bigtwan25

can u use a intercooler with out having a turbo and what purpose would this serve???

Ryde _Or_Die

Yes you can. It will serve to make you a complete ricer

Evil Aviator

Any time air is compressed, it is heated, depending on the efficiency of the compression method. Turbochargers and superchargers heat the air a great deal, so intercoolers are sometimes used to cool the air back down closer to the outside air temperature.

Yes, you could put an intercooler on a non-turbo car. However, even assuming 100% efficiency (most are 60-80%), an air-air intercooler cannot cool the air below the ambient temperature. That is because an air-air intercooler is a simple heat exchanger, which means that the outside air cools the intake air. I think it makes sense that trying to cool 80F intake air down to 80F (which it already is) is a waste of time. A supercooled (ie ice chest) air-liquid intercooler could cool the air below ambient, but I don't think it would be enough to make up for the added weight and pressure drop. All intercoolers cause a pressure drop (ie negative boost) due to the restrictions of their core and extensive plumbing. In turbocharged cars, the pressure drop is usually well worth the cooler air, but not always.