Am looking to upgrade my t2 top mount to front mount and came across pwr air to water intercoolers. Is anyone run or running a simalar set up and how is it as far as cooling? I like the thought of being able to find a way to mount this between the engine and my electric fan. This would make for an exteremly short path for the air to flow vs. a fmic.

 

i just ordered the pwr kit from horsepowerfreaks.com i had one on my 1jz powered mklll supra and really liked it. soo ill let you know .

 

As far as cooling is concerned, you'll end up with great water temps but air intake temps are slightly higher than an air-air setup. The intake temps will be very consistent though.
The PWR kit has been fitted by a few of us here in the UK. We've all found that the kit works best with a davies craig EWP instead of the bosch pump (or the awful davies craig booster pump which was originally supplied with these kits).

The radiator supplied with the pwr kits is also a little on the small side. Fine for road use but the system will heat soak on track.
Try and fit the largest cooler you can, 6x10 minimum

 

yeah fro that was the size I was looking at useing it's supposed to support 500 horse power and once i bolt up a gt35r pushing close to 20 psi at the track should be real close to that. also am going to get my on radiator and pump so thats no big. and will possably incorparate some sort of ice box to run a coil threw to lower water temps even lower to aid in cooling.

 

woods420 if you can get some air temp readings but am definatly interested in how this works for you before i make a decision one way or the other if i'm going to run a conventional fmic or go this outside of the box route

 

... slightly higher temps. i would have thought bcs air and air dont tranfer as much heat as air touchn "water" you would come up with lower intake temps and wouldnt a aftermarket alum. or other radator counter the that affect at the very least.... i have know idea what im talkn about but id like to know more

 

I think the air temps are higher because the PWR cores are physically smaller than a FMIC - the cores are similar in size to a small SMIC. The upside is overall flow through the core is good and pressure drop is minimal.

moon - definitely go for the davies craig EWP or a similar sized meziere, it seems like overkill but it's definitely worth it. A small header tank is worthwhile too, the coolant will need a little room to expand

 

Actually, on a W2A IC, your AIR intake temps will be closer to ambient, and your water/coolant temps will be a little higher dependent on where your IC radiator is placed. Water takes and releases heat better and faster than air trying to cool air. That and you can also put ice into your IC water/coolant overflow tank and it can further decrease your intake temps.

Ask BDC on here, he's run a W2A IC for years now, based on the stock T2 IC, he's had it up to 450ish if I remember correctly.

J

 

We're talking specifically about PWR barrel W2A coolers here. My comments on air temps and water temps are from personal experience and from others who have fitted them in the UK.

I'm also comparing air temps against a proper air-air setup, not a stock SMIC

 

Are you routing your W2A coolant lines from the car's cooling system or running it in a standalone system? If standalone from the OE system path, then you should experience lower intake temps. Maybe it's just consistent with the PWR W2A IC's....hmmm.

 

I am running a PWR on my car. I should have some air temp data for you in the next week or so.

 

I was running a seperate cooling system, 12"x12" single row radiator mounted in the nose (this is on a FD) with it's own fan, Davies craig EWP80. I run a T04Z at 14psi with WI - on the road I would typically see 15-20 deg C over ambient. On the track I would start off with 15-20 deg C over ambient but after 10 minutes the system would heat soak and the air temps would gradually rise.

I now use a large V-mount, same car - Air temps are approx 10 degrees C lower taking into account ambient temperature. No heat soak problems on track.

If I had fitted a larger CC radiator I maybe could have seen lower air temps but I was unwilling to sacrifice water temps.

 

start a poll on this and see who like what most from experience..... air to air VS water to air.... might be interesting to know....

 

13b-rx3 looking forward to seeing some numbers. I'm getting an impression there isn't really no way to tell if one is better then the other based on a lot of variables such as the size of the aux. radiator placement of the a2w intercooler elec. water pump flow size and wether you have a ice box for increased cooling abilitys. but either one should give me lower temps then the factory top mount. and both are going to run about the same cost

 

I had the car tuned recently. I can't remember exactly what the IATs were (had a lot on my mind) but i think he said about 112 degrees at 22 PSI. I am running the PWR heat exchanger with no ice box. IIRC it was about 85ish outside that day and it was a small fan that was about 5' from the exchanger. When i get some track data i will post it up.

 

Since the original poster is askign about an FC specifically.................have you entertained the idea of converting the stock top mount to water to air?

I saw a thread somewhere where (BDC?) converted it and it seems to be a worth while project. For some minimal parts cost (mostly things you can find on other cars like small rads, electric pumps....then some hardware store hardware) and a little alumnium welding you can see a much greater performance margin for the stock TMIC then in its air to air configuration.

Just a thought........