Please do that would be very valuable information!

All aftermarket intercoolers are legal according to appendix G of the ARB CA Smog Check procedures as long as the turbocharger is OE. So no CARB exemption is required

 

I'd take one dyno video over all the honorable "mentions" on the forum, not to mention I'm pretty sure that engine blew up iirc.

Nonetheless, I never said higher hp levels couldn't be achieved on the tmic, simply that it becomes increasingly inefficient and there are better solutions out there. I'm sure BDC could have run a little more meth and done away w/ the tmic altogether and had better results. Regardless of how cool the charge is the size limitations of the tmic and the inefficiency of the core negatively affect performace.

Even on BDC's alleged 440whp run he was running like 27psi:: For one thing this is only possible by running AI as intake temps would skyrocket on the tmic. Coincidentally if not for the restriction of the tmic piping and pressure drop of the core he would not have need 27psi to generate those power figures.

Modifying the stock tmic with the appropriate sized piping would be a relatively easy task, and certainly no one at the inspection center would be any wiser.

Either way I look forward to your results.

 

How hard would it be to weld on some 2.5 or 3 inch end tanks? I wonder what kind of gains it would bring...

 

huge gains. the main restrictions are the end tanks, teh inlet to the tanks, the the TB inlet.

 

I don't see how increasing the piping size addresses the cooling ability, though. The flow volume would increase, but intercooler core's physical capacity to dissipate heat just isn't enough for that flow rate. It simply wasn't designed to flow 400bhp worth of air.

As mentioned before, the velocity of the air going through the IC is much higher and transfers less heat. You'd need to do something to increase the amount of exposed cooling area. Unfortunately, your options are are very limited by the top mount packaging.

The pressure drops mentioned above come from places where airflow transitions from a large volume to smaller. Namely the transitions between the intake side end tank into the cooling tubes, the exit side tank to outlet pipe, and the TB inlet to butterfly sections. The transitions need to be smoothed as much as possible, but doing so is not cost effective for manufacturing. Sure it can be done in a custom one-off job, but there's probably easier options out there.

edit: I too would love to see datalogs at different psi's to see if temps change. If someone is feeling really ambitious,*cough* RotaryRocket88 *cough* maybe set up a pre-TMIC AIT sensor and compare it to post TMIC. It wouldn't have to be simultaneous, just back to back runs would give great data.

 

Interesting. While my turbo isn't OE, I went out of my way to make sure it looks like it is.

310whp TMIC dyno video here: https://www.rx7club.com/time-slips-d...ooler-1004524/ It's obviously not the 400whp+ others have claimed, but this is about the power level I'm at and I don't expect to squeeze much more out of it.

The out-of-control temperatures are the area that can be addressed more easily than the airflow restrictions. High temps will blow the engine, while restriction will just reduce peak performance. For airflow improvements, I'd have to agree with RXSpeed16. If you enlarge the endtanks and inlet/outlet, you should see some improvement, but the fact remains that the core is still really small. When you're in cramming 2-3x as much air as the car made when it rolled off the line, it'll clearly reach a point of diminishing returns.

Maybe. I have extra IAT sensors, but I'd have to set up some sort of holder pre intercooler, and then extend the IAT plug over to that point. The engine would no doubt run extra rich while I feed it 200-250F temperature data.

An easier one would be to measure pressure drop with this high airflow. All that would take is routing my boost gauge pre-intercooler for a run. I know what peak boost is currently, and I could just compare the two. A little crude, but better than nothing.

 

Convenient that that video was posted today and by the magical Judge Ito no less (300 whp on a stock turbo = magic).

For your goals, AI and the tmic should work well. What I was getting at was that at power levels higher than 300-315 the tmic is doing more harm than good, and running straight AI would yield superior performance. If you live in cali, this could be easily accomplished much the same way some test pipes are made to look like cats.

It would be interesting to see the pressure drop as airflow increases.

 

TMIC temperature logs with & without water injection moved here: https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generati...ic-ai-1005319/

 

just an idea, on top of heat shield mod, would it be possible to custom fabricate using heat resistant material an actual heat shield that close the TMIC atmosphere from engine and rubber seals around the inlet and outlet pipe?

an simple illustration

 

Interested idea, but I think the issue is heat coming up from the bottom, not at it from the sides. But anything that helps deal with heat soak in any way is something to consider.

I just added head shielding to my HKS TMIC. Next stop, ceramic coating the end tanks and heat shielding. Then I intend on adding the thread subject stick on heat insullation to the bottom of the added shielding.

The HKS TMIC has the bigger end tanks discussed above not to mention larger inlet and exit ports.

I know, I'm a contrarian to even consider staying with a TMIC design. But I really like the clean and simple design of a TMIC especially considering the very short IC pipe connections, so going the improve-on-stock route. Goal is daily driven 300rwhp running a P1000 and HKS T04E kit I picked up. So I'm considering water injection as well.

Thoughts?

 

heat soak from bottom (either bottom or sidewall of the heat shield would have some sort of vent to allow the air to pass through into the engine to insure optimal flow) would be covered by heat shield as well, this heat shield should cover all parts of TMIC and just have the inlet and out let pops out.

Combine with water injection, the IAT would be even lower. Now just need to come up with a better flow better cooling TMIC and we would have a safe running 350 whp TMIC setup. I am really digging the improve the stock design route as well. If those challenges (heat soak, insufficient flow, insufficient cooling beyond stock) for TMIC can be overcome, I think TMIC would be the best IC setup.

 

There are physical limitations with the stock tmic that are going to limit how good it can get. And you're pushing over 2x the air it was designed for @350rwhp.

Don't forget that the intercooler itself is getting heat from the compressed air inside of it, not just from external components. Any part of the ic in contact with air acts as a heat transfer surface. So the more the better. Boxing it in would slow airflow and trap heat inside. Basically it would act like a jacket.

Insulating the bottom surface is helpful, but it was mostly addressed with the stock heat shield. Your idea to box in the IC has merit, but this adhesive tape just takes your box and vacuum seals it onto the surface of the IC.

Heat soak is going to happen no matter what because it does not have anything to drive air through it at rest. That's why radiators have fans.

 

came across this intercooler
JDM Mazda RX7 FC3S SMIC Intercooler aftermarket mazdaspeed re amemiya arc | eBay

It's basically two OEM TMIC welded on top of each other with bigger pipe.

 

I'm the same way. I don't think I could bring myself to hack up the car to stuff a FMIC in there, and I do like the short piping that comes with the FMIC. A V-mount would probably be the best compromise.

I don't think you'll have trouble with your goal, but I would highly recommend AI. Despite the improved efficiency of the compressor on my hybrid, the shear volume of air proved to just be too much for the TMIC to cool. 180 degree IATs after 10 seconds of WOT is scary.

That's being advertized as a SMIC (side mount). It would never fit under the hood without cutting it up.