Intercooler's: Water to Air vs. Air to Air

**Rbsjnh** · 05-06-2012

I have been trying to convince a good friend of mine to leave the sad n/a game to finally go boost. Well yesterday he finally committed and bought a precision 6076 turbo. now the eternal game of what comes next has started.

rather than the normal text messages and such, I told him the only way I will discuss it with him is here on your forum, so not only did I recruit a new member (rbsjnh +1), I am hoping to increase the technical knowledge as well.

I am a huge fan of w2a intercoolers and the major reasons why are:

1. Less heat soak
2. Less lag
3. Overall can control iat's more consistently over an extended period.

so to get started I thought I would show whats required, whats available, how to do it.

Parts needed for W2A intercooler:

1. Intercooler core- no matter what kind of ic you use, make sure it is a non-epoxy cores. Epoxy will break down under extreme heat, causing leaks and or debris to enter your engine. if they make it so shitty it needs to be glued together, is that what ya really want?

Barrell Style

Barrell style's are great for very small systems, they can typically reduce lag time on a turbo by 500-700 rpm, they see less than a 1% pressure drop and are usually cable of supporting between 300-450 whp

Box Type

These units typically require a larger core, they maintain a less than 1% pressure drop, generally capable of supporting 600+ Whp. Issue becomes more piping is typically required as these units are big and bulky, and the more piping, the more lag incured.

Heat Exchangers:
Really based on sizes, the larger the unit the longer it will take for heat soak to occur.

examples of heat exchangers:

ideally you want the largest exchanger you can use, as it will reduce heat soak, but small cores do work excessively well, and if you need to save money somewhere, this is ideally where you'd want to do it.

the units are cheap as well, so upgrading can be done without breaking the bank,

Filler Systems/Resevoirs

from the meak and minor

to something a little more serious

this is actually a ps fluid resevoir but works perfect for a w2a ic resevoir

to the extreme trunk mounted

these units are perfect as they typically hold approx 10lb's of ice, reducing iat's far below an a2a intercoolers ability

Pump
http://static.summitracing.com/globa...0392022002.jpg

Bosch intercooler pump, these units are made for 12v pumping high temp water constantly, imho you should not use anything less than a bosch pump.

if a bosch pump is too pussy for ya there is only one option

the king of racing fluid pumps.

**bodyman** · 05-06-2012

You recruited a new member, but your not getting $5 off your shipping and you already have a rrc, keep posting sir, I think a water to air intercooler would be best, any disadvantages?

**Rbsjnh** · 05-06-2012

only disadvantage is additional weight, but in reality, the compensation is less lag and more torque earlier. I prefer anti-lag over weight any day

**bodyman** · 05-06-2012

So it keeps the same water in it all the time or what?

**Rbsjnh** · 05-06-2012

yes sir. it is nothing but a cooling system for the ic core, similar to a radiator system for your engine.

colder water is more ideal, but these systems can be maintanance free if set up correctly. this is why alot of high end manufacturers use w2a in vehicle production as it can seriously work alot better than a2a in the same instance