Intercooler Choice

[Darkhorse]

Its time to venture close to the edge of the slippery slope again. I am about to replace the standard cams with an SC grind and thought it might be time to replace the intercooler also.
Which intercooler is currently in fashion?
Are cold air induction kits worthwhile?
I want to retain the A/C, have a K27 with a 1bar spring and headers. The car is an '81 930 and just for road use.
Thanks in advance.

[aschen]

Im not sure which ones are fashonable but I think the following companies have offerings available: B&B, Rarelyl8, Fabspeed, turboKraft. I am not sure if anybody else makes a stockish fitment unit anymore.

[1986 930]

I did a lot of research on Intercooler Upgrades before I lucked into a RUF unit that will go very nice on my car.

Given that, the B&B, Fabspeed, and Turbo Kraft units are long neck and require some sort of mods to fit but will sit next to the AC Condenser. The Rarelyl8 unit was created to bolt on to the existing stock set up so that one represents the least work theoretically. I like the idea of the long neck to get rid of the shuttle valve and replace it with the BOV thus reducing the turbo lag.

Be aware that some of the Intercoolers available from yesteryear on ebay from time to time may also need the charge pipe that goes with the unit to complete the upgrade. I found this out the hard way and once again lucked into a RUF Charge Pipe online to complete the hard to find parts. Rare parts = premium dollars so the list of current units would be best.

Guess how I know that little piece of common sense!

Good Luck!

Mark

[Tt surgeon]

Bb makes a short neck ic as well.

[JohnJL]

Bell Intercoolers will make you anything you want.

What are you trying to achieve? Do you suspect a leak or that your IC is the choke-point in the car? Do you have pre-IC temp and pressure gauges and post-IC temp and pressure gauges to substantiate an issue?

If you are going to change the intercooler, what other upgrades can you spend on?

[TT Gasman]

+1 on the B&B short neck, it's a direct bolt on, no fitment issues whatsoever. When I was researching IC on my last 930, the B&B was recommended by Jim Patrick as the best performing short neck IC.

[TurboKraft]

If I can throw in my $0.02 on this, some feedback as a user and builder and seller:
Longneck intercooler -- no ifs, ands, or buts.
Driveability is so much better when the stock boost diverter/recirculation plenum is deleted and replaced with the more compact and efficient C2T/3.6T components, it's worth the extra cost and extra 30min of installation time.
(Besides, being 32 years old, most of the time the stock components need a total overhaul or replacement anyway: rebuild diverter valve, all new o-rings & seals, new hoses & vacuum lines, new intake elbow off the airflow sensor housing... So converting to a longneck isn't really more work.)

The best performing intercoolers are longneck style: factory C2T/3.6T, Kokeln, Ruf, Kremer.
C2T/3.6T and Kremer both require relocating A/C components, so not the easiest upgrade for a shop or DIYer.
Ruf -- as mentioned above, finding a complete used package is not only expensive but also involves a fair amount or patience and maybe luck, too.
Kokeln -- used ones pop up on the message boards from time to time, and they work great.

Andial/Garretson occasionally offered longneck intercoolers, too. They're quite rare and extremely efficient.


I've used B&B products for about 20 years now, we sell them, and I agree theirs is a decent intercooler upgrade, fairly simple to install, and it fits pretty well, too.
But the Kokeln intercooler completely out-performed the B&B intercooler, which is why they sold a lot of them to 930 owners wanting both more performance and better drivability.
If Kokeln was still making intercoolers, we'd use and sell them them.
But they don't, so we had to make new longneck intercoolers that perform at least as well (they do).

I've got to assume someone who fits headers, a K27 turbo and 1.0bar boost spring to his 930 is looking to improve performance and drivability while maintaining simplicity and reliability. TurboKraft's Longneck intercoolers do that.

If you buy one and you aren't happy with the performance, ship it back for a refund.
Pretty simple.

[crb07]

I have the Turbo Kraft intercooler and it is very very nice.

[Darkhorse]

thanks for all the kind advice. It sounds like a longneck is the way to go.
As I mentioned I am changing the cams and I thought what else I could do at the same time.

[Spenny_b]

+1 for a TurboKraft unit - have a look in my build thread below, somewhere about 2/3rds of the way through you'll see a load of pics of the one Chris did for me, black anodized as a "nod" to the stock IC.

Of course, I'm midway through the build so not able to comment on performance (although I have absolutely no doubt it'll be superb) but the fit and finish is just gorgeous.

Cole (Cole930) has also got a TK custom made IC on his 934 homage "Sled", worth having a search for that too.