Ebay Intercoolers, Can they be trusted?
 

Just wanted to know if the intercoolers off of ebay can be trusted, they have some great prices if they can. Any and all inputs would be great.

A lot of guys here are rocking ebay coolers. Including myself. I was fairly impressed with mine when it showed up.

I had a so-so experiance with mine. See this thread: https://www.miataturbo.net/forums/showthread.php?t=3894

My advice, having experianced this, would be to avoid the folks who have fifty identical auctions posted at a ridiculously low price. They probably aren't going to steal your money, but basically they are just unloading a bunch of cheap Chinese merchandise that they purchased in bulk more or less out of the back of the proverbial truck. What you see may or may not be what you get.

The best ones to deal with are going to be the guys who only have one of the item posted, with detailed pictures, and do *not* have a pretty, graphically-rich page.

That having been said, I have decided to go ahead with the project using the tube-type I/C that I got for $100. The EMU is partially installed, I just ordered my Tony DP, and I can't wait to see it.

I have a 18x12x3 off ebay, I mean I bought it for $60.99 + shipping. works great

Same one I'm running. Loki is using it too.

Yeah but HE GOT IT FOR 66 WTF!!!:vash:

i know! I think i paid $180 or so.

Whenever I get around to going turbo with the parts I'm gathering, I'll put some pictures/info up on how my fmic works. Its the 24x12x3 fmic from SSauto. I hate the company and their crap manifolds/kits etc... but ive used their FMICs with success so far.

yeah I bought it from dynasty auto on ebay, brand new.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/18x12...spagenameZWDVW

alright cool so Ill do my searching, now what is the best size to look for? I do plan on upping boost later on maybe 10psi so want something thats still going to work well up there.

I think those 18x12x3's are a little small... something larger would probly be better if you want to have a bit of headroom.. understand too though that a larger one adds more lag...

Since they are a 3" core they actually have a lot of volume for the size.

Even that one is over kill! But to each their own.

What size do you think Loki, and why? If the larger one reall adds lag then i want to stay away from that as much as possible.

Starion : 16 x 8 x 2.5 = 320

Mine core : 11 x 12 x 3 = 396

are you running the starion braineak?

2 reasons, one is that its really hard to compare effciencies specially since no one posts heat transfer coeffcients so you just have to use experience and common sense, second reason is that you actually want to greatest surface area per volume (for best heat transfer) but then you end up with a giant lagriffic intercooler. I chose mine cause of size, versatility, price,and braineack had it and I like to do everything he does :)

no, I'm running the smaller ebay cooler. Since I have a/c I needed something that fit next to the dryer. I also wanted something that fit dead center in the mouth and was bar and plate. This was the perfect solution.

I've ran on the track last weekend and the intercooler was still cool to the touch after 20 minutes on the track at speeds past 110mph and boosting 6-7 pounds. Although it would be nice to get some readings of the intake temperature, I'm lazy and I haven't had any reason to think it doesn't work good enough. Based on Corkys writings on intercooler efficeincy, you want something that results in good cooling capacity with very high contact area for heat transfer and the highest volumetric air flowrate. It's a trade off, but my findings have shown me that this size is fine for my application.


Besides Surface area:

Starion : 16 x 8 = 128 in²

Mine : 11 x 12 = 132 in²

fwiw: That's the dimensions of the starion, not the core size. I assume the core to be slightly smaller.

One problem I dont like is that some of the bars are fully exposed in the mouth, but I still believe that they are getting adequate airflow onto them. The bottom 3 rows sit below the factory air splitter so I cut it and angled the plastic flush with the bottom rows. Then used some old plastic to created walls to the bottom rows get full air contact. I'll have to post a pic sometime.

fallen blade if your still looking for an intercooler I can help you find the proper size & we have them @ a really good price . if your interested you can
reach me at 210-333-1642 thats my work # ask for tony or e-mail me at
turbotony2k@yahoo.com

hmmm i think if the turbo isnt too large or and is built good it should work well. so what is the too big size were does it get to be less gain and more lag???