Non-Turbo Intercooler???

[Dream240]

Okay, I know this is a stupid idea, but here it is anyways.

Has anyone ever tried to use an intercooler on an NA engine?
I was thinking the other day, I know scary..., but what else could you do to cool the intake air that is run through my intake? Since the temp around here gets over 100 everyday, I'm just curious if there's a way to use an intercooler that one could hook up to the throttle body and run a custom fitted air filter on the end of the second pipe. Kinda in the same location as a CAE filter, just facing a different direction.

Would an intercooler pose problems with the air flow? I'm guessing that it would slow the flow considerably, making the intercooler more trouble than it's worth.

I don't know, just ideas swirling around in my mash potatoes....

[mrmephistopheles]

Expensive, pointless, and ricey. An IC will do NOTHING for an NA engine.

[Dousan_PG]

Originally posted by mrmephistopheles
Expensive, pointless, and ricey. An IC will do NOTHING for an NA engine.

nah man it does A LOT

show points! JDM bling!

[240racer]

an air to air intercooler can't get the air inside the intercooler any colder then the air outside the intercooler and since the air inside the intercooler is already the same temp it won't do anything. Just use nitrous, it's cheaper then an intercooler anyway and colder.

[the head]

get the plasitc piece from VIS that looks like an intercooler
all the rice without the added cash
then you can also get the NA blow off valve and get 2F2F on dat azz

[Dream240]

Wait, you guys are missing my point.
I want to decrease the temp of the incoming air. Most air-to-water FMIC will lower the temp by as much as 90 degrees, and since the lower the temp the denser the air, thus making more air enter the intake manifold, this should produce more power. Theoretically.
I understand it would be expensive, still, would it really generate any more power?

I'm not looking for the bling-bling on the front end with a FMIC, they actually make intakes that mount up to look like intercoolers BTW. And in my opinion this wouldn't necessarily be a RICEY thing to do, if it really works. I mean, if that's the case then ANY turbo car with a FMIC would be ricey right? hmmmm.....

Any more thoughts???

[Yoshi]

Basically what you're saying is that you want a water cooled system... yes? So that means a pump, lines, piping, the IC itself for what will amount to most likely maybe 5-10whp that will be almost completely negated by the parasitic loss of running the pump, as well as the weight. When all is said and done you'll have spent at least $1000 for a net gain of about 3whp.

Save your $ and just get the injen CAI extention and have the same gain, less weight, less crap in your engine bay. (not to mention higher reliability from less things that can go wrong)

[Replicant_S14]

It is a restriction. There's a formula for it out there somewhere.
*points out there*

Also, you're throttle response will take a dump.

As has already been mentioned, you can't really cool ambient temp air with ambient temp air or water. You could maybe try water injection or N20.

[krazy_racer]

this guy should talk to the other guy thats putting fans in his intake...they could start their own crew...

[transient]

U know, I remember a day when questions like this weren't just seen as some riceboy who wants to look cool. He's trying to come up with a way to get more power to his car, what's the big deal? No, it's not something that will work, but at least he's trying. Why don't you actually tell him WHY it won't work instead of just calling him stupid?? Not everyone is born with the knowledge that you car gods possess :rolleyes:

[krazy_racer]

ah... how times change.....

[Thurazor]

lol you guys crack me up. I swear some of you pop a woody when you see an opening to slam rice jokes on people. :rolleyes:

Yoshi pretty much nailed it on the head with the info on practicality of using an IC. You would be better off having your intake pipe extended and directed down to your bumper opening and have an aluminum blockoff plate surround the sides and top part of the intake to keep the engine heat away from it, so it's taking in cooler air from outside. I'm not sure if the plates are made for your car or not, but I'm sure they could be easily made yourself even if they aren't.

[transient]

Tin snips are your friend :)

[wherezmytofu]

it iwll clog the hell out of ur intake, worst then a stock, ur gunna drop 2-3psi of vacumm pressure...there is no point!:bash:

[wpayne]

Originally posted by the head
then you can also get the NA blow off valve and get 2F2F on dat azz

What kind of pathetic person invented that?

[mrmephistopheles]

Originally posted by wpayne
What kind of pathetic person invented that?
the company Night Pager of Japan.

[Dream240]

Originally posted by krazy_racer
this guy should talk to the other guy thats putting fans in his intake...they could start their own crew...

HaHa, you're so funny!! Man I almost ****ed my pants with that joke!!

But seriously, the whole point to my idea was the possible gain of power. It doesn't hurt to try and think of ideas, how do you think the Turbo and all of its components were invented? exactly...and I'm sure the inventors had people like you laugh and scoff at their ideas.

Anyways, I already have the Injen with CAE, but if any of you have noticed, the piping that runs over the radiator gets extremely hot, thus heating the air that runs through it. My idea was to try and eliminate this heat. I like the suggestion of running the piping straight down on the passenger side by the battery, moving the battery to the other side of the bay where the stock intake used to be.

Transient defended my point best, thanks to all of you who actually had productive opinions and aren't just wasting bandwith.

[the head]

if you go that route you should look into a smaller battery i don't think the full sized one would fit
i don'tknow how much gain if any you will see from rerouting that piping though

[muskrat]

So far you know that the intercooler idea won't fly, but have you looked into the new CO2 kits? There is a company that sells a CO2 kit for cars with I think 4 different applications:

-air intake cooler
-fuel line cooler
-fuel rail cooler
-intercooler sprayer

The way it works for the intake is there is a collar that is put inline with your air intake, close to the throttle body I assume. Using a toggle or RPM switch CO2 is released into this collar and by nature it freezes it, at this point your air going through this is cooled by the frozen metal (CO2 is not realeased into the air intake). The fuel rail and fuel line systems work the same way, the intercooler sprayer is just what it says, the CO2 is sprayed on the intercooler to cool it.

The system is about the cost of a low priced nitrous system, but without the threat of engine damage, all you are doing is cooling the air and/or fuel entering the engine.

If you go to a welder supply store you will find that CO2 tanks are pretty inexpensive and if you can study up you could probably build your own system. Imagine a thin copper tube with holes in it wrapped around your aftermarket intake tube, when you press a button to release CO2 it will drastically cool the intake pipe thus cooling the air.

[old_s13]

First Red.. now this? Jesus.. someone just put an end to this madness.

[IchigoMae]

Funny thing is, if u ever install a turbo kit in yur car, u can try doing your idea easily. :p ok ok lol

[transient]

If you decide to go with the smaller battery and relocate it to make room for the intake to go on the passenger's side, you might want to check out this site (http://www.performancedistributors.com/batteries.htm). They have Dyna-Batt batteries which are about half the normal size.

Edit: Oh, also, here's some more info on the Dyna Batt (http://www.stealth316.com/2-dynabatt.htm).

[Replicant_S14]

Originally posted by Dream240

Anyways, I already have the Injen with CAE, but if any of you have noticed, the piping that runs over the radiator gets extremely hot, thus heating the air that runs through it.

You're right, the pipe does get hot. Only thing is, air is an excellent insulator and it doesn't stay in there long enough to take on heat.

I like the suggestion of running the piping straight down on the passenger side by the battery, moving the battery to the other side of the bay where the stock intake used to be.


I thought about that and there is a trade-off there too. With shorter piping you'll gain killer throttle response and improved high end in exchange for less intake velocity. Less velo = less low end grunt. I dunno how practical that is but it works out on paper. I guess I'd need to build a shorty and see how it does.

Don't get discouraged by crap that gets posted on message boards. People talk to me like I'm an idiot too. That's why I only have 30 post (or whatever it is)

[Flybert]

Or you could just relocate your battery to the trunk and help your weight balance in the process.

[Dream240]

Thanks guys for all the helpful tips.

I'll let you know if I ever do go with a different setup. This whole post was really just a "what if" scenario. I really don't have time to actually do this right now, cause of school, work, and the wife, you know how it is.

Thanks again.

[Red]

Watch out! They might lock it becus they don't like your idea!

Tools

:D

***********

You guys are so funny ;)

[transient]

Originally posted by Red
Watch out! They might lock it becus they don't like your idea!

Tools

:D

***********

You guys are so funny ;)

Whoa, careful there, I was defending him! haha

[Chernobyl]

I was thinking the other day, I know scary..., but what else could you do to cool the intake air that is run through my intake?

Route your A/C into the intake. Instant cold air!

[sil80phobia]

my $0.02

Generally, an IC is useful because a turbine will heat up the air upon compressing it. It's possible to get intake temps up to and over 150-180F when you're boosting hard on a hot day.

Induction through a metal pipe and filter at the end doesn't heat the air up over ambient.


However, if you want to keep the pipe cold, I would suggest getting a thermotec sleeve - kinda like an insulating wrap from the people who make the stuff they use to wrap up headers with. On my old MA70 non turbo supra I did that to the intake pipe (although I was a poor student and couldn't find a nice single piece of insulation so mine looked ghetto as hell) and it worked pretty good, especially on hot days.

[Jeff240sx]

Originally posted by Dream240
Wait, you guys are missing my point.
I want to decrease the temp of the incoming air. Most air-to-water FMIC will lower the temp by as much as 90 degrees, and since the lower the temp the denser the air, thus making more air enter the intake manifold, this should produce more power.

The poster above me was the first person to put some insight into this idea. Turbos compress air, and creates temperature. PV=nRT. If either Pressure or Volume go up, Temp goes up. In a turbo, Pressure goes up, which creates very high temperatures.
Now that I've pounded that idea in place, intercoolers cool the hot, compressed air.
Ok.. where this is all going. An air-to-water intercooler will decrease the temp by 90* on a turbo system. On a non-turbo system, if the incomming air is 100*, you'd need a lower-than-10* heat exchanger.
Basically, 100* air in the filter running through a 100* intercooler won't help anything.
Sure. It was a stupid idea. The poster admited it in the FIRST SENTENCE. Why everyone jumped on the ricer-bandwagon.. I don't know. Everyone has thought up ways to get cheap horsepower, haven't they? Give people breathing room, and stop bieng a collective asshole.
-Jeff