Latest Thing on Intrcoolers / Intracoolers

R

Ridhard

Ridhard
I've seen a lot of old posts on intracoolers (that tie the AC into the air flow) but nothing much lately. That seemed like a good idea to me. Did any members install these? Why is air to air how everyone seems to be going? I don't want to give up my AC or move my battery.

It looks like the Cool Flow intracooler that was sold by Conley's was a winner but I don't think they are in business any more. Any good intracoolers out there?

Thanks,

Ridhard, in Houston now
92 Ty (original owner)
 
midnightbluS10

midnightbluS10

Banned
Re: Latest Thing on Intrcoolers / Intracoolers

Ridhard said:
I've seen a lot of old posts on intracoolers (that tie the AC into the air flow) but nothing much lately. That seemed like a good idea to me. Did any members install these? Why is air to air how everyone seems to be going? I don't want to give up my AC or move my battery.

It looks like the Cool Flow intracooler that was sold by Conley's was a winner but I don't think they are in business any more. Any good intracoolers out there?

Thanks,

Ridhard, in Houston now
92 Ty (original owner)
Click to expand...

Looks to me like Conley's is still up and running

http://www.turbochargedpower.com/Conley%20Performance.htm

edit: or maybe not. www.conleyracing.com isn't working.
 
R

Ridhard

Ridhard
Re: Latest Thing on Intrcoolers / Intracoolers

I've checked the numbers and it seem like they really are closed.

Any recommendations for where to go for intercooler upgrades? What's the best way to go for a daily driver who wants good peformance?

Thanks!
 
gkrcr882

gkrcr882

SyTyless......for now!
Re: Latest Thing on Intrcoolers / Intracoolers

Good find! Combine that with a high capacity upper (like an ATR) and you might have a good set up :tup: I'll have to keep this in mind.
 
R

Ridhard

Ridhard
Re: Latest Thing on Intrcoolers / Intracoolers

This looks good. It can be instlled without so much disturbance to the stock stuff under the hood. I wonder if the water side will handle the pressure of AC coolant? I'm still wondering why the AC idea hasn't taken off. Is is because the power to run the AC compressor is more than what the denser air will provide?

Sorry for these "basic" questions, but I have to replace my worn out AC anyway and thought I better explore putting in an AC intracooler before I have this work done. If the intracooler isn't the way to go then this air to water setup looks pretty good.

Ridhard
92 TY
136K mi
now in Houston
 
S

SCWolverine

New member
Re: Latest Thing on Intrcoolers / Intracoolers

IMO the main reason "active intercooling" never really took off is the complexity of the system, as opposed to a simple a2a setup with alky injection. Main hurdles to retaining an effective water/air system are always gonna be fluid volume (to prevent heat soak), and recovery (additional radiators w/fans, intracooler, dry ice,...), and that's not even taking into consideration the additional moving parts and plumbing not required with a2a.
 
thunderace31

thunderace31

New member
Re: Latest Thing on Intrcoolers / Intracoolers

Water coolers work great if you dont drive on the street ! :( The down fall to them is you have to keep adding cold water and ice to them after every round of Racing or every few hours on the street. Most dont have the time to mess with it. It can also be messy and the exchangers on most really fast race cars are huge and mounted in the trunk or Passenger seat area. They work great if you can keep them cool enough. Look on sites like www.Yellowbullet.com you will see a lot of them! But there 99% Of the time found on really high horsepower cars that only go 1/4 or 1/8 mile at a time. ATA is the way to go for a street going truck for sure. Much more efficant and easier to use. Alky works great too ! I know a few people that dont even run ATA and just alky :)
 
turbodig

turbodig

Active member
Re: Latest Thing on Intrcoolers / Intracoolers

Ridhard said:
This looks good. It can be instlled without so much disturbance to the stock stuff under the hood. I wonder if the water side will handle the pressure of AC coolant? I'm still wondering why the AC idea hasn't taken off. Is is because the power to run the AC compressor is more than what the denser air will provide?

Sorry for these "basic" questions, but I have to replace my worn out AC anyway and thought I better explore putting in an AC intracooler before I have this work done. If the intracooler isn't the way to go then this air to water setup looks pretty good.

Ridhard
92 TY
136K mi
now in Houston
Click to expand...

The problem with the intracooler is that in order to make it effective, you have to cool down a fairly large amount of water- otherwise, you're cooling/heating/wait for cooling/heating/etc.

You can't just cool the air directly like the A/C system does... there's waay too much heat energy in the output air from the turbo. Also, the A/C doesn't run under WOT, so all your cooling happens under part throttle/cruise conditions.

Kevin Moore's Intracooler setup was around as recently as a couple years ago... don't know for sure if/where he's still around. They had fairly elaborate trunk mounted systems for large power applications.

They were a bit complicated, but they were unmatched in terms of cold potential. You could get down to 40 degree IATs.

The trick to making Water/Air work is as much about having a large volume of water as it is having a good heat exchanger. A really big heat exchanger can add volume and heat transfer surface to the system. The big tradeoff is weight - water is heavy.

The cooler in the link above looks like a good one. You can also look for large oil coolers (This is what ATR used) or transmission coolers. Also, rear heater cores used in school busses are also good targets.

I think a lot of people would be surprised at how well a Water/Air can perform with enough capacity and heat transfer area.
 
ziembic

ziembic

Donating Member
Re: Latest Thing on Intrcoolers / Intracoolers

I have been considering meth injection for my truck. From what I have been reading it isn't necessary to go crazy on the improving the cooler if you are going to run meth. Is this correct?
 
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