heyz guyz,

im about to buy an intercooler in about 2 weekz and still decidiing between
a bar and plate type of a tube and fin. i have an rx7 series 5 and im the car is stock except for an exhaust and a pod filter. i dont noe how much poundz im runnin as i have the stcok boost controller and we noe it crap..lol. wat do u guyz think? bar n plate or tube n fin?

thanx heapz

 

Generaly speaking, tube and fin intercoolers have better heat soaking abilities in the core, whereas bar and plate ones tend to have higher flow across it in mind with increased air flow across the core.

Generally that is anyway, all depends on the size and other **** aswell....

 

From what I've read (this is all 2nd hand)
Tube & fin - better for sustained high performance like in road racing.
Bar & plate - better for short bursts at max power like street & drag.

The reason: Bar & plate types can sink more heat before soaking, but take longer to cool back down.

If you really want the best overall, consider a water exchange type unit ($$)

 

Hrmmmm interesting, maybe i've got my idea all *** about...

Anyone care to elaborate?

 

From my experience...

Bar-n-plate cores can handle more boost at a longer duration.  Thermal conductivity is limited to internal fin design and the sheer mass of metal (aluminum) available.  The bar-n-plate core has a significant advantage in terms of mass, since these cores are almost always heavier versus the tube-n-fin cores.  Bar-n-plate cores are almost always stronger in design, and thus able to handle higher injternal pressures - i.e. more boost.

With that said and done, it's obvious that the tube-n-fin cores have less weight.  This is an advantage when trying to hang something in the extreme front of your vehicle.  The tube-n-fin core external fin design allows for a more aerodynamic profile to incoming airflow - this might or might not be a significant.

For street use, I prefer the tube-n-fin cores, as boost performace is relatively mild.  For racing (especially drag racing with extremely high boost levels (over 20psi++), the bar-n-plate cores are recommended.

The tube-n-fin cores are generally less expensive.

Even with all of that, I need to mention that GReddy offers a great IC kit (V-Spec 24 row) that street prices under $1,000.  It's very hard to put together a kit for this kinda price that is complete as the GReddy system.


-Ted

 

hmmm, i have heard the opposite. bar and plate have a lot more difusser plates inside the core to create more turbulance therefore giving better heat exchange. so they have less flow in comparison with tube and fin but better heat transfer.

 

Hmm ok, my only reasoning was that nearly all factory cars ran tube and fin, but as someone else has already pointed out that is probably due to the lower cost. It is entirely possible I got it the wrong way around, I do have a shocking memory..

 

that's what i remember reading in zoom. but all the chinese whispers going on in forums i could be wrong

 

bar and plate ICs look cooler.

 

I would like to add that mass works both ways. We always hear about the heat soak problem of high-mass intercoolers from a standing start, but we never seem to hear about the heat sink properties that are an advantage when accelerating from cruise.

The key word here is core. While a tube and fin core may be less weight, heavy end tanks may take away this weight advantage. My friend recently bought a GReddy 3-row intercooler, and I swear it is heavier than my huge Spearco 2-248 bar and plate intercooler (3.5x15.6x20" core) that has custom aluminum plate end tanks.

Lower cost. Also, the tube and fin type reacts to heat changes a little faster because it has less mass. The tube and fin intercoolers usually have about the same efficiency of bar and plate intercoolers, but the tube and fin type almost always have more pressure drop.

Maybe, maybe not. Much like radiators, various intercoolers have different tabulator densities. More density = better thermal efficiency but more drag, less density = less thermal efficiency but less drag. You can't win.

 

one thing else you might consider that the bar and plate IC's are going to put up with alot more abuse as far as rocks and misc crap that flys up and hits them if you dont have a screen in front of the IC. but i agree with ted, you cant beat the value of the greddy kits with a stick for quality and price. its hard to put together a GOOD fmic kit for less than the price of the greddy kits that look as good as they do.

 

You guys are running front mounts with no protective screen?


-Ted

 

How would it make a difference? ****'s going to fly up and hit the intercooler either way.

 

I saw a hybrid Bar and Plate/ Tube and Fin IC on ebay not too long ago, what are they?

 

I looked into it for a while before I got mine, and I decided on the tube/fin. It may have more pressure drop but were only talking about a few pounds here. I never run my turbo maxed out, so thats not really a big deal. Plus, IIRC pressure drop is caused in part by the turbulence in the IC. Seems to me that more turbulent air would stay in the IC longer and cool off more...But thats just me, and Im no Fluid Dynamics major. I also built my car for road racing. I dont like the idea of having a much thicker bar/plate in front of my radiator. I suppose you could fabricate some ducting to work around that problem, but Im not very good with that stuff. Plus, in road racing, Im always going to have plenty of air going through the IC.



I dunno. This is just the conclusion I came to. If its not right, maybe Ill get a bar/plate sometime. If not, Ill just upgrade to the GReddy design someday.
In the end though, Im not racing for a living. I just do it for fun. I dont make enough money to be super competitive and I know at this point in time, theres going to be people out there faster than me, so why dump a ton of money on the best of the best stuff?


EDIT: Just wanted to add that if I was only into drag racing, Id definitely get a air/water IC. Theyre small and work awesome. Look at BDC. 420-something rwhp @ 15psi or something. On pump gas at that. All using the core from the original TMIC.

 

just get an intercooler sprayer. make your own. its friggin easy.

 

Thats just a bandaid.
I think its the same as running N2O. Youre not really fixing the problem of not having enough power, youre just tricking yourself into thinking you have enough for however long your bottle runs out.
Id hate to have to rely on a bottle to cool my intake charge.
Plus, less moving parts = less things to break.

 

If these are the ones sold be "d2power" (or something like that), we just got one for the 20B car.
Owner is damn cheap, and $420 shipped is a &%*&@)#&$#@ deal.
The core looks suspiciously like a Spearco, but the core dimensions does not correspond to any listed Speaco core in the catalog.
24" wide x 3" thick x 13" tall (I think - it might've been 12" tall).
It comes with (polished) 3" endtanks!
This made is perfect for our applications, since we need to run 3" pipes.
Weight estimate is around 30lbs. to 40lbs. - it's fricken heavy!
I do have a certified scale, and I'll get exact weight on it soon.
For the price, it blows almost anything out there, period.
I've been a nay-sayer against eBay intercoolers, but this is a **** bargain...

We'll get pics on our install soon.
We're waiting for the pipes to come in so we can start plumbing everything.


-Ted