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Larger intercooler?

I have the Hurricane secondary intercooler.
Temps recover much quicker running hard corner to corner than with just the stock cooler.
I am in the process of building a mount and shroud for a 7 inch fan to force air thru it.

 

JM.02c

An intercooler needs a measurement of time to cool the air passing through it...the faster the air flows through the cooler the less time it has to cool the charge so a bigger cooler becomes more effective for the heat transfer.
Although I feel an intercooler is effective and necessary for our turbo sleds, I think rather then increasing the cooler's size, first its more important to ensure the intake air that the cooler is temperature managing is as cool as possible. In the snowmobile world we are very fortunate to have access to cool ,normally well below freezing temperature, and dense air for our engines air intakes to use.
IMO a true cold air intake to feed the air passing through the intake system is the simplest and most effective way to control intake temps and enhance or maintain engine performance. A cold air intake with a little ram air effect is even better.
For my application I have chosen to go with a true cold air intake, enhanced engine cooling capacity, and full venting to keep all temps as low as possible.
Works for me:)

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View attachment 174448
Bob what did you do with your fuse box location when mounting the BOP radiator?
The area where the plastic shroud and fuse box is is where I am planning to install a 7 inch fan.
Right where the fwd section of your radiator is.
Thanks
 
JM.02c

An intercooler needs a measurement of time to cool the air passing through it...the faster the air flows through the cooler the less time it has to cool the charge so a bigger cooler becomes more effective for the heat transfer.
Although I feel an intercooler is effective and necessary for our turbo sleds, I think rather then increasing the cooler's size, first its more important to ensure the intake air that the cooler is temperature managing is as cool as possible. In the snowmobile world we are very fortunate to have access to cool ,normally well below freezing temperature, and dense air for our engines air intakes to use.
IMO a true cold air intake to feed the air passing through the intake system is the simplest and most effective way to control intake temps and enhance or maintain engine performance. A cold air intake with a little ram air effect is even better.
For my application I have chosen to go with a true cold air intake, enhanced engine cooling capacity, and full venting to keep all temps as low as possible.
Works for me:)

View attachment 174447

View attachment 174448

While I totally agree with you WRT CAI as important factor, the size of an intercooler does matter. Compared to a CAI, the stock intake air is being pulled past an insulator (glass impregnated intake ) where the air is moving much faster than the sled is, most of the time. It then hits the intercooler which has a tremendous heat differential and is constructed out of highly transmissive materials (metal) and just due to the phyisical process (compression) heat is further raised. Comparing the temperature differential at each stage will give you pretty large readings.( e.g. stock inlet air to cooler vs CAI, and compressed air to intercooler) IOW, in theory and easy to measure, the air temperature is being raised far more by the intercooler turbo than it is being lowered through the CAI which I have always seen as an absolute flow enhancer. Either way, you have hot(ter) air coming into the intercooler and size matters. Larger size means the same amount of air is distributed across the greater surface of the larger intercooler. This in effect allows more heat transfer to happen in the same amount of time. All of this matters most as a function of power over time. The more HP, the longer you use it, the more it matters. At trail speeds, the radiator is probably a more effective solution.
 
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Hmmm....running turbos & superchargers since '87. Lots of different toys.
Never heard "they don't make a difference."
Simple statement. Yes results very.
The only problem with intercoolers, is one that's way too big. Poor boost pressure wouldnt be able to keep up. Boost loss would be the inevitable.
I'm pretty sure we don't have that problem. Unless one of you guys decides to put one out the hood. Lol.
 
Bob what did you do with your fuse box location when mounting the BOP radiator?
That definitely is a challenge with the rad kit. The stock fuse block wiring harness does not allow a lot of wiggle room and space is very limited to locate the fuse box. Mine is turned sideways and mounted along side of the rad which is a compromise for sure. If I ever get motivated enough I may build an extended wiring harness and completely relocate the fuse box.



fuse box.JPG
 
Hmmm....running turbos & superchargers since '87. Lots of different toys.
Never heard "they don't make a difference."
Simple statement. Yes results very.
The only problem with intercoolers, is one that's way too big. Poor boost pressure wouldnt be able to keep up. Boost loss would be the inevitable.
I'm pretty sure we don't have that problem. Unless one of you guys decides to put one out the hood. Lol.

Think about the intercooler as a being a pipe, the longer the pipe the longer it takes to fill up and pressurize and of course the less reactive it is to changes in RPM but as long as the net input exceeds net output (always in a pressurized system) the turbo will continue to keep pressure on the pipe once it is full. It won't be efficient but there are lots of examples of turbo installations where the turbo is far away from the intake runners and the biggest impact is not loss of pressure, its turbo lag and the resultant inefficiency in managing boost. IOW boost doesn't go away, its just slower to react to RPM changes.
 
I agree 100% that a larger intercooler is an asset but I feel step one is insuring actual coolest air possible is fed to what ever intercooler or intake is being used.
You want to know what it's like to run a car at 18psi in 90° temps? Yep....lol.
Not to mention that 99% of us have to go to the store and pick an intercooler. Not a ton of options.
A good small unit will generally suffice in low boost or short duration runs.
Large intercooler provides more stability for higher boost longer duration run.
Not much to think about to be quite honest.
In coming air does help. inevitably it will circum to the heat from the turbo.
In other words 20° ambient and 40° ambient will eventually heat up to the same. Just one might take a little extra time to get there.
Everything is relative.
 
Think about the intercooler as a being a pipe, the longer the pipe the longer it takes to fill up and pressurize and of course the less reactive it is to changes in RPM but as long as the net input exceeds net output (always in a pressurized system) the turbo will continue to keep pressure on the pipe once it is full. It won't be efficient but there are lots of examples of turbo installations where the turbo is far away from the intake runners and the biggest impact is not loss of pressure, its turbo lag and the resultant inefficiency in managing boost. IOW boost doesn't go away, its just slower to react to RPM changes.
100%....think of an intercooler hanging out the front of your sled, say 2' x 2' with a teenie weenie turbo trying to push through that.
Please believe, it's not going to go very good.
Lol. Had to be extreme for you to understand that picture.
Everything needs to match.
It is exactly the same as clutching. Balance = efficiency...Always going to be the key.
 
On the grass a secondary intercooler we saw a loss it ET Vs just the stock cooler
 


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