No intercooler under 9psi "MYTH busted"

[b4tn]

Just figured I would post my findings. I was originally under the impression that under 9 psi an Intercooler was overkill, well I changed my mind. I have both been told in person and read this online. Well, I have an open cage IAT sensor in my intake tract (it reacts amazingly fast) now and decided to do some experimenting. Now I have heard that 200 degrees is the safe limit and that you need to stay well away from 200 degrees. At 6 psi full throttle 7k rpms intake temps where between 165-170 degrees, Which seems about perfect. Well I wanted to see just how close I could get to 200 and WOW I was surprised how fast the temp rises under boost. I tuned the boost to 8 psi and went for a full throttle run. By 5500 rpm I was at 200 degrees and so I let off. Chances are I would have hit around 210-215 if I rode it out to 7k. So in short at 6 psi yes you can probably be just fine without an IC. However anything above that the temps raise to fast and too high and intercooler IS necessary. This was with a T3/T04B 54 trim turbo so bigger turbos will probably have lower temps.

[cadvis3d]

i've kept saying this to people all along.....an IC is the best thing you can put on any turbo car...the cooler the intake the better...

[b4tn]

i've kept saying this to people all along.....an IC is the best thing you can put on any turbo car...the cooler the intake the better...

And to think....Before my first motor blew I was doing 9 psi non intercooled

Water injection is looking real attractive

[cadvis3d]

And to think....Before my first motor blew I was doing 9 psi non intercooled

Water injection is looking real attractive

its awesome man.....its amazing how much it lower the temps....car runs much stronger and smoother now, does'nt get as hot either!

[charger758]

i ran 9psi on a 195k mile engine and didnt blow it up
but yeah water injection would be sweeeet!

[akira95GT]

Yes, and WI is cheaper than any IC...

[groghscv]

Thats some cool info to know. I have the same turbo hehe so I can use your readings as an average. You need to get the IC or water injection on there and show me what happens so I can judge where my car is haha. But very cool stuff here, makes me wonder why my fans run so much. I guess I need to get my intake pipe away from the turbo Pretty sucky that my IC gets ice cold but the pipe goes right over the 1200 degree turbo again and heats it right back up BOOO! Anyway cool thread, keep us posted on the injection stuff.

-Dan

[JUICEDSE]

It also had to do

And to think....Before my first motor blew I was doing 9 psi non intercooled

Water injection is looking real attractive

with turbo selection, have you read the compressor map for your particular turbo, could be getting to its outer rings of efficiency. Thus the sharp increase in air temperature.. But yes, WI will significantly reduce your intake temps

[L-ucky-S-ix]

hmm, that don't help with understanding how much an ic will reduce temps under 9 psi though. If you were to add an ic to a 4 psi turbo it would help, i don't care if it takes longer to pressurize the "whole" ic!

[Rick_96PGT]

Just figured I would post my findings. I was originally under the impression that under 9 psi an Intercooler was overkill, well I changed my mind. I have both been told in person and read this online. Well, I have an open cage IAT sensor in my intake tract (it reacts amazingly fast) now and decided to do some experimenting. Now I have heard that 200 degrees is the safe limit and that you need to stay well away from 200 degrees. At 6 psi full throttle 7k rpms intake temps where between 165-170 degrees, Which seems about perfect. Well I wanted to see just how close I could get to 200 and WOW I was surprised how fast the temp rises under boost. I tuned the boost to 8 psi and went for a full throttle run. By 5500 rpm I was at 200 degrees and so I let off. Chances are I would have hit around 210-215 if I rode it out to 7k. So in short at 6 psi yes you can probably be just fine without an IC. However anything above that the temps raise to fast and too high and intercooler IS necessary. This was with a T3/T04B 54 trim turbo so bigger turbos will probably have lower temps.

This is only applicable to Turbocharging, SC's do not have superheated exhaust gasses to contend with.
My intake never went over 180f with the SC even at 10psi. (Laser tempature probing of the discharge tubing)

[L-ucky-S-ix]

But having a heat exchanger of some sort will still bring those temps down. An m90 or a 62 are referred to as inefficient when it comes to heating air through compression. That is compared to other sc's in the same power and flow class, though still much more efficient then turbos.

[M.Hicks]

I've always been of the opinion that 7psi was the safe limit or half a bar...

[Rick_96PGT]

I ran 7psi for about 1 1/2 years, then I became bored with that setup adn removed it. I am currently working on a turbo install. Ill set that at 7psi and see what happens.

[SEyouLater]

or ya could just run an intercooler to be safe, and don't have to worry about "what happens"

nobody likes to see a blown engine

[Nelson93]

I was logging with my megasquirt and I'm running 6psi and the IAT's got to the 175 degree mark