bigger intercooler

nynor · 12-12-2005, 06:05 PM

are there any advantages to going with a larger intercooler?

i am not looking for massive HP gains, but would like to explore some options. it seems that lowering the intake temperatures, HP naturally follows, without increasing the odds of damaging stuff.

Lawrence Coppari · 12-13-2005, 05:12 AM

If everything is stock, most bang for dollar is chips, by far.

nynor · 12-13-2005, 08:09 AM

agreed.

however, i am not really keen on upping the boost just yet.

my thought process is this: cooler air at same pressure equals more dense charge. thus, more air without pushing more boost...

IanS · 12-13-2005, 01:21 PM

There is room for improvement with a better intercooler, but first I would clean out the one you have. Its my next maintenance item and I've heard that it helps a lot.

Also, no one makes a replacement intercooler that doesn't require substantial modifications to fit.

nynor · 12-13-2005, 01:39 PM

lindsay racing makes one that looks pretty simple to install.

IanS · 12-13-2005, 01:59 PM

The stage 5? Looks straightforward except you need their header panel.

nynor · 12-13-2005, 05:20 PM

um, i think the stage 2 would be sufficient for my purposes.

IanS · 12-13-2005, 05:53 PM

I was intending to get that, but when I searched rennlist, the consensus was that it wasn't worth the money. I believe there was even some speculation that it increased flow at the expense of worse cooling performance.

You could probably spec out an intercooler at www.bellintercoolers.com for a reasonable amount of money which would drop into the stock location.

Tapage · Tapage's Garage

I thought the first step is exhaust, chip, intake and well from this poit you have a lots of options to go more fast ..

Porsche-O-Phile · Porsche-O-Phile's Garage

Bigger is not necessarily better. . .

What matters is the delta-t (change in temperature) numbers between the intake and outlet sides. There are many ways to get good or better-than-stock delta-t numbers with relatively "small" intercoolers.

The Lindsey intercooler is a humongous rip-off, IMO. The price is ridiculous for the gains you'll see. The best gains-per-dollar are (1) driver improvement (DE), (2) chips, (3) wastegate, (4) turbo/injectors, (5) exhaust, (6) MAP/MAP and (7) other stuff like intercoolers - more or less in that order (some exceptions).

If you're really serious about running large delta-t numbers, consider a misting-type (water or water-alcohol) intercooler that uses evaporative cooling. Way cheaper than that overpriced Lindsey thing and better.

ilikemy944 · 12-26-2005, 03:03 PM

Bigger intercooler means more air space to fill with that little turbo.
I think the stock intercooler starts showing itself as a restriction around 350whp or more.

nynor · 12-27-2005, 08:00 PM

er... all i am after is a denser charge in my intake. my 951 is stock otherwise. the bigger intercooler i am discussing shows a larger temp difference, per the vendor. any thoughts?

SIR944 · 01-07-2006, 01:17 AM

Check out www.951forums.com there is a thread on a badass IC on there by Broadfoot.

IanS · 01-09-2006, 09:11 AM

BTW, I did notice that SFR has a nice looking intercooler, which is a fair bit cheaper than Broadfoot's and doesn't appear to require as much cutting. I'm not sure how th core sizes compare.

I've never heard of anyone buying it, but SFR's products are usually very good, so I'd be curious to hear more about it.