Which ebay Intercooler would you buy?
 

Hi to all,

which of these two kinds of intercooler would you buy for a greddy (or greddy like) turbo setup? (low psi for around 170 bhp). (mx5 1.6 NBFL, 2001)

1. eBay Motors: Turbo Intercooler 18x12x3 GTi R32 A3 A4 Supra MX5 TT xB (item 290291069169 end time Feb-07-09 18:00:00 PST)

2. eBay Motors: CXRacing INTERCOOLER MIATA RX7 RX8 GTI FMIC 28x5.5x2.5 (item 300285172269 end time Feb-04-09 23:17:00 PST)

TIA!

Do you have A/C?

I've got the one from the first pic, but from CXracing. I have A/C and it fits fine

The wide one will fit under the a/c drier can. There's drawbacks to both. The wide one will show a greater pressure drop. The tall one has less than ideal end tank shape and inlet location which will hurt efficiency. Neither are tube and fin - which is preferred if you're trying to retain some air flow to the other exchangers (specifically if you have a/c).

I thought bar/plate gave the best heat dispersion, wouldn't that be the #1 concern in an intercooler, instead of how inefficient it was? The tall one fits fine with my dryer.

If you're car is overheating due a lack of air flow to a/c condenser and radiator, then that's the priority. But somewhere on here Jason (I think) showed an improvement in all aspects running tube and fin over his old bar and plate. My only point was that the tube and fin allows more air to pass to the other exchangers, which is important to some installs that have typical exchanger stack up front with limited radiator exposure.

Rob; would you happen to have a link to what you call "tube and fin"?

Sorry, as you know, English is my second language :confused:

thanx for the info.
Yes I have A/C and didnt think about the air I would block with these kind of intercoolers.... Since my country is rather "hot" I should keep searching...

thnx again!

Take it in the @$$???


j/k


First off, please go to the Meet and Greet Section in the "Beginners Luck" forum and start a thread introducing yourself and your car.

Please put you location in your profile, and state year model, displacement, and any mods in your signature.

Then try the search function up top as I have seen several intercooler builds and reviews in just the past couple of months.

The CXRacing ones off of eGay tend to be favored for the price. Mine came with a kit, and doesn't even fill half the grill, so I don't have to worry about blocking airflow to the other exchangers.

there's a lots of info and pics here:
ARE Cooling (Aluminium Radiators & Engineering P/L)
ARE Cooling (Aluminium Radiators & Engineering P/L)

As you can see, it's far more technical that just this or that. But my point was that somebody for a Miata had found improvements for cooling w/o loosing the actual intake air efficiency of the cooler.

I have number 2. While under full boost, my IAT's consistently run about 20 degrees over ambient in the Summer or Winter. To keep the coolant temps down, I modified my stock under tray and bumper support to keep the air flow going through the exchangers and not around it. I didn't have any issues the past Summer with or without the A/C running. In the future, I would like to get a newer FMIC to try and bring down the IAT's a bit, but I am content with what I have at this point.

Thanks for that info. I was finding it impossible to use my A/C and that is a no no in this kind of climate. I'm using the Begi IC for the S5 kit and I find it too large for my needs.

I'd like to see a pic of yours when it's installed. I also have the PWR radiator and I'm curious to see how you avoid blocking the airflow. Can your IC be that much smaller than mine?

Thanks

Any pics?

They say a picture is worth a thousand words! ;)

Id go with #2 simply because it looks better....call me an idiot, but I cannot STAND the way the tiny ones look. so gay:giggle:

Right now Im running a 29x9x3 CXRacing FMIC (bar and plate). Previously I was using an old FM/Begi FMIC (Tube and fin). The old IC was actually better that the one Im using now even though it was smaller. My IAT's didn't change at all with the new one, but because its larger and probably because it's bar and plate my CLT's went up. I wasn't getting enough flow into the radiator. The only reason I changed it was because the old one was just nasty looking.

OLD Vs NEW
Attachment 208474

OLD
Attachment 208475

NEW
Attachment 208476
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Lev, thanks for that comment, maybe I will mount it after all and ditch my huge 18x12x3 core :P


I do admit, filling the mouth with a shiny new one does look awesome.

Rafa, I can get you some pics. I have the IC painted black for the sleeper look. Give me a few minutes.

I don't want to hear shit about the baby teeth. That being said, here are the pics.


PIC 1/2 shows the front radiator/bumper support thing was trimmed to make room for the the intercooler. I kept the stock mounting points for it, and trimmed off just enough of the sides to clear the pipes, but enough to keep the airflow guided through the radiator, not around it.

PIC 3 shows the bottom of the IC and the front shroud that was trimmed. The top of the pic is the front of the car.

PIC 4 is the front right of the engine under tray. The front part was left untouched. You can see the original mounting holes.

PIC 5/6 is the hot side and cold side pipes. The under tray was trimmed liberally in some spots to make clearance.

looks very stock, nice!