka! Put that ---- in your steam car, and then it'll do some good.

J/K


Corky is all about efficiency with that intercooler buzz. I'm no Physics genius, but I agree with 4wdwagon that on a small setup, the big stuff is overkill. Just find your map for your compressor, and run it at optimal efficiency to reduce heat, if you're not getting the power you want, don't just turn the heat(boost) way up, upgrade to a bigger better turbo that flows more efficiently, and you'll be happier and more reliable in the long run.