NA intercooler?!

orangeneon05 · Post by **orangeneon05** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 4:27 am

ok so i have had this thought going through my mind a lot lately.

basically i was wondering if a NA motor like the RT can pull enough air flow through an intercooler to make the air colder then a CAI or would the motor just suck too much and kill the chance of possible power gains.

so my question is would it be feasible and worth the money/ time to make this happen.

i have an SRT-D and i fool alot of people that dont know cars so along with an R/T intake manifold im installing i thought an intercooler would be cool too.

let me know your thoughts about this possibility.

gtownv6 · Post by **gtownv6** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 4:43 am

An interfooler will serve no purpose on your NA car, don't do it

Post by **occasional demons** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 7:30 am

It will only add weight to your car, making it slower. At stop lights when the fan isn't running, the radiant heat from the radiator will just heat it up also. Double fail.

That and your IM is constantly bombarded with hot air from the radiator. Any benefit you see from a CAI is negated, unless you can insulate the entire IM.

aceborn · Post by **aceborn** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 11:42 am

I would imagine if he's using an inetrcooler on an n/a car the intercooler would be his cai. One end to the tb and the other would be the filter.

If u were to do it I would say use a liquid to air side mount intercooler. Any fmic would be to big for an na. A smic would eliminate the heat exhange problems and give a cooler charge of air.Without the air having to travel a great distance. Cooler air charge usually equates to more hp.

I say do it and find out bro

gearbanger4 · Post by **gearbanger4** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 12:09 pm

intestesting thought....

might actually work on a track car that runs a small/ high flowing water to air intercooler like aceborn mentioned? If you had ice cold water pumping through the intercooler it may produce a noticeable temp drop during brief 1/4 mile runs. Would it be enough to offset the likely drop in air flow through the intercooler core? who knows....

like this perhaps....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/13-75x4-75X4-AL ... 5e&vxp=mtr

On a side note, I have seen a fuel cooler? where a tank of some sort was filled with ice and coil(s) were sat into the tank which fuel would flow through.....not sure how significant the gain would be. again, more of a track setup and not for street

dblsg · Post by **dblsg** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 12:58 pm

I really don't see how it would benefit. You are already using a "cold" air intake, which is taking "cold" (ambient temp) air in. to my understanding, the IC cools down the air by using the ambient air in front of the car. so basically, the air is already at its lowest temp. IC work on a turbo'd cars due to the air having to travel through the extremely hot turbo and therefore having a much higher temp to begin with.

Post by **occasional demons** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 1:18 pm

The fuel coolers are more for old school carburerted systems that only had 3 to 8 psi pressure. The engine bay/manifold heat will cause the fuel to boil in the line in those systems. Modern FI pressures are too high for the fuel to boil.

If you want to cool the intake charge via fuel, use E85 or Methanol injection.

gearbanger4 · Post by **gearbanger4** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 1:32 pm

dblsg - I refering more to an air/water intercooler? I agree that you can't cool intake air any cooler than ambient air unless maybe you were using an ice water tank to feed the water to air intercooler. Probably not very practical for a potential slight hp increase however...if it even worked.

occasional demons - I thought I saw the setup in the rear of a trunk in a supercharged gm vehicle like a newer 2000+ monte carlo ss I believe? Hmm.... maybe it was something else.

Post by **occasional demons** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 2:17 pm

I am only referring to the original intent, what ppl try is another matter. It might have been a Meth injection tank in the trunk also.

An air/coolant exchanger would heat the air to engine coolant temp. Unless you do run iced water through it.

It would be a big hassle if you ask me, plus unless you had a lot of volume, the temp would gradually rise. More added weight.

Unless you could fill it right before a drag run, it would have warmed up by the time you get to the line.

orangeneon05 · Post by **orangeneon05** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 3:12 pm

wow thanks for all the answers and conversation.

time for my $.02 the car is my dd and would not do much racing.

how ever i do know while the car is moving the air directly in front of the car is cooler because the engine heat from the radiator is not flowing past the IC. now if that temp is cooler then the drivers side right behind the fog light where my CAI is now then i can see some possible improvements.

the idea of the water to air IC is interesting and i dont know much about it. would i have to have a tank of water that has ice in it and fill it with ice before i go drive all the time or would there be some sort of refrigerant unit the hooks up to it. ive hear of something similar being the CO2 cooled intake. where someone wraps the IM and CAI in tubing and then cycles CO2 in gas or liquid form through the tubing to cool the metal around the air cooling the air down also.

now to throw in some more to think about. if i could get a radiator fan and mount it to the IC and either wire it into the same circuit assuming i wouldnt blow any fuses would that help cool the air on a NA such as an R/T. i ask because it seems that the fans are running when the car is stopped only or if the car has been sitting on for a while and the temp sensor says to cool it down.

let me know what you all think i can see something great coming out of this.

ThatKevin · Post by **ThatKevin** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 4:48 pm

it seems like a lot of work and money for no gain

jrumann59 · Post by **jrumann59** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 12:40 am

Neon doesn't rev high enough to take advantage of an intake track that long. It would destroy your powerband from 1000-7000. In other words no it will make you slower. I know someone used to make a cold block that installed after the TB but I do not think it netted much, maybe 2-3 HP.

Hudson_Neon · Post by **Hudson_Neon** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 1:00 am

i had one on my car just before i went boosted. didn't see any issues

jrumann59 · Post by **jrumann59** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 1:15 am

Hudson_Neon wrote:i had one on my car just before i went boosted. didn't see any issues

and you had it hooked up. EJ with you I would believe anything. Nothing like a 10ft intake track....

Hudson_Neon · Post by **Hudson_Neon** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 9:35 am

Yup. Had it hooked up. I wasn't really worried about it cause I was going turbo soon after

orangeneon05 · Post by **orangeneon05** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 11:44 am

I recently purchased two turbos so I will be boosting in the near future. Just need to find another motor. Or a safe way to run a little boost on all stock internals on a 2.0 head non mag.

Wenuden · Post by **Wenuden** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 5:52 pm

Personally, I'd buy some lowering springs before putting an interfooler on that thing.

orangeneon05 · Post by **orangeneon05** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 6:27 pm

im hoping by spring to get BC / megan coil overs