well, if i'm going air/air for an intercooler, what would be the best car to try and get one off of? i'm thinking rx-7. any suggestions?

if i go for water/air, that might work because i've got that oil cooler in front of my radiator, left over from the tranny swap. i never took it out, and it might be useful. if this would work or be better than air/air, what car would be best to get this intercooler off of?

 

water-air are more efficient, but more complex

air-air are less efficient, but a lot less complex

 

the main problem with "water/air" is the need to carry a fairly large (and heavy) amount of liquid, and the need for a secondary front mount radiator to cool that liquid. Also add a belt driven pump (parasitic drag) or an Electric pump (possible pump failure = no intercooling). They are more efficent than Air/Air, and usually have a correspodngly better/less pressure loss through the core. Water/air units can cool below ambient air tempature if you fill the water tank with ice water or another similar colder than ambient air liquid. However, the liquid will not stay cold long.

Air/Air units are lighter, simpler, and generally, easier to install (in most cases).

Air/Air's biggest disadvantages are Space/Size (intercooler core must be fairly large) considerations, and flow loss/pressure loss through that larger core.

For a daily driver, I would not hesitate to reccomend a air/air FMIC (Front Mounted InterCooler). For Drag racing, I would reccomend water/air.

 

thanks for the info, random. so i'll most likely be going with an air/air fmic. now, what car should i try to get one off of? like i said, i'm thinking rx-7. suggestions?

 

Go back to that intercooler comparison I posted a week or two back. That should give you an idea of what to look for in a good intercooler.

Stock Supra intercoolers are okay, but have large inlet piping. Stock Rx7's are a tad smaller, but keep in mind, those stock intercoolers were ment to be fender well mounted not bumper mounted. They are realy small, (10x10x3, or so), so they will look rather funny in a front mount application. Consider trying to find a Starion/conquest intercooler, or the intercooler from a wrecked Isuzu Diesel truck.