mismatch intercooler? worth the trouble? for ct26

[twin_turbo_mk3]

okay after reading/researching this matter got more confusing. at first i was going to run 2.25" before IC then 2.75" after IC.

reasoning behind that is the turbo outlet is 2.25" so it would minimize lag/quicker spool. then 2.75" after IC b/c i want to match the trouble body wich is 2.75" i should see some gain there,

i plan on running a ct26 57 trim but curios on what IC pipe i should run. around 380whp?

but after reading people are saying to go the other way around? :3d_frown:

or just get a 2.5"

im trying to find the info on it. but the more i look the more confuse i get lol.

and side note whats the bolt on sp61 outlet size?

 

[WhtMa71]

There probably won't be any advantage to doing it that way. Plus it's just easier to get a 2.5 or 2.75" kit and put it on instead of trying to piece together 2 different pipe sizes.

 

[Rennat]

if anything, get a 2.25 down to the intercooler, but if you plan on upgrading to an sp61 then just get a 2.5'' with some reducers, that way its already setup for the sp61 later.

as far as the outlet of the intercooler, i would just use 2.5''... you could use 2.5 up to where the 3000pipe would be, and then use a 2.5 to 2.75 reducer there and then go 2.75 all the way to the throttle body. but your not going to see any gains from using a 2.75 over a 2.5.... especially if your still on a stock ct-26, 10psi is still 10psi... now if you upgrade to the sp61, i could going with the bigger piping...

but whats more important is a GOOD intercooler. the piping is worthless unless your actually cooling the air.

 

[Yblegal91t]

that trouble body wich is the problem. I hate those things

I say get some whacky waving arm flailing inflatable tube mans arms and clamp them on.

 

[sportinct26]

if anything, get a 2.25 down to the intercooler, but if you plan on upgrading to an sp61 then just get a 2.5'' with some reducers, that way its already setup for the sp61 later.

as far as the outlet of the intercooler, i would just use 2.5''... you could use 2.5 up to where the 3000pipe would be, and then use a 2.5 to 2.75 reducer there and then go 2.75 all the way to the throttle body. but your not going to see any gains from using a 2.75 over a 2.5.... especially if your still on a stock ct-26, 10psi is still 10psi... now if you upgrade to the sp61, i could going with the bigger piping...

but whats more important is a GOOD intercooler. the piping is worthless unless your actually cooling the air.

im curious with your coment so with a sp61 you would benifit from having a 2.75" ic after the intercooler? would it be better to run 3" for a sp61 or would that be over kill?

 

[MKIIINA]

3in = overkill and a plumbing nightmare unless you are going for higher than average goals. 2.5in to keep things easy.

 

[frontierguy25]

Like MKIIINA said, 3" is really hard to fit and get right especially with stock routing. I just tried it and gave up because it was a PITA and requires lots of cutting in the firewalls. Just go 2.5" all the way from turbo to TB and you'll be just fine.

There was a thread that Doward or some one else made a little while ago with a bigger IC and a SP61 and they did all the flow and it is best to have 2.5" piping for anything under 500rwhp.

 

[sportinct26]

Like MKIIINA said, 3" is really hard to fit and get right especially with stock routing. I just tried it and gave up because it was a PITA and requires lots of cutting in the firewalls. Just go 2.5" all the way from turbo to TB and you'll be just fine.

There was a thread that Doward or some one else made a little while ago with a bigger IC and a SP61 and they did all the flow and it is best to have 2.5" piping for anything under 500rwhp.

so there is no power gain with a 2.75 after the IC even on a sp61?

 

[frontierguy25]

so there is no power gain with a 2.75 after the IC even on a sp61?

Nope!! Unless you plan on running 28+Lbs of boost all the time even then with the smaller turbo like the SP61 you'll be fine.

 

[IJ.]

I'll go against the grain here I used to do all of the math and came up with 2.5" as ideal on my old 3540r in the real world when I changed to 3" I saw improvements across the board with reduced lag.

real world > theory.

 

[frontierguy25]

I'll go against the grain here I used to do all of the math and came up with 2.5" as ideal on my old 3540r in the real world when I changed to 3" I saw improvements across the board with reduced lag.

real world > theory.

You also went with shorter piping for your FFIM as well, so yes for your set up you should've seen an improvement even with bigger piping. I bought the 3" piping and was going to do it, but the work it was going to take to run 3" piping with the stock intake manifold wasn't worth it and that is a lot of volume to fill.

Now when I go to a FFIM early next year I'll be doing 3" piping from the IC to the TB because it will be much shorter and the TB will be bigger, so I want that to match.

 

[IJ.]

Nope only ever had the FFIM so it's an apples to apples comparison.

 

[sportinct26]

I'll go against the grain here I used to do all of the math and came up with 2.5" as ideal on my old 3540r in the real world when I changed to 3" I saw improvements across the board with reduced lag.

real world > theory.

did you go full 3" or just after the intercooler? and what size did you use after the turbo(if you used different size

 

[IJ.]

Full 3" off the Compressor outlet.