As some of you know. I designed and built my own SMIC. I am trying to find real data of AITs people are seeing with their intercooler setups, different SMICs in particular so I can compare the performance on mine. Feel free to post data from other intercooler setups as well because that is good information to have but not a direct comparison of SMICs. It is nice to compare V-Mount, FMIC and SMIC with real world data though. I've found old threads on AITs where the numbers are all over the place. A lot of this can be due to improper ducting, different intakes used etc. If anybody has any logs that show ambient along with intake temps in different driving conditions (cruising, full throttle etc.) it would be greatly appreciated. I would like to have some of this for my video analyzing my new intercooler if you don't mind me referencing them. I'm especially curious from those that have the U-Type intercoolers like the KnightSports or the Aussie ones since those are the closest in comparison to my new design.

There are many factors that come into play and I will have to take all this into consideration. What turbo you have, Boost being run, Intake style (mushroom in engine bay or cold air), ambient temp etc. My car is almost stock, only intake and catback so stock twin cars would be the best comparison but any data is better than non. Since my car is almost stock, I'm running off the stock ECU so I don't have the reading of the OEM AIT from there, but I do have fast responding sensors in the intercooler itself so I can properly measure core efficiency. We know the factory AIT sensor in the UIM tends to get heat soaked which can also play a part but again, some is better than non. I also know many have replaced their OEM sensor for a fast responding one. My cold side sensor is in a location on the intercooler that is going to read the hottest air coming out of the core so its worst case scenario but its the best I could do since there is no intercooler piping in my setup and I didn't have a greddy elbow so I could weld in a bung just for testing. I'll be able to get more data in the future but this is a good start for now. The real AIT is going to be lower than what my sensor is measuring, how much lower? I have no idea without real world testing.

I've already been road testing this and plan on putting a lot more miles on it this weekend to stress test everything. So far its working well based on the numbers I can dig up off old threads and even my own logs from previous cars I've tuned, but they aren't comparable to this (supras, 240s, z32s etc.) Strictly based off claims I've seen posted, its working better than some V-Mount and FMIC setups but that is all just talk with no actual logs so I take it with a grain of salt. I'm trying to find a hard drive with my old AEM logs from my last FD but have not been able to find it yet. I had an M2 SMIC at that time and would have been a good reference. I'm going to try to finish editing the video of the road testing this weekend and have it posted next week so everybody can see first hand whether this is a paperweight or worth all the time I've spent on it.

 

@Howard Coleman CPR has a ton of testing data he's done with various intercoolers, as well as AI, sensor locations, pre/post cooler. I'll see if i can dig out his thread if he doesn't already have a reply going

 

I did some testing several years ago with my Australian U-type double bank intercooler. I can try to dig it up the data. Some was posted here on the forum in about 2019, if you search on my posts. I tested it in the car and also crudely on the tabletop with thermistors, using a hair dryer for hot air, with my dual Spal intercooler drawing fans on full to look at IC efficiency with and without the fans and with the dual bank design. I also used a CO2 sprayer into the feeding airbox to look at how low I could drop the charge temperature with 30 seconds of CO2 spraying the fins. I have a CO2 tank in my hatch area next to my WMI that I use to drop my charge temperature for short term increased HP.

Here is an old comparison of just rough surface areas to help approximate intercooler efficiency. from SMIC's.


Mike

 

I found your old thread on it. Looks like you had some good results. I was going to ask if you were still stock twins and stock boost which would be comparible to what im running. Efficiency definitely changes with the fan and increasingly with the C02 etc. I'll be ceramic coating this IC before the dyno day to further combat the radiant heat from the radiator. So far I'm pleased with the performance and putting as many miles on it before the dyno so I can address anything that needs to be adjusted. Do you have any recent AIT information from driving lately even if from the PowerFC? I don't know your climate but I'm already in the upper 80s F here.

 

I'm "pseudo stock" in that I have the KAI twins that were made for about 4-5 years by Hitachi (I believe they stopped making them about 3-4 years ago), which have 12% more air output on the compressor wheel. I was boosting at the time around 15-16 Lbs back then. I have the PowerFC, now with FCTweak. My car was down for 5 years due to delays in installing a new engine. Since the new engine in mid 2024, it never ran right and now has been basically down for over a year due to ignition and wiring issues I am still trying to work through.

Look at my other posts from 2018-2019 on thermal management and ceramic coating. I have some advice for the intercooler. I had an expert NASCAR ceramic coater develop a plan for my car. I basically ceramic coated every single pipe, the turbos, the exhaust manifolds, the downpipe, the UIM, LIM, the turbo shields, and the intercooler. There are two main types of ceramic coatings, a blocker, which obviously blocks heat, and a dispersant, that allow heat to dissipate off the metal faster (the coating with microparticles increases the surface area to allow the heat to dissipate). Also, there are lower temperature blockers that work best for under hood temperatures and high temperature blockers for the hot-side of the turbos, the downpipe, and the exhaust manifolds. For the intercooler, he used a lower temperature blocker on the bottom, dispersant on the fins, and dispersant on the top. The reasoning was to block the heat from the radiator, allow the fins to become more efficient, and let the upper metal "breathe" or develop less heat soak or release the retained heat under the hood. Most of my pipes and the UIM were done the same, blocker below, dispersant above.
Mike

 

We are on the same page. My coating guy has all that and he's done heat dispersant coating on my radiator cores in the past. I'll be doing the dispersant coating on the core section exposed to the fresh air on this while using the blocker on the outside parts exposed to the engine bay heat. A vented hood would be able to maximize on using dispersant coating on the top.

 

I have some datalogs from my car; stock twins, stock boost, stock intercooler and air temp sensor so the response time is slow enough that it doesn't see the air temp increase until about 5 seconds after going to full throttle. Starting AIT is about 38 C (100F), goes up to about 46 C (115F) after about 5 seconds of full throttle in second gear (2700-7300 RPM). This was in June, so my guess is ambient temperature was in the 80s F.





I've seen hotter temperatures depending on ambient temperature, and/or heat soak from sitting. Logs from the fourth run at a recent autocross show 57 C (134F) before a run and 59 C (138F) after. I'm sure a drag race or road course would have more time at full throttle and more temperature gain.

 

This is great data. Exactly what I need. I can tell you just from testing this intercooler and other cars I've built, repeated full throttle pulls definitely heat soak the intercooler and the factory intercooler is only good for a pull really. I tested this portion in my video that should be out this week. I essentially did 4 back to back 1st through the top of 3rd gear full throttle runs and you can see the affect it has on the intercooler. Your numbers aren't bad for the Factory intercooler at autocross honestly, you must have been keeping the hood open between runs to keep that soak down. I'm seeing other people report a lot worse, yours are still in that safe range for factory boost pressures. I have a pretty good comparison to your example in the video. Temp was 87 degrees, Started one run about 95 degrees AIT and WOT from 1st to the top of 3rd reached 105 AIT. So 3 gears full throttle and it went up 10 degrees (real AIT were most likely still under 100). You will see the affect on the intercooler with back to back runs like this but it does cap with my intercooler and never goes into unsafe territory which I'm happy about. I haven't been able to get this above 130 degrees beating on it but the actual AIT temps are mostly likely a bit lower than what I'm reading because of the placement of my sensor like I mentioned, It could be 15 or more degrees lower for all I know, I won't know until I get an ECU that will read the temp sensor or an elbow to install my test AIT sensor in it. I can pop the hood and put my hand on the intercooler and its cool to the touch on the front side (which is opposite of the sensor) and its warm on the back side so there is a large temperature differential between the two.

 

I took some snapshots from some datalogs I took over the weekend. Ambient temp was 68 degrees. This shows a pull from 1st through 3rd, taking it slightly easy with throttle, and a mid boost level about 15 psi, on 59% ethanol blend. Car was cruising at about 77 degrees intake temp leading into the pull. Went up to 93.1 at peak, then fell back to about 85 degrees 5 seconds after lifting in 3rd. I have been extremely pleased with how the v mount I built is performing. Having complete, tight duct work is absolute key. I am typically sitting 15-25 degrees above ambient, 30 degrees max differential seen thus far. I will post more datalogs at higher boost levels, with more complete full pulls.

I have two empty inputs on my egt module. I have thought about adding a bung on the inlet and outlet of the intercooler so I can run a couple K type thermocouples to get the entry and exit temps. I will see if I can get that worked onto the car in the next couple months.

 

Perfect example of a properly implemented V-Mount. If done correctly, there should be no better option for overall performance than a V-Mount/H-mount setup. As you will see in my video, I found some data where somebody with a V-mount was happy they went from 190-212 AITs to 163-174 after the V-Mount which shows me that there is something not done correctly one way or another. Beating on this SMIC I haven't been able to get it above 130 degrees in 88 degree weather with the SMIC fan on so that blows his V-Mount setup out of the water.