Has anyone ever tried using the technology from an air conditioning system to replace the intercooler?

 

Ok..... do you want to have a think about what you have just said?

Will add this for you http://blogs.howstuffworks.com/2009/...ercooler-work/ only slap yourself a few times but they do (as I have found out) do watercooled intercoolers as well as air cooled, though not quite sure you mean that?

Tony

 

Interesting thought - I assume you mean use air conditioned pipes running through or around the intercooler? It would certainley help combat heatsoak!! I wonder tho' if the power sapped by the compressor running would counteract any benefits gained???

 

...Plus the increased fuel cons, for having the compressor on all the time.

 

For sprints, I used to use plumbers pipe freeze spray on the IC before a run

 

would a fan mounted to the intercooler work instead??? thats what the air con and coolant rad both use to dissipate heat. you could force high amounts of air through the vanes even when at low speeds. its a thought!

 

Yes.

Using to same principle as the air con for inside the car. Replace the TMIC with the cooler coil from the air con. Similar to this from youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKZ2DPvvua8

Also, Does anyone have the figures for power/torque gains from colder charge air temps?

 

Using the pipes would do nothing really, you would need much bigger pipes and a much bigger condenser, this in turn would drain more power out the engine so your gains would end up being negative.
Like I said, think about it
Water cooled would work, but air cooled is your easiest/cheapest method, and having a fan on there to draw the air through is a better idea.

Tony

 

I would try running the car on full boost with the air con on, It certainly has a neg effect on my car
Trev

 

Trev that's because at full boost and full throttle (3500/4000 rpm) the air conditioning unit disengages

Andy

 

like i said the fan seems the most effective, if you had the fan infront of the cooler blowing in instead of sucking from behind it should be more effective as your intercooler relies on air hitting it as the car goes forward to cool it also the fan and water spray would make it very cold!! and as i said it would also be just as effective at very low speeds and maybe even standstill as the air flow from the fan is still present!! it must work effectively as its used on the coolant and aircon systems anyway!! i might look in to this myself think ive convinced myself it'll work anyway! lol!

 

2 litre engine @ 2 bar of boost and 8000 rpm =

1 * 3 * 8 = 24 m^3 per minute, of super-heated air VS your interior fan and ambient air ? ? ?

dunx

 

interior fan!?! was thinking of something a little stronger! work out how hard the air hits the car/cooler at say 140mph and then work out fan blade length, angle and fan speed req'd to imitate that same 'force' if you end up with a fan that would have 20foot long blades then scrap the idea!!!!!!
it could prob be done as a radiator fan recreates the car moving thru the air to cool the coolant in the radiator when sat still and does that efficiently enough and that doesn't run constantly then just in 30=40 second bursts or whatever?

 

im sure i have seen an intercooler kit for a vr6 thats had turbo fitted and that kit had intercooler with twin fans attached to it so it must be good because the intercooler was fitted where not much normal air flow was available.worth a try in my eyes.

 

Ok. At the moment I'm run on a pace rad/ic combi. And want to improve the charge temp coming from the intercooler. So, where can I get 2x7" slim line fan? And what water injectors should I use and where can I get them from?

I'm assuming a mist of water is best than an injection of water?

 

mist would be better as would get more coverage
not sure about the fans try demon tweeks perhaps? they have all sorts of parts for all sorts of racing projects! theyve helped me out before!!

 

Digging this up from the archives as it is something I have been pondering over for some time.
I currently use a chargecooler which consists of a radiator, a pump and a standard subaru chargecooler from a legacy all connected with clear 19mm hose.
Now my thoughts would be to do away with the pump and rad and adapt the chargecooler to take the pipework from the air con system so instead of water it would have refrigerant flowing around it.
Does it sound like there is any sense in what I'm saying????

 

If you had the correct size evaporator to allow the a/c gas to expand into the charge cooler then possibly, however will it take the pressure?

 

or use refrigerant in your charge cooler setup instead of water? just need to check the pump can handle it and the expansion/contraction of the fluid wouldn't cause issues

the air con kicks in and out, so running off that system isn't the best idea to achieve consistant low charge temps

 

I would have said that for events I would use freezes spray on the rad- on reflection I think that's the way forward

 

what about a small bottle of co2 and nozzles around the intercooler? very cold

 

I think this would be a more practical step, but still requires getting the co2 in almost liquid form onto the IC, maybe using a n2o set up would do it?