intercooler sizing
 

hey guys

i tried searching but im just not finding what i wanna know...

ive always heard that an intercooler thats too big will cause more lag, now the rotary extreme v mount im plannin to get is good for 785hp, wouldnt that be a bit oversized for a car thatll end up round 400hp?

and bonus question hahah my car came with a hks ssq bov, ive read you can get plumback valve for it (illegal in aus to have it atmo) is it easy enough to put on?

thanks guys

I sort of asked the same thing in this thread.

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/larger-intercooler-turbo-lag-857908/

I am new to turbos/intercoolers but I noticed a difference when I went from a stock unit to a large unit. It's not terrible by any means but noticeable.

yer that helps a bit, thanks man, hope your build is going/went good!

There is some pretty good info in the thread linked above.

The actual size of the intercooler core is only a small part of what is going to effect your intercoolers effeciency. More importantly is the length and amount of right angles in the IC piping, along with the pressure drop within the IC itself. Also, the diameter of the IC piping should reflect the amount of air flow coming from the turbo.

As far as the actual cooling itself... The size itself is going to play a large role in heat dispersion, but just as important is the cores access to cool flowing air. A small intercooler with direct access to cold air flowing at a high rate of speed is going to be much more effective then a large intercooler stuck inside a hot engine bay with no air flowing through it.

Air temperature matters a lot! I'd rather run 12psi of boost at 20 degrees celsius then 15psi at 45-50 degrees celsius.

An intercooler that is rated for up to 600hp isn't necessarily going to be overkill for a car running 300hp (they aren't really like clutches where some idiot with 230tq puts a unit rated for 500tq in, then hates life as a result).


There is a book by a man named Corky Bell called "Maximum Boost" that does an excellent job of explaining, in detail, just about anything you could want to know about making practical use of turbocharger systems.

There were a couple of good threads about that in the Single Turbo section. There is also a good email chain over on fd3s.net or robinette's sites which are linked to in the FAQ thread stickied in this forum.

Check it out.

thanks guys very helpful explainations and i will have a look at them FAQs.