water to air intercooler

[JiMi]

debating buying a water to air intercooler kit, just curious on everyones thoughts/experiences

prolly something like this

http://www.frozenboost.com/index.php?cPath=216&osCsid=0adc9bf40bd8faf2835e1bae6392df49

j

 

[The Godfather]

link didnt work for me...

 

[EVO-00X]

Works for me

 

[The Godfather]

ok i got it to work, im not convinced, it doesnt say any of the benefits, also they seem to be using some cheap pump not designed for cars/heat...

can you find some info on real benefits.??

 

[JayRome]

just front mount it would ya Jimmi...

 

[JiMi]

there isan option for a purpose built bosch "cobra" pump which is a few dollars more but i think i would go that way if i do decide to go that way...

i do know of a guy on cordiapower running a home made setup similar to this that swears by it, heaps better throttle responce and almost 0 lag as there isnt meters of pipe to pressurise when the boost comes on, the water pump is controlled by the wolf and cuts in when intake temps reach a set point so it isnt always running
much easier to install as you just have to get 2 heater size hoses thru past the radiator and not 2 big fmic pipes with no flex which will be beneficial trying to put it on the vr4 cordia
also means i should be able to easily get the air con working again

 

[Missile]

to4garret is/has just gone through this with an ex-bazeng setup. Those 2 lads will be able to give you some good feedback/swearing on the issue.

 

[milkandoj]

The blokes in the US have done it heaps.
They also do some interesting things like a hot pipe strait from the turbo to manifold but cool it with water injection, or water-meth.

Water to air would be great if you using an ice box and are drag racing, but theres mixed opinions out there for a street car.

Seems like a a lot of stuffing around but so was fitting my Plazmaman kit and evo 8 intercooler.

My advice would if you go air to air, find a cooler that's only 250mm high so don't need to rearrange things so much. you can put in in the stock position and not need to mod stuff in the front as the RS ones are the same height.


I found the hot pipe idea is pretty different as long as you have a fail safe if the water injection fails, ultimate throttle response.

Craig's setup looks amazing! Bit of work involved though.

 

[JayRome]

there isan option for a purpose built bosch "cobra" pump which is a few dollars more but i think i would go that way if i do decide to go that way...

i do know of a guy on cordiapower running a home made setup similar to this that swears by it, heaps better throttle responce and almost 0 lag as there isnt meters of pipe to pressurise when the boost comes on, the water pump is controlled by the wolf and cuts in when intake temps reach a set point so it isnt always running
much easier to install as you just have to get 2 heater size hoses thru past the radiator and not 2 big fmic pipes with no flex which will be beneficial trying to put it on the vr4 cordia
also means i should be able to easily get the air con working again

remember i did FRONTN's cooler pipes and that has virtually no lag and easy to get off it needed..

your call though.. water to air is really efficient....

 

[mrcyborg]

bit late i know, but, i have done heaps of reading on this, and have played with a few setups also.
air to air, good and effective when done right, hard to get piping to front, past hot areas have to cut holes and make room and the list goes on.

water to air.
water is like 8 times more effective as a heat exchange than air, so much less surface area to do the same job, thus being much smaller, seen the water uses a remote cooler to the intercooler itself, so the piping can be very short. the only off side to water cooling, is the weight, you have the intercooler and the heat exchange, but the most weight comes from the water reserve.

they are very popular in drag setups, as air to air requires decent air flow to do a good job. where as water stays cooler much longer. very good in a drag set up as they usually use dry ice and can cool the intake to very very low temps.

 

[Smutt]

Old thread but...

Ive been using a water to air setup for 5 plus years now... street and strip use

My tip is... dont use smaller than 3/4" (19mm) hoses and fittings including the pump inlet and outlet... and go one size bigger on your core than recommended, use a quality pump like one from pwr...

Its so under-rated... go custom.. buy an air to air core (stock core), encase it and run the water across the fins = super efficient..

You can then easily mount a digital thermometer lead into the water to monitor temps... you will be surprised at what you read..

Who else is using a water to air system?

 

[Rockabilly]

Another custom heat exchanging is to submerge a coupla oil coolers inside a water resevoir & pump refridgerant through the coolers
to chill the water. But the water needs to be 80% glycol or it will freeze up. Pump that through a water to air if you want realy Cold.
I've helped build one before on a rotary & the I/C froze up & blew the I/C hoses off. Hense the 80% glycol to keep the temps higher.
Cheers !