ok i want a bar & plate intercooler. here are my 2 options at the moment.

#1 buy a pre-made intercooler. the one i am looking at is 18" LONG, 6" TALL and 2.5" deep. meaning that it is the normal style that you would see with end tanks that are 6x2.5" and the air runs along the 18" of bars. cost about $210

#2 buy the intercooler core and have end tanks made and welded on. the problem with this (which is my question- it may not be a problem after all) is that it ould be a wide style intercooler. it is only 6" LONG but 17" WIDE by 3.5" deep. so therefore the end tanks would be much larger 17x3.5" and there would be more bars for air to pass through, essentially moving slower but along only 6" lengths.

i know pressure drop and flow efficiencies are largely determined by the end tanks, but as far as the essential design of a 'fatty' intercooler versus an conventional 'long-tube' style what are the advantages/disadvantages perfromance and efficiency wise. i want to assume that the more popular long tube style is better for airflow a sit is not slowing and speeding up the air as much, but by creating lss turbulence and direction changes it may not cool as well. less air direction changes would also give a better throttle response, correct? i say direction changes because the air would essentially come in horizontally, shoot 90* downward through the core, then another 90* to the exit, where a long-style one would be more of a straight shot with less velocity loss.

any educated thoughts welcome here. diagrams to back it up are good, or at least prove that you may know what you are talking about. im not interested in the 'i think' or 'maybe youre right' answers, facts or previous hands-on knowledge only please.

 

According to Corky Bell, in his book, it is better to run the intercooler with the wide end tanks. The reason for this is that the air only has to travel 6" through the restricted intercooler compared to 18" the other way. Also, the air has room to "spread out" along the whole 18" and then travel through the intercooler.

This reasoning assumes that the end tanks are designed to force the air evenly through the 18" it has to work with. Usually these end tanks have fins to direct half the air to one side and half to the other.

The cooling capacity should be the same no matter what direction the air is traveling, longways or shortways.

Other things to keep in mind is that these end tanks will be in front of your radiator (instead of to the sides) which will restrict some airflow for cooling the motor.

Thats my .02 smile.gif

 

mr bell has multiple books in production, i assume you are talking about 'maximum boost.' in which case i will dig it up this weekend out of my closet and brush up a bit, its been about a year since ive touched it.

what i am worried about is that since i will originally only be running about 9psi and that the larger end tanks will hurt response and increase pressure loss. if this is not the case then i will for sure go with the fatty core and build end tanks accordingly. plus this setup will also be using a nige 3.5" deep core whereas the other is only 2.5", and the built one will [probably] come out cheaper in the longrun.

given the core having the same cooling capacity, i was asking because the larger end tanks will obviously increase total capacity. good look on the end tanks blocking the radiator though- another thing to consider.

good info, thanks.