Question : intercooler

[drayrunner]

I'm going to put a air to air ntercooler on my 3100 malibu, 190 cu in. which pumps 8 lbs max, is there a formula that tells what size the intercooler should be. I send a email to bell intercoolers asking that question but i didn't get a reply. thanks

[RedZMonte]

depends on what kind and style intercooler you have too. if you get a cheapy one it will need to be larger... intercoolers don't have to be large to do the job... look at OEM intercoolers, usually side mounts or small front/top mounts... they are not huge by any strech of the immagination. On that low of boost you shouldnt need a large cooler at all. Bar and Plate style is best. I suggest getting a good quality cooler that is size wise able to tuck under the bumper neatly. Also the ammount of piping you have will affect the charge temps, my pipes are long so it has time to cool before it gets to the cooler. For example STS turbo kits don't in most cases run a IC because the charge is cool by the time it gets to the engine.

If you go too big you will have pressure drop, im seeing 2-3psi drop on mine by the time it makes it to the engine, again i have a lot of piping as well.

S

[Mars]

You want a large number of short flow channels, not a small number of long channels.

[robertisaar]

Maximum Boost???

[TiredGXP]

Maximum Boost???

Yes!

[robertisaar]

i thought that looked familiar. one of the greatest books i've ever owned. kinf of pricey at $35, but the information inside is priceless(though some parts are a little outdated)

[TiredGXP]

I have an Adobe version of the book downloaded from a torrent site, I always seem to get something new out of it each time I read through it.

[drayrunner]

thanks

Thanks for the replies