IHADAV8.com - Turbo Buick Tech, and Nonsense

Tech Area => General Buick Tech => Topic started by: daveismissing on January 26 2013, 08:52:00 PM

Title: So what happens if your intercooler is too big?
Post by: daveismissing on January 26 2013, 08:52:00 PM
Well?  :)
Title: Re: So what happens if your intercooler is too big?
Post by: Steve Wood on January 26 2013, 09:09:09 PM
compressor surge, lack of throttle response, slower boost ramp up, less air flow thru the radiator if a front mount
Title: Re: So what happens if your intercooler is too big?
Post by: earlbrown on January 26 2013, 09:41:31 PM
On the upside it might get you a bench racing win.
Title: Re: So what happens if your intercooler is too big?
Post by: daveismissing on January 26 2013, 10:33:05 PM
In "Black Air" the engineers implied they were physically limited and would have gone bigger if it had fit...
Title: Re: So what happens if your intercooler is too big?
Post by: Steve Wood on January 26 2013, 11:10:34 PM
Now that is strange.  First thing we did was cut off the inlets and outlets and replaced them with larger sizes to reduce backpressure and the second thing was to cut one in half and add it to the bottom of the original along with new side tanks....fit with no problem.

But that has nothing to do with an intercooler being too big.
Title: Re: So what happens if your intercooler is too big?
Post by: Scoobum on January 27 2013, 12:03:17 AM
Higher engine temperature and less throttle response has always kept me away from a FMIC. My other thot has been that the alky will cool the intake charge.
Title: Re: So what happens if your intercooler is too big?
Post by: Steve Wood on January 27 2013, 12:23:18 AM
alky is a great equalizer.  A slic with good flow and alky will work really well even if the ic is on the small side from a cooling stance
Title: Re: So what happens if your intercooler is too big?
Post by: motorhead on January 27 2013, 08:31:56 AM
I can post datalogs of my auto-x runs that indicate my car has zero issues with throttle response or spool time.  Cooling issues are easily overcome as well.  However, there is no such thing as a free lunch once you move away from stock.

As far as the engineers being physically limited vs. big neck/stretched intercoolers goes, you have to appreciate that these were regular production line vehicles (on an existing chassis not designed to fit all the new fancy EFI turbo crap) and the added headaches of fitting a larger intercooler was probably not as cut and dry as we'd make it out to be once engine meets chassis meets body meets road.
Title: Re: So what happens if your intercooler is too big?
Post by: daveismissing on January 27 2013, 09:41:50 AM
What would be the metric for defining "size" ?
square inches of surface? Airflow at a given pressure? Something else?
Title: Re: So what happens if your intercooler is too big?
Post by: Steve Wood on January 27 2013, 10:08:20 AM
volume vs spool time vs compressor surge....or simply the time it takes the turbo to move enuf air to turn the semi-dead air inside the intercooler into useful flow?
Title: Re: So what happens if your intercooler is too big?
Post by: motorhead on January 27 2013, 10:25:43 AM
volume vs spool time vs compressor surge....or simply the time it takes the turbo to move enuf air to turn the semi-dead air inside the intercooler into useful flow?

I would believe that pressure differential/restriction on the inlet and outlet sides, and size of the charge piping, also would have to be considered.  With a nod to backpressure on the exhaust side (pre- and post-turbine) too.

I know I got damn lucky using an unproven FMIC out of a diesel semi in my Buick.  I am considering moving up to a 3" outlet charge pipe this season for giggles; currently 2.5" on both sides.
Title: Re: So what happens if your intercooler is too big?
Post by: Scoobum on January 27 2013, 12:21:23 PM
I'm stickin' with my GBody stretched SLIC.
Title: Re: So what happens if your intercooler is too big?
Post by: motorhead on January 27 2013, 01:16:30 PM
I'm stickin' with my GBody stretched SLIC.

I am not suggesting otherwise, as I am certain it is an awesome piece of kit.

In reality, I should be using an SLIC for better weight distribution.
Title: Re: So what happens if your intercooler is too big?
Post by: Scoobum on January 27 2013, 02:27:58 PM
volume vs spool time vs compressor surge....or simply the time it takes the turbo to move enuf air to turn the semi-dead air inside the intercooler into useful flow?

Correct me if I'm wrong. The shorter distance the air has to travel...the quicker the throttle response.
Title: Re: So what happens if your intercooler is too big?
Post by: earlbrown on January 27 2013, 03:20:38 PM
Keep in mind every cubic foot of air you add (compressor spool to intake valves) is air that has to be compressed before it gets to the cylinder.   

Lets say you have 1 cubic foot of airspace and good throttle response and you're running 14.7 pounds of boost. With that setup you have to stuff 2 cubic feet of air into that space to have have your 14.7#s.....

If you get a big ass front mount with huge pipes and add another cubic foot of interior airspace you now have to stuff 4 cubic feet of air in there to see the same boost at the intake valves.  (I understand these are simplistic numbers based on 100% efficiency). To make things worse, the pressure increase will come in the form of a compression wave. Meaning when the turbo gets on the clock, the first thing to get pressurized is the intercooler inlet pipe, then the core, then the outlet tank, then the TB's pressure drop, then the plenum THEN the backside of the intake valve. When you're measuring response in milliseconds, that stuff can add up.

Big ass piping can add unnecessary volume fairly easily. Since the area increases at a the swuare X Pi, it can get ugly quickly.

for example:  2" pipe contains .0218 cubic feet per linear foot
                      3" pipe contains .0480 cubic feet per linear foot
                      4" pipe contains .0873 cubic feet per linear foot

Note the difference between 2" and 3" is over double, the difference between 2" and 4" is over 4 times as big.

Front mounts have, what, 9 feet of plumbing?
Title: Re: So what happens if your intercooler is too big?
Post by: SuperSix on January 28 2013, 08:40:11 AM
Alradco is working on a new SLIC..

Does anyone have any details on it?
Title: Re: So what happens if your intercooler is too big?
Post by: Shimy87 on January 28 2013, 03:51:42 PM
Women tell me it hurts  :rofl:
Title: Re: So what happens if your intercooler is too big?
Post by: Pyro6 on January 28 2013, 05:51:22 PM
Earl, by your numbers than wouldn't a larger turbo make up for the cubic feet in plumbing?
Title: Re: So what happens if your intercooler is too big?
Post by: earlbrown on January 28 2013, 07:24:09 PM
Not really. You could put install a turbo off of a locomotive, set it at 14.7#s and the engine could only swallow the same amount of air.  Keep in mind a 52mm throttle body is smaller than a 2" pipe.


Let's say you have a 231CI engine that is 100% efficient. Being a 4stroke that means it would swallow 115.5 CI of air every crankshaft revolution. At 5000RPM it would need 1,155,000 CI (668.745 CFM).  If a 2.5" IC pipeing can flow that with no problem there is no benefit to going bigger. All you'd be doing is adding volume (and weight) that has to be pressurized before the plenum get's pressurized. And as we all know from out studies, there's no power being made until the plenum is pressurized.


As a parallel example, imagine you just talked your girlfriend into anal. Only problem is she wants to be tipsy first and needs a 6 pack to loosen up (giggity).   There's no reason to feed the 6pack girl 12beers when 6 will do.  Why in the world would you purposely want to wait for 6 more beers before turning on the camcorder (the equivalent of turblo-lag)?
Title: Re: So what happens if your intercooler is too big?
Post by: SuperSix on January 28 2013, 09:34:48 PM
HAHAHAHA!!!!!

I love you Earl.
Title: Re: So what happens if your intercooler is too big?
Post by: Pyro6 on January 29 2013, 06:48:38 AM
I guess I would have to give the beers to my wife so she wouldn't find out about the girlfriend. That's alot of lag.
SimplePortal 2.3.7 © 2008-2025, SimplePortal