Just got off of spearcos web site. the question i have is are there intercoolers rated at rear wheel HP or crank shaft HP levels? because even at rwhp levels i am starting to push the efficiencey level of the stock vortech supplied spearco intercooler, it is rated for 450 HP. also i was looking on ebay at these "intercoolers" they have for sale on there. the prices appear to good to be true! my thoughts are if it seems to good to be true that is usually the case. does anybody have any experiance with these ebay coolers and are they junk as i suspect..........Thanks. PS, i should just stop being a butt head and put water/meth on this thing at this point!

 

I have never understood this either. You can find sweet looking, big intercoolers for like $200 on there. They also claim to have minimal pressure loss and all that too. In my mind an intercooler seems pretty simple and I have never understood why they cost 1000's of dollars but at the same time I can't imagine how they could make them and sell them on ebay for $200 and make a profit. Oh yea, do the Meth = 0 Heat Soak

 

Numerous Chinese citizens slaving away at 10 cents per hour assembling these things with substandard metals & quality control is how they make a profit at $200 a pop.

 

Meth? Does he really have to?

 

Best of both worlds, they have jobs and we have a product. Perfect.

 

OH ****!!!! i can see this thread is going in the crapper already, lol.......

 

well you get what you pay for. Do these ebay vendors have documented tests such as flow test, dyno charts, air intake temp tests etc. that show how or why their intercooler is better or just as good as one that is hundreds more? id venture to say no. Can these vendors tell you where they get their core from, and how good is the quality of the welds, both on the core and the endtanks? I know freinds (with other platforms not 350Z) that have purchased ebay ic's and theyv'e all had leaks - they all cant hold as much boost as a quality established greddy, hks, sparco etc. too much presure drop. Every intecooler made will have small leaks, its just that they are below the accepted tolerance level. i'd venture to say the quality control of these ebay ic's is spotty at best. and what about the customer service if god forbid something goes wrong and you need to return it? good luck with that, alot of these vendors are here today gone tmrw.

 

JET-

One thing that may help you is looking at the book "Supercharged" by Corky Bell if you can get a hold of it. There is a ton of info on intercoolers and flow loss, pressure loss, horsepower and design.

I would not go with an Ebay intercooler personally as some have been known to not have any visible imperfections but have shown internal imperfections in the core that can reduce flow.

I would personally go with a Bell Intercooler. Corky Bell gives excellent advice and design consultation. Not to mention the configuration flexibility of a bell intercooler combined with a reasonable price.

 

But how do we know that Greddy's, Hks's, Aps or anyother manufactor doesnt use these knockoff interfoolers?

 

Thank you for the info. i am going to look up the publication you mentioned. oh and bye the way i would not consider purchasing one of these " ebay " intercoolers, i was just asking for peoples opinions on these units and what experiances people have had that purchased them.

 

i just ordered Corky Bells book. this should be some great reading material. Thanks again Quamen.

 

Another good read is 'Maximum Boost: Designing, Testing, and Installing Turbocharger Systems', its written by Corkey Bell as well. It also has the details on how to work out the efficiency of an intercooler, whats good and what isnt but might be more suited for your turbocharger requirements. By reading this you can tell from the vendor websites about their construction, materials, design and dimensions and work out if they have the potential to be good or not. Both brand name and otherwise.

 

I purchased a Treadstone intercooler to replace mine. It seems like it is very good quality with clean welds and such.

 

machines weld very good. like others have said, without real pressure testing, looks mean nothing

 

^^^Great book.

 

Very true.

I would suggest that you only get one or the other however if you are looking for anything on intake manifold or intercooler design as those sections are identical in both books (I have both).

Jet-

I wouldn't hesitate for a moment to email Gerhard or Corky at Bell Intercoolers. Those guys are stand up guys and will help you out with any brief questions that you may have regarding intercooler design. They will be able to tell you if a thicker core or a longer core or something between is better for your power goals.

One of the best things about Bell intercoolers is that since everything is one-off fabrication for the most part, prices are not sky high. Another good thing is that they will baffle the inside of the intercooler to help split flow to the core.

My intercooler from Bell:

 

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We use Spearco or Bell(Corky Bell) intercoler cores.You can spot some of the cheap knock offs pretty easily. Usually they will have cast end tanks, crappy welding and miscellaneous mounting bungs which never seem to work because they are in some odd location BTW,we can build any sort of intercooler and typically turn it around faster and cheaper then Spearco or Bell can.

Be glad you guys arent on the Bimmer forums.There is a guy who sells a turbo kit for an M3 that costs in excess of $6k and he sends out a Starion intercooler.The Ebay one is an upgrade.LOL.

 

Bell can definetly take some time depending on the time of season. I can't say anything about Spearco though.

I got my intercooler within 2 weeks from Bell which is fairly quick.

 

cousin has an ebay one on this gst... fp red, built head and bottom end.... thing holds like a champ. not one problem in years.... I've got an ebay one sitting around for my 240 with a CA too... I don't see a problem unless you tell everyone what you paid for it... just say it's an expensive one, hell it looks like it.

 

In my experience, these products are usually rated at crank hp. You can also calculate the efficiency based on the type of core and its dimensions.

What intercooler are you looking at?