Intercooler positioning
 

Hey,

I'm having my IC piping redone this week and want some input. I've removed AC/PS somewhere down the line so I have a lot more room in the front opening. Can I place my IC where my AC condenser used to sit or is it too far into the car? I would put it within an inch in front of the rad. It will make the duct work a lot easier to fabricate me thinks. I know pretty much every turbo car I've seen has the IC up at the bumper opening, but guessing this is for ricing it up and/or universal parts and mounting brackets.

im a believer that the further back the better; less chance that the IC with create a boundry layer and airflow will bypass the core all together. Recessed back into the mouth with ensure air funnels in and flows through.

That's what I wanted to hear. I'll be going ahead with the plan then. Thanks.

please keep in mind im no rocket surgeon.

Yes. He a brain scientist.

I've wanted to move mine forward, then make funnel ducting between the two heat exchangers to channel airflow.

My reasoning is to get the I/C away from the radiator and the keep it cooler. Will it make a difference? Only datalogs will tell...need to up my sampling rate first though.

godspeed, see: savington.

My IC is right next to my radiator. There is maybe a few mm of space. Works fine.

That's where I put mine. I went to home depot, picked up some angle iron and cut and welded it to the core supports where the condenser went. Then I drilled out three holes lined up with the intercooler mounting threads. It came out great. I did have almost a half an inch clearance between the IC and stock rad but now with the dual core it's very snug, about 1mm clearence. Still no issues and it looks cool tucked up in there. imo.:fawk:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1335576512https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1335577146

I had mine right at the front of the bumper. It works great but with no undertray and it blocking air to the rad, temps go over 95 dec C on track in a few mins. I even turned on the heater up full and the water temp still crept over 100 deg C. I am going to move it back towards the rad and refir the undertray. Still have the a/c condenser coil too.

with it that far forward and no undertray, no air is flowing through the IC core or the rad core and thus explains your temperature issue. So, it doesn't really "work great" does it?

that's like saying, my penis works well, but i never have sex, and I actually inverted it the other day by accident and lost the key to my chasity belt.