when is big too big, i would check my car specific forums but there isn’t THAT many boosted sho’s and most of them are not intercooled, planning to be running between 9-14psi so i am definately going to run a IC.
is this just basicly if you can fit it do it? there is a lot of room up front but i’m not looking to throw away money at unneeded size, also i’m looking for a IC with a high effecentcy what brands shoud I look for or stay away from.
what turbo will you be running? thats one of the deciding factors
if you go too big, you have pressure drop. too deep and the surface area is useless, too small and well thats obvious.
imo i would go for a slightly smaller ic to keep pressure drop in check and ise other methods to keep iat’s down such as a sprayer.
what hotrodkid said is where you have to start. you want to match the ic size to the amount of air the turbo will be flowing.
The larger the IC the LOWER the pressure drop will be.
edit: heat transfer is derived from pressure drop. a unit too large will have a low pressure drop, but not be very efficient as your velocity, thus turbulence will drop too much.
Q. WHICH XS ENGINEERING POWER IC IS THE RIGHT SIZE FOR ME?
A. For all practical purposes, there is no such thing as too much intercooler. In most cases, the bigger the intercooler, the better. However, due to the space constraints found on most import cars, intercooler sizing is often dictated by the physical amount of space available and/or the amount of fabrication a customer is willing to pay for. As a general rule, we would suggest using the 20" x 11" Power IC for applications up to 500hp, and the 24" x 11" Power IC for applications up to 700hp.
Q. IS A TUBE AND FIN INTERCOOLER BETTER THAN A STACKED PLATE INTERCOOLER?
A. Tube and fin coolers are better for several reasons. They are less expensive to produce, they are FAR lighter in weight, and they have less pressure drop across the core. Stacked plate coolers are effective for cooling, but they are expensive and heavy.
good response.
Don’t misinterpret what I said about too big. Yes it will be less efficient, but in this case efficiency isn’t a big deal as long as pressure drop is kept in check. I deal with designing and maximizing heat exchangers everyday.
Of course they are going to say bigger is better, there making them. ha
research and learn a little bit before you add pointless banter to a discussion which only confuses the person that was asking the questions
for everyone that cry’s “pressure drop” when they see a monster FMIC, i say bullshit
i know for a fact that the pressure drop on toms entire system is 1 pound beteen the turbo compressor and the intake plenum, which means four 90’s, three 45*'s , a very tight segmented 90, the TB itself, and a gauge port that might not even read full pressure
and thats with this FMIC being fed with a tiny 14b mitsu turbo & 2 1/2 tubing through out
[QUOTE=Violator][/QUOTE]:blah:
Thats nice and all but they didn’t mention depth… which is huge. 2.5" and 3" are way different in the IC world…
yes sir…and for me pressure drop is relative to the flow you are looking at rather than psi.
filling 1/2" pipe with air at 20 psi is alot easier to do and requires less flow than filling 3" isnt this true…and somewhat related to the heat exchange you are trying to achieve?
i dont know everything about it, and there seems to be people in this thread already that deal with it alot more than i. but still pressure drop for my lil turbos makes me wonder…so i will keep checking this thread as i want to learn more
Larger intercooler=LESS PRESSURE DROP. Plain and simple. This is true for any heat exchanger. The issue you think you’re seeing with too big and it overwhelming the turbo’s is actually caused by too LITTLE of a pressure drop. For a fluid (air is a fluid too) to move it needs a pressure differential. Ie: it goes from higher pressure to lower pressure. With a very large IC you have very little pressure drop (think of dumping 1gal of water through a straw and now dump that same amount through a 12" pipe). The straw is very restrictive causing high pressure drop which causes the velocity to increase. Same thing is happening with a big IC and your small turbo. You have a low pressure drop so there is nothing to drive the air flow and the velocity drops off. This is why the car “acts” like the big IC is too restrictive by being large, yet it is the opposite. It is not restrictive enough to generate pressure drops to move the air. You are causing the turbo to try and work too hard to overcome this, thus the reason it works poorly.
This is incorrect. In this case you dont care about FILLING the pipe. It has nothing to do with filling anything and you should not think of it that way.
Flow in this case depends on the RESISTANCE of the piping the air is flowing through.
Your turbocharger is going to develop a fixed range of pressures so that doesnt change much. Larger pipe ALWAYS has a lower resistance to flow then smaller pipe.
Try to blow through a straw and then through a garden hose… see the difference? The smaller straw creates a much larger resistance to flow and you have to blow much harder to push the same amount of air through it.
In the same way your turbocharger has to work harder to push air through a smaller pipe. The catch is that the turbocharger can only develop a certain amount of pressure before it peaks. At peak you will get more flow through larger pipe rather then smaller pipe.
This is a VERY simplified version so I dont want a rectal exam from any of the sackriders… thank you… please drive through
I recommend a small length of garden hose for this experiment… a full length hose is hard to blow through… 
BTW - The reason the depth of the IC matters, from what I have read, is not necessarily the hot/cold pipes… its the flow through the IC. Blow through a sponge that is 2" thick… then one that is 3" thick. For this experiment I suggest using a clean sponge, and not the ones on Seinfeld. 
The back of the IC retains some heat… due to lack of incoming cold air cooling it… therefore not actually cooling your intake charge as much as a narrower IC would of similar size.
what turbo will you be running?
i wa talking with mike over at innovative and we were looking over some compressor maps and it seems the turbo that bests suits my current needs and future needs is a gt35R or equivlent does that help.
bump for those who didn’t see this
pressure drop IS dependant on flowrate. And is a function of resistance If someone saysa praticular intercooler has a 1 psi pressure drop and does not give a flowrate, it is a completely arbitrary and useless specification.
Where it get’s confusing is that flowrate of the entire system is based on resistance of the entire system, and
actually. i am going to stop right there before i get too technical.
your straw anal age is a little flawed.
because it is smaller in diameter i dont need to “blow” as much air to get 10psi at the other end of the straw… i have pressure, but a lack of cfm.
the opposite is true with a garden hose. i would need to move a lot more air to get the same pressure at the other end of the hose.
i dont feel (and have never read other wise) that this has a huge effect on pressure drop though (unless you are being silly and going to extremes)
core quality and type seem to have been skipped. bar and plate vs tube and fin, with or without those little turbulance guys inside… bla bla bla
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see i thought thats what i was getting at. all i know about this though is from hearing others talk about it… maybe my knowledge is scewed because i am dealing with side mounts, but i cant imagine why that would be any different.
i am making my own intercoolers for my car in a few weeks, and i was just going to copy the design of the company that has the best results as far as IAT control and fitment. but i know i could fit bigger, and according to this thread the bigger i can go the better…as long as the whole surface of the ic can be exposed to fresh air. if not then results would be nill i think.
even more confused than before…and this is something i thought i ahd a handle on