Air to Air/Air to Water intercoolers?

[Guest Anonymous]

What are some of the advantages/disadvantages of either system. I just dont see why you would ever want air to water as it is more complex heavier and I would guess that it doesnt cool the air as well. Considering that the water cools the intake air and the hot water is cooled just like an air to air intercooler why would you use one in the first place?

[Guest Anonymous]

Read a book about PORSCHE race cars and their evolution from air-to-air intercooling and later to water-to-air intercooling. Power gains, consistant temp control .....

higher demands on the intercooler with increased power output......

a few books about Turbocharging are in print as well

1978 SAAB 99 Turbo and BMW 2002 Turbo both had no intercooler and just oil lub'd bearings/turbo housing.

Later SAAB and Volvo's then had oil lub, and water cooled turbo housing, and air-to-air intercoolers.....

[Guest Anonymous]

air to air: simple plumbing, need more surface area to cool because of the instant cool air needed. Car needs to move to cool and keep the rad cool. A fan help but is not comparable to a car moving at 60mph.

air to water: a lot of plumbing. smaller radiators needed to cool the water since you are not suposed to drive under boost all the time (no!), there is suposed to be some pump to make the water flow so it cools the water all the time, so when the car is at rest after beign driven, the water is still cool so the rad is ready for a blast. More efficient than air/air at low volumes because it is always ready to cool the system down. It can get saturated fast if the water loop is small, if not saturated, as long as there is cool water to cool the rad down, it is 100% efficient while an air/air rad can get saturated if air flow thru it is not sufficient, like driving the car from stop to stop.

Pat Allen