saab blackstone intercoolers

[Froggx]

Does anybody have any experience working with this kind of intercooler? They seem kind of small, but using 2 of them in series seems like it would provide more than enough cooling capacity.

[bszopi]

Mick (Mechanic) might be using those. I know he is using Saab intercoolers..

[RacerX11]

I think you would want to use them in parallel, not series. They will have twice the pressure drop if you put them in series, and you will get most of your temperature drop across the first cooler, so the second one won't do much. I think Brian used one of these on his DOHC turbo project...here is his for sale thread with the intercooler listed: http://www.60degreev6.com/index.php?...ewtopic&t=3723

Marty

[Mechanic]

I use the Saab 900 16v intercooler, and it does its job remarkably well. The Saab Blackstone intercooler is a double thick, dual pass, bar and plate design. Think of it as a standard dual pass bar and plate intercooler folded in half, thus the Saab 900 intercooler provides the efficiency of an intercooler twice its size.
Benefits provided are well documented in this road test of the 900 in which the intercooler test results indicate a 120°C to 60°C charge temperature change at the 900's maximum boost of 12.3 PSIG. Note also the documented 20% hp and 15% torque increase which is indicative of its relatively low pressure drop.

Another seemingly unbiased real life test of the benefits provided by the Saab Blackstone design can be found here:

http://www.saabnet.com/sites/8vintercool/Intercooltest.html

When space constraints are an issue, there is really nothing else that can offer the level of efficiency provided by the Saab 900 Blackstone at a comparable expense.

Intercooling a Fiero turbo powertrain has other complications, one of which is the position of the motor itself. The limited air cooling of the Fiero engine compartment is provided by scavenging airflow from underneath the vehicle, whereupon it is directed up through the rear deck side vents. Again, the flow is quite limited, and not sufficient for the heat exchange requirements typical of an intercooler. To address this deficiency, I use custom side vents which direct high velocity external airflow up through the bottom of the intercooler.
The stock Fiero air intake ducting provides a perfect routing source from the side vent to the bottom of the intercooler

Stock intake duct

Mid install pic of the Saab 900 16v intercooler :

Intercooler Position

In addition, I use a 10" Perma-cool electric fan mounted on the top of the intercooler to draw in external air when vehicle speed is not sufficient. The fan plays an important part in preventing intercooler heat soak. Heat soak typically occurs with the vehicle stopped at a light after a marked boost interval, so it is obviously very important for day-to-day driving conditions.

Since I use a 160°C sensor fan switch rather than the 1227727 PCM's electronic coolant fan control circuit, I was able to employ this circuit to control the intercooler fan. Some simple changes to the fan on/off temp and vehicle speed enable limits resulted in a very nice fan control system.

I also installed shrouding on the engine side of the intercooler to isolate it from the heat generated in the engine compartment.

[Froggx]

When you say you use custom intake scoops, do you mean something like these?

http://www.secureleadercom.com/fsstore/default.asp?bodystyle=1&topdeptnumber=223&searchBit=3&dept=260

the amazingly expensive quarter panel scoops sold at fiero store?

I am turning over the possibility of getting something like that in the back of my mind, but I currently find it hard to justify $300 for those. I had been thinking of mounting the intercooler where the stock air filter goes in front of the wheel well, the area the left quarter panel covers (I assume that's where the stock filter went, my car didn't come with the stock induction system). I would take some pictures to show you what I mean but I don't have the car with me right now.

[Mechanic]

http://www.geocities.com/fierowarehouse/fullpanel.html

[Froggx]

anything that looks nearly the same or better and is $100 cheaper is a winner in my book.