Water to Air intercooler - F/I benefits
 

I am continuing to look at several options to increasing F/I engine safety & reliability, and maximize power. I am looking at Water to Air intercoolers as a potential solution but need to know; is there any real benefit to using these on our F/I engines??? Any drawbacks??? Appreciate any feedback.

a proper designed intercooler is not going to effect safety and reliability. YOu'd be super hard pressed to fit a air/water IC in our cars bc you need room for the reservoir and the heat exchanger, not to mention the water pump, etc.


Unless you were drag racing, there is no advantage over properly sized/plumbed air/air

Does anyone have any experience/comments about the new Stillen water-to-air system that sits in a custom plenum? They are supposedly offering it on their new SC kit for the G37/Z370.

Could a Pressurized Cooling System help instead?? Main critera in selecting a system are effectiveness in temperature reduction & reliability

To cool the same amount of air, a water to air will be much smaller than an air-to-air IC in reagrds to size. An air to water is also going to cool much more effecient then an air to air.

You might be pressed for space but that all depends on how your setup is going to be. If you you read through yellowbullet.com (primarily drag) there's alot of guys who have gotten really creative with running air to water IC's to be more effecient for their setups.

Everyone that I have seen with air to water IC setups swear by them, anyone on here currently using them in a Z or G?

Ive seen them on older datsuns, the #1 reason not to run one is you'd lose that cool front mount!

You'd have to run like 2 oil coolers to make up for the cool factor.

IMO, if you read the "FI FAQ for noobs" you'll find that changing the internals will give your engine a longer life in terms of holding that kind of power.

We are currently setting up a 350Z with air/water intercooler system. This system was chosen as the best option for this specific build. For most, an air/air intercooler works great and is less headache.

What are your specific goals and details on your car? This will allow for feedback catered to you. Otherwise, there is plenty of general information available on the internet comparing intercoolers.

I have a built VQDE w/ JWT TT 700bb's for 580whp @19lbs.:skidmark: I am also having a Greddy I/C installed, and hope to have oil cooler & p/s cooler installed shortly. That's why I have been doing research & trying to find out what the community knew on this subject.:thumbup:

i have done custom water sprayer into my intercooler... :)
i am sure its not as good as having a dedicated water/air cooler. but i think its doing the job for me..

all i have to do is spray 1 min before pushing the car.. mainly i use it while on track.

What is your primary use for the car? Have you monitored current air temps?

There is a lot of tracks that won't allow that setup though becuase it can get liquid on the track. All depends on the governing body for the race you take part in.

Liquid-to-air could allow you to drop the inlet charge to a colder temp (if you used like an ice-water setup)....but it is really only beneficial for short periods of time (i.e. drag racing).

Once you get into a street setup you are going to have major heat-soak problems cause that water is gonna heat up and you can only cool down to the temp of the water (so ice water=good, hot water=bad).

again, your specific application will drive what to have.

(fyi, on my old modded 03 cobra, I had MAJOR heat soak issues due to water-to-air for runs on highway against buddy's viper:
Pull 1: even
Pull 2: he wins 1/2 car
Pull 3: he wins 1 1/2 car
Pull 4: he's pulling away easy
)

you ever try a bigger heat exchanger? or larger volume tank? My buddies GN is air-water cooled and he run 26psi without heat soak.

That is one of the upgrades for the cobra's, larger heat exchanger larger reservoir. It was a pain to upgrade (and $$$ for what it is).

I think for a street turbo application, air-air is just fine. But thats me.

Tom

of course, but any system can be run outside its operating specs, as was obvious in the stang. That doesnt mean that the system doesnt work.

But I agree, no sense in making an already tight space even more complicated with an air-water

I think a CO2 spray bar on an air to air intercooler would take care of your track use and meth injection all the time would be the best bang for your buck, ease of installation and give you the best overall performance. Guess it still boils down to what your needs are though.

Thanks for everyone's input!! With what I've learned here and in my other research it seems this will not yield any significant gains over my current air-to-air intercooler set-up. Seems better for a drag/strip application.

No loss I will continue to look for performance, reliability & safety gains in other areas. I think it's a challenge when we try to

Anyone else since this thread have any more experience with this? Got a deal on a 200 mile rebuilt vortech with water to air set up and 928 impeller

Bump