Rallas

iTrader: (9)

Here is a crappy pic of the current inter cooler. I really like the FAB9 stage1 intercooler with 20x6.5x3.25 core which is a little longer and has slightly more crossectional area than my BEGI#1 12x6x3. The additional length should help to remove more heat for track use. My biggest concern is that the really short 12" core I have now doesn't remove enough heat. I don't think I need anything bigger than this. Also, the FAB9 is advertised to be compatible with my existing BEGI inter cooler with minor modification which would be a plus.

I am also planning on modding the air intake to pull from a colder region or route cooler air to the current air filter location. I agree that the cooler air you bring into the compressor and the least amount of restriction has significant impacts on the air temperature leaving the compressor.

Fab9 Stage 1 PNP Intercooler - Miata 350hp

Rallas

iTrader: (9)

I ended up installing the exact same Vibrant intercooler that FAB9 uses for their stage 1 intercooler.

It is almost twice as long as my old BEGI intercooler and has slightly higher crossectional area. I was worried that the much larger intercooler would block the radiator opening and cause increased cooling temps, but so far I have not noticed a change in coolant temps.

Looking at the logs it seems that they both intercoolers would keep IAT's around 30-35 deg above ambient for most street driving. This would be the occasional 1-4th pull or extended 5th gear acceleration. I really didn't notice much difference at all, the Vibrant intercooler might have been a little cooler, but only bt 5-8 degrees.

When doing 3 or more back to back 2nd-5th hard pulls, slowing down and hitting it hard each time I would see IATs jump up a good bit more. The BEGI intercooler would jump 73 deg above ambient and the Vibrant intercooler would jump up to 60 deg above ambient. This additional peak above the normal 35 degree peak would only occur during the long acceleration runs in 5th. I don't know how often I will get to run 5th all the way out on track.

Based on my worst case track day ambient temp of 100 deg, maybe 120 deg above the asphalt, I would still only have IATs at 180 deg, definitely below 200 deg.

I would have expected a bigger differnce going from the tiny BEGI intercooler to the much larger Vibrant core, but the higher efficiency of the BEGI core does make a big difference. I noticed that the Vibrant core does not have any internal fin louvering and has a straight through air passage, great for low DP, but less efficient at removing heat. The BEGI core does have louvered internal fins and is probably why they are more efficient. Also the BEGI end tanks distrubute the airflow better.

Can anyone post some logged data from a nice hot summer track day session?

For the turbo miata guys that run out at CMP, what are your speeds coming into turn 1, turn 8 and right before the kink? I am wondering how long I will be pulling in 5th gear before slowing down on the longest straights.

DNMakinson

iTrader: (3)

What boost pressure is this? What estimated HP? This is for reference due to my gross ignorance. I'm kind of looking for what I might expect when I turn my boost up.

Rallas

iTrader: (9)

In 3-5th I am holding 14-14.5 psi of boost. Virtual dyno shows ~230 whp with just a little less in torque.

I want to try the same runs with 12-13 psi of boost to see if my IATs drop significantly.