Intercoolers

[sal_s2]

What type of intercoolers have people with aftermarket ones got, tube and fin or bar and plate.
What are the advantages of each?

The bar and plate type seems to weigh quite a lot.

[martinjs]

Sal, ive seen lots of auctions for i/c's on ebay stating that bar and plate type is better but i dont know why. They are what me/doug/tom/ etc have i think.

HTH

[sorens2]

This is where it all begins...

Søren S2

[sal_s2]

I received my intercooler yesterday from a company in the states off ebay.
Only took 3 days but they've sent me the wrong one. I ordered a 24x12x3inch but they've sent me 24x12x4inch.
Anyone know if this will fit behind an rs2 bumper. Does everyone else have the 3inch think version?

[Greg_S]

let me know how you get on with that sal. got some xmas money so a new IC may be in order after xmas

[sorens2]

I don´t think that the 4" will fit. It might, but then you have to cut a bit here and there.

Søren S2

[Mihnea]

Sal, you probably don't want the 4" thick one, it's gonna cause major pressure drop and lag in comparison with the 3" one, aside from any fitment issues that you might have...

Cheers,

Mihnea

[Greg_S]

what volume/type/size would you recommended from what others have used?

Greg

[Mihnea]

Greg, the one that Doug/Tom/Mark/Jeffer have is absolutely perfect for the job.

Cheers,

Mihnea

[sorens2]

Do you guys think that the IC can get too big (volume) ?

Søren S2

[Mihnea]

@SoernS2: if the IC is too big, the pressure drop can be too important, which affects lag and also the turbo itself. Example: if we have 0.3 Bar pressure drop at 6000 RPM, the turbo will have to push 1.8 Bar in order to get 1.5 in the intake manifold. If the compressor is pushing 1.5 Bar out with 70% efficiency but 1.8 Bar with 20% efficiency, it can make a huge difference in the way the car will run.

HTH,

Mihnea

[sorens2]

I see. But the bigger the better, correct me if I´m wrong. Or can your IC get to large. Pressure drop will decrease as the IC gets bigger, or ?

Søren S2

[Greg_S]

pressure drop will increase as the size of intercooler increases but the amount of cooling it can provide increases with size also. There is going to be a trade off between the amount of pressure drop and cooling capacity.

Greg

[Audi_CQ]

@SoernS2: if the IC is too big, the pressure drop can be too important, which affects lag and also the turbo itself. Example: if we have 0.3 Bar pressure drop at 6000 RPM, the turbo will have to push 1.8 Bar in order to get 1.5 in the intake manifold. If the compressor is pushing 1.5 Bar out with 70% efficiency but 1.8 Bar with 20% efficiency, it can make a huge difference in the way the car will run.

HTH,

Mihnea

Why would a large IC create pressure drop?
A to small one would create a drop. A large one would not create a drop, maybe some more lag, but not much. A short path intake w/huge IC would be better then original intake and IC IMHO.

Cheers,
Roger
-89 CQ w/ large IC

[sorens2]

So what you are saying is that the pressure drop is larger on the IC on the picture above (mine) than on a standard IC ? Sounds strange to me. I mean, the larger the squareinch area through the core the better ?

Søren S2