# Compare: ICs

**URL:** <https://forums.speedlife.net/t/compare-ics/244552>\
**Category:** Shift518 Automotive\
**Created:** [June 3, 2009, 3:25pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/compare-ics/244552 "2009-06-03T15:25:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 42

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Boxersix](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/boxersix/32/6327_2.png) [@Boxersix](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Boxersix)\
**Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 5:11pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/compare-ics/244552/42 "2009-06-05T17:11:56Z")

</div>

> [@Where are the Futher Mucking banner ads?](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/where-are-the-futher-mucking-banner-ads/18986/5):
>
> You know all to well I have intentionally not put any formulas in any of my posts. NOBODY likes math! :ponder
> 
> I have no beef with you. I actually looked up the infamous 30k intercooler and reaserched it. Its pretty bad-ass.
> 
> The key to that ic is calculus believe it or not. I’m sure it is the mathematical optimum of about 4 things.
> 
> 1. The ratio of fin density to external airflow.
> 
> (the more external fins the more heat the IC can shed, but as the density of external fins grows the amount of air flowing over the IC is reduced, and therefore there is an optimum value of fin density. Hence the differential equations.)
> 
> 1. The tube geometry (length / diameter as a function of turbulence.
> 
> (tube length and diameter is the dominant factor for pressure drop in an intercooler. Turbulators, even when there is a lot of them, contribute very little to pressure drop when compared to the tube length. This is why vertical flow IC’s have much less pressure drop than horizontal flow IC’s)
> 
> 1. Thin materials.
> 
> (The thinner the tube wall, the faster heat can flow thru the tube and get to the external fins. this drives up production costs a LOT but not 30K.)
> 
> 1. Turbulator design, and external fin design.
> 
> (optimizing turbulence optimizes heat transfer. Turbulent flow is very much a “new” science. im sure much of this is modeled numerically by computers and experimental data, as very few formulas exists for turbulent flows.)

math + nobody likes…got that right! At least on my ends of it

I too agree those heat exchangers are an ass-ton of money for what is offered. No doubt. The expensive variants are made of copper, with pros/cons vs aluminum(application specific of course) in weight and thermal conductivity properties of the metals.

You hit it on the head with all four points. Those HE’s do use super thin cross sectional material with high density fin counts amongst other trade secret shit they probably have under wraps. Like you stated previously, higher fin density = lower overal airflow throughout the core design; thinner material cross section aids in aliviating some of that while not sacrificing surface area require for the cores overal function. You know all the details in regards to that area of discussion so we won’t carry on about it 🙂

Just a visual reference of external fin count for those still trolling this thread.

Garrett core

Secan core(external only)  
 ![http://forums.rennlist.com/upload/secan1.jpg](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/uploads/speedlife/original/3X/5/2/52b857495d49c06eb1e3171469ed8978c78f6368.jpeg)

---

_[View the full topic](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/compare-ics/244552)._