water intercoolers ?

[jjmr2]

im trying to change my set up and water intercooler came up in a conversation with some friends and from what they were talking about it seems to be better but why doesn't anyone use them, there has to be a reason why people don't use them? or is some one that drift that uses this set-up

[andyv316]

i would say that the biggest reason is cost. water to air intercoolers are a lot more involved then the basic intercooler setup.

[codyace]

air to water suck on the street. while they may be most efficient in regard to operation, they are not the best choice for a street car

[o0o]

if you look after your system and maintain it right theres no problem for street-use;)

i build a w2a system 2 years ago myself(buying was too expensive:D) for my rb20det in my ceffy cause i live in thailand and its hot every day...

i could choose a big intercooler in the front and it may would work for a 20min driftsession but i wanted to go sure and build my system myself from scrap and cheap parts and it worked fine until i sold it

maintain a normal IC:
-lol there's nothing to maintain in my opinion:D

maintain a water2air IC:
-check the waterlevel sometimes and be sure that theres no leak...

if the waterlevel from the w2a system is everytime the same you got nothing to worry about...its like a second radiator i would say^^

[codyace]

Air to Water is certainly most effective, there is no doubt, but on a normal street car the systems will eventually overheat itself on most systems, unless big money is spent on the heat exchanger, the fluid transfer lines, the pumps, the holding tanks, and the intercooler itself....and even then there are some cars that can't last a track session withouut running into heatsoak issues. Going with a well setup A2W setup you're looking easily at 800-1000 dollars+ when it's all said in done for a reliable setup IMO.


Atop of that, you then need the space for everything to mount, something most if not all 240 guys do not have nor want to bother with it.


So while A2W works 'best' at heat transfer, it doesn't make it a viable option for a street car. Drag car? Sure. Drift car? Sure...short burst applications. But on the street and roadcourse, I would not suggest it.

[duffman1278]

Codyace is right, for street, and I'm even going to say for the track it won't be worth it. I did a whole analysis on water and air heat exchangers and it takes a lot of energy to make them work in such a small exchanger. You probably wouldn't even be getting a big enough mass flow rate to make the exchanger work. There's so many things to consider when doing it such as the conduction, radiation, fluid's velocity, fouling, etc.

IMO, I wouldn't even waste your time doing it unless you have the budget for it or know how because it's not as simple as just hooking up some water lines and random tubing sizes.

[codyace]

IMO, I wouldn't even waste your time doing it unless you have the budget for it or know how because it's not as simple as just hooking up some water lines and random tubing sizes.

And this is another big reason against it, it's that most street guys wouldn't be able to set it up right.


It's got me thinking

Consider a good heat exchanger is going to cost 300-400 bucks, external water pump another 200ish, water tank another 150-200 bucks, and now you're also looking at some fittings and line...gotta be at least 1" IMO to really even be worthwhile...that's another 200-400 dollars in material, line, and hardware. Factor in the fabrication of an A2W intercooler, and the new intercooler pipes....well, I think we all can see that iit's an easy grand right off the bat to set it up in the basic sense of things, and that is considering the user is capable of even setting it up


Not to take away from the concept, as it has it's place, but IMO it's overkill for 99% of 240 owners out there. Again, drag car, or maybe extreme Auto X car, but that's about it.

[pandaroo]

the main factor in choosing beetween the two is simplicity and weight. with a A2A intercooler all you have to do is plumb the hot and cold side. with a W2A you have to plumb coolant lines to a seperate heat exchanger thats full of heavy water and wire a pump in to pump the coolant, but you do have the ability to make extremly short piping with a very cool charge.

[EsChassisLove]

I'm assuming you just want cooler intake temps?

Get an AEM water/meth kit and run washer fluid through it. Easier and cheaper. Zero detonation even with dank 87oct lol

[jjmr2]

Yea I stick to a air intercooler till my pockets are deep enough then I migth try it thanks for The info

[s14unimog]

Consider a good heat exchanger is going to cost 300-400 bucks, external water pump another 200ish, water tank another 150-200 bucks, and now you're also looking at some fittings and line...gotta be at least 1" IMO to really even be worthwhile...that's another 200-400 dollars in material, line, and hardware. Factor in the fabrication of an A2W intercooler, and the new intercooler pipes....well, I think we all can see that iit's an easy grand right off the bat to set it up in the basic sense of things, and that is considering the user is capable of even setting it up.


Although I agree with you, I think your prices are a bit on the high side. I think the real advantages of this system is when you have a roots/twin screw type blower system that forces you to have a small core area. That or a slow moving application that could not utilize an A2A assembly.

[thefro526]

Water to Air IC's are kind of a pain like most people above have stated.

If you're really looking for something to make your conventional Air to Air IC work better, look into adding a Water Sprayer or CO2 Sprayer to the IC.

[codyace]

Although I agree with you, I think your prices are a bit on the high side. I think the real advantages of this system is when you have a roots/twin screw type blower system that forces you to have a small core area. That or a slow moving application that could not utilize an A2A assembly.

We just setup a Lightning, that's why the prices were in my head and somewhat fresh. Maybe a little cheaper, but I'll maintain it's an easy 1000 bucks to make it all happen properly.