Intercooler vs Chargecooler , Benefits/pro's/con's of each

How do you chemically enhance an intercooler?

 

water methanol injection

 

That normally plumbs post IC right? Does it matter how close to the TB it is?

 

I've seen people fit water sprays/misters that simply run from a small water tank to spray on to the front of the intercoolers using general pumps and jets you can buy.

Not sure how effective spraying water onto an intercooler is but can't remember where I saw it but sure it didn't cost much to do.

 

water has x4 specific heat capacity of air, so absorbs heat faster, but its slower to give it back out too, and the pre-rad wont have as high a temp difference to ambient to heat exchange that warmth back out again.. Overcome with suitably large sized prerad of course.

I have run charge cooler, and moved to large fmic.. which is simpler, has no pumps to fail, and worked better than my charge system did. my old charge cooler sits in MrsB lupo 1.8t now, and works "ok" but needs larger pre-rad.. I will be cheating on the lupo tho, adding peltier coolers to the system to sub-ambient cool the water

 

Usual advise as as close to the outlet of the IC, so to allow as much traavel time for the atomised water/meth to absorb the heat.

I have used this on track, and after 12 laps the inlet manifold is physically cold to touch.. impressive stuff. handle with care however

 

they can have their place though as bill says, a mate of mine has a 5 turbo that runs a chargecooler setup, it is very well suited to the standing starts and short runs of hillclimbs because of all the heat capacity of all the coolant means he gets cool intake temps off the line. If he runs it hard for any length of time though it heat soaked like bill mentioned and its not so great. he has fitted a much bigger chargecooler rad now though and its much better.

 

the fire extinguisher trick always works a treat for me when doing sprints or 1/4miles.

NOZ fogger systems that spray directly onto the i/c have the same effect, but just seems like a good waste of n2o.

Subaru and mitsubishi employ the water sprayers on there cars, this helps cool temps down a bit.

Can personaly say if it makes any noticable difference because i have never driven either cars equiped with it.

Might hook a kit up to the passat to see if it makes much of a difference

 

lol, do you mean spraying a fire extinguisher on the intercooler? I've heard of people putting dry ice into chargecooler system when dragging to get below ambient.

 

How important is it to keep the mixture cool?

 

I meant the methanol mixture..

 

yes, chills it for a temporary boost in power due to lower charge temps

alloy fuel rail helps too, cool fuel and charge temps makes more useable power

 

and also phenolic insulator gaskets between inlet manifold and cyl head help reduce overall induction temps too.. Popular and effective on 1.8t's

I can do a race distance on full chat and return to paddock with a physically cold to touch inlake manifold when running my insulator gasket and wmi

 

The overiding factor when deciding between water cooled or air blast cooled charge air is package space. All the reasons stated so far are correct but I have done work to show there is very little in it performance wise. You could improve water cooled outlet temps by running a stand alone cooling circuit, as BMW do or take a bottom hose feed which is close to ambinet, as Jag do. There are big improvements to be had from air blast coolers by spending time getting ducting and sealing correct.

Personally i'd go air blast and use water injection for full load applications.

 

Ahhhh I was going to ask you if there were much cop....

They seem dear at 50 quid a gasket, but if they help then its worth it.

Iv got a passat 1.8t and not chasing mega figures, but the inlet manifold is always nearly too hot to touch after a fair drive.

Do you recomend them?

 

Where from?

 

yes, else i would'nt a) use them or b) sell them

 

Are they available for 16v engines?

 

I would be interested in one too, Bill.

 

Ah good man, may be in touch for one soon then