UkLegacyT

what do you think?
i have the uk legacy turbo with the factory fitted chargecooler. i was thinking of ditching it and fitting a front mount intercooler instead.
would it be worth it, or is the chargecooler fairly good?

thanks

ian

p.s. the chargecooler has its radiator down the front of the car, forwards of the radiator.

UkLegacyT

thanks for the info mate
i was thinking it would be better with a front mount, but wanted someone else's oppinion first.
i can mod it myself to make it fit etc, so it shouldnt be a problem. ill have a gander on the pace website now.....

thanks again

ian

GavinP

Ian,

Are you measuring your intake temp ? This will tell you if you need to change anything.....

From my playing around with the Legacy chargecooler, I would say the pump is the weak link - the pump I am using flows six times the amount of water as the standard one - £175 + VAT - Jabsco CentriPuppy

The radiator you have at present is probably bigger than the one I am using....

The system can work VERY well but if you have your heart set on a front mount....

Thanks

Gavin

ustolemyname??stevieturbo

iTrader: (1)

While the std setup can work well with mods. I do believe that the intercooler is a much better setup. Recently at a track day, my car ( std chargecooler with 2lt tank added ) and my friends car ( pace equipped ) were both running on e very sunny day. Obviously there is a lot of heat soak due to stopping to queue for more laps ( we were doin about 3 laps at a time ) After a run, Everywhere in my chargecooler system was very hot to the touch. The intercooler car was very much cooler, although still a little hot. The reason we removed the chargecooler form his car was because he was seeing temps ( motec fitted ) rising very rapidly to in excess of 80 degC, mid november ( running close to 1.5 bar ) Now with the intercooler temps ( while monitoring ) have not exceeded35 degC, after a good hard run on the road, but they are more usually around 20 degC. In fact the only time they do rise is after the car has been sitting for a while, and the heat from the engine/rad has heated up the IC core.
For approx £1000 they offer an aluminium radiator and intercooler package. Although the kit was NOT complete, and a bit of work to fit to a legacy. It seems better value than any other kit I have seen. Go for it

GavinP

Were you using the standard pump ? It is apparently a two-speed item which switches to high speed (15 litres/per min) on boost.

I am using a pump running continously at 70+ litres/minute which obviously makes a bit of difference....

My car is running at 1.2bar so there is a bit less heat involved as well.... - I can get the intake temp to reach 40 degrees C if I REALLY try but normal fast road driving, you get nowhere near that.

Thanks

Gavin

ustolemyname??stevieturbo

iTrader: (1)

A front mount is probably best. The standard chargecooler can be improved with biggger water rad/pump, but an good big intercooler up front will be less restrictive than the fairly small chargecooler as std. Not sure if anyone does a kit for the legacy, but we fitted a Pace Alu Rad and Intercooler Kit to my friends car. ( The kit was for an impreza, although it would have been incomplete even for an impreza ) It is of fairly good quality, and considerng you get a radiator also, fairly good value. It cost the same as most Front mount intercooler only kits. Check it out on www.paceproducts.co.uk
As I say, it is not a straight fit for a legacy, and some mods are required, but if you are able to work a bit, then you should be able to get it fitted ok.
It certainly has improved air temps massively over the std chargecooler setup, so I would definately say FMIC is better.


[Edited by ustolemyname??stevieturbo - 4/8/2002 1:39:50 AM]