Stock IC intercooler flow.

[Zazzn]

Not that anyone cares now with the influx of cheap intercoolers. I think many underestimated what the stock intercooler could do back in the day and how good it was in relation to all the intercoolers that were out there.


http://www.gusmahon.org/html/cooler test.htm

No virtually all bar and plate intercoolers of today flow more than our stock intercooler, but it's interesting to see how well the old guy flowed.

Really good intercooler information, old stuff too.

http://www.are.com.au/techtalk/intecoolersMR.htm

and a good discussion vs top to bottem vs side to side.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/intercoolers.36072/

 

[plaaya69]

Good information. It is amazing how technology is today and where it will be in 30 years from now like the Supra once was in it's prime...

 

[Nick M]

I agree it is not as bad as some claim. It can however be much better.

The factory intercooler leaves little to be desired with regards to both pressure drop and cooling effectiveness. When we ran our first dyno tests on the Supra (TURBO Jan '87) we thought the restriction at higher boost pressures was actually in the turbo, but in conferring with Cartech, Spearco and HKS it was found that the stock intercooler itself was a major contributor to the problem. Testing at Cartech showed the stock intercooler to have a 3 psi pressure drop at 6.8 psi and a whopping 4.3 psi pressure drop at 9 psi. In other words, the turbo had to do the same work and therefore, produce heat as if it was run at 13.3 pounds of boost, while the engine itself was only seeing 9 pounds of boost.
All of these intercoolers are similar in size except that the Spearco unit also employs slightly larger diameter tubing in some locations going to and from the intercooler.
The only intercooler we were able do to an actual before and after test with on our own car were one of the units from Cartech. At stock boost pressure we found an 11-horsepower gain between the stock and Cartech intercooler. While this gain was actually measured at the stock (8 psi w/exhaust) boost pressure, it should be noted that intercooler efficiencies are best tested in a real world or street environment with actual air flow across the core. Previous testing on the Cartech intercooler showed a 7/10 psi drop at 6.8 psi and 1.10 psi at 14 psi which basically agreed with our dyno runs. In addition to actual pressure drop, Cartech testing of the intercooler showed 89% efficiency vs. 68% on the factory unit. With the similarity in intercooler upgrades, it would be safe to say that any one of these would be an almost mandatory option if you are starting to go for serious boost.

 

[B1G_bird]

I bought my supra as an incomplete project.
Came with a massive 3" side to side intercooler.. I haven't swapped to a big single yet, will I see added lag times or pressure loss due to the large volume?
I get that most loss is due to restrictions, but it seems to me, too much intercooler could be a problem too

 

[Nick M]

How does a reduction in restriction cause a pressure drop after the restriction?

 

[B1G_bird]

More volume means more air to reach said pressure

 

[Nick M]

Maybe you didn't understand my rhetorical question. That is ok though.

 

[B1G_bird]

Maybe not, but I understand physics very well