Air to water intercooler?

[nickusa52]

Is there a specific reason why nobody has gone the route of making a charge cooling system to get our intake temps down? Asking purely from an academic standpoint.

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[cryptolime]

probably just not worth it. i think ford 6.7 diesels use one. I think some of the BMW M cars do as well.

you might be able to DIY:
https://www.frozenboost.com/

 

[jtlctr]

Is there a specific reason why nobody has gone the route of making a charge cooling system to get our intake temps down? Asking purely from an academic standpoint.

I was literally just about to post this question! I’ve been looking into them lately and wondering, if they are claimed to be so much more effective, why nobody has at least tried it (that I know of). I know some of the high power German cars use them from the factory, as does Cadillac in the CT4-V BW. I’m guessing it’s not enough of a benefit to justify the labor and added complexity, but I’d be interested to hear from those who have more experience with these systems.

 

[AZCWTypeR]

Water/air intercoolers are primarily used on Roots type supercharger installations (GM V8, etc.), where they sandwich nicely between the supercharger and intake manifold.

At speed, our air/air intercoolers likely provide lower intake temperatures. Water/air intercoolers will feed the engine intake air within a few degrees of coolant temp.

 

[blueroadster]

Likely because of complexity. Air-to-Water intercoolers rely on an external radiator for heat exchange and need a pump to pressurize the liquid for greater efficiency. Search for "state of change thermodynamics" to learn more. Coolant and HVAC systems are pressurized for a reason.

 

[nickusa52]

Water/air intercoolers are primarily used on Roots type supercharger installations (GM V8, etc.), where they sandwich nicely between the supercharger and intake manifold.

At speed, our air/air intercoolers likely provide lower intake temperatures. Water/air intercoolers will feed the engine intake air within a few degrees of coolant temp.

I had one on my supra and the intake temps would be drastically cooler than the ambient air temp.

 

[nickusa52]

I feel like it cant be all that complicated, aside from finding space to run it all with the limited engine bay space we have. I've seen a few kits for other vehicles, and how the one on the BMW engines is set up and it doesn't seem to be all that complex. I did the math and a temp drop of 30 deg F should net in a roughly 6.13 percent increase in air density, so depending on the efficacy of the cooler Ide say a temp drop of 45-50 deg F for a roughly 9-10 percent increase in air density should be reasonable. Not to mention that's a reduction in comparison to ambient air temp not taking into account the heatsoaked intake temps we see with the current set up. I honestly feel like a intake temp drop of over 50 deg f could be seen pretty easily if we could manage to not route the system right by the hotside of the turbo

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