Illusive90S

to each intercooler design available. Topics I'd like to see covered include: horizontal vs vertical core; pressure vs thermal efficiency; plumbing layout; core construction; etc.

One thing that piques my curiousity is the front-mount debate. From what I've seen here, and from what I understand of thermal dynamics, the horizontal cores dissipate the most heat from the charge air. This is due to the longer rows of the core. How does this affect the pressure drop across the core? I can understand that the core itself presents an obstruction to the path of the air, which will create a pressure drop, but does the greater change in temperature negate the drop? Recalling that the formula for pressure using the ideal gas law is P=cT/V, temperature should have a rather large impact on the pressure read at the manifold end of the core. Assuming that the pressure and volume after the compressor remains constant, we should see a denser volume of air after the core. If the temperature change in the horizontal core is considerably greater than that of a vertical core, than the win should go to horizontal core, correct?

The topic that I feel has been neglected in the horizontal vs vertical debate is the piping construction for each system. There are losses to be had here, each direction change of air flow increases the energy required to move the air across a distance, in other words it is a pressure drop. For a vertical core like the ASP unit, there are 4 90 degree bends which are not present in the horizontal cores. These are at the points where the endtanks meet the cores. Regardless of how smooth the transitions are, the bends are still rather sudden.

I apologize if this is long winded and boring, but these are things my mind ponders. It's my nature to want to be well informed in topics like this, which is likely why I'm an ME major. I hope that I've gotten the ball rolling and would enjoy seeing a good discussion and debate with ELABORATION, something that lacked in the bickering of the earlier thread.

my2000apb MEGABOOST

go to Border's and get books on street turbocharging, they have great info and lots of fabrication

s4what?

Vertical cores would be best for a rectangular front mount with width much larger than height.

Mac@D.I.

horizontal? 2 inlets - 1 outlet design?

s4what?

The lead in and lead out tanks must be substantially tapered. Easier to do with 2 outlets. Again, read Maximum Boost by Corky Bell.

Flyboy

piping are rather sudden. If the minor loss from those bends is small relative to the overall pressure loss from the entire path, there may not be a significant affect on the final pressure loss. If the bends allow a better orientation of the IC, they may be worth the increase in pressure loss. If you just look at the problem from the theoretical viewpoint, without testing with some representative values, like flow rates and radius of curvature, you won't get an idea of how much of a pressure loss those bends might cause in a practical application.

2fst4u2c

but what a dry read that is..

s4what?

Too technical? Not ghetto? You can be both hands-on & technical you know?

Illusive90S

and I can see that it is something to take into consideration in design, and how testing plays a large role in designing as well.

Is it your opinion that a front mount will be the ultimate performer on our cars? Do you think that fans and or shrouding will allow enough air through both rad and ic cores?

A bit OT, but I appreciate your response as it gives some insight into design considerations for ic's. I realize that there is a lot of good information available in books. I do feel, however, that it is not easy to derive which set-up would work best for a specific application. As far as Maximum Boost is concerned, I have never gotten around to reading it. It is an old book filled mostly with theory from that time. Most of it will still be applicable today, but to what degree? When I started this thread I was hoping for a good, platform-specific, discussion on the topic. Something that would benefit not just me, but the members of this forum who chose to read through the thread as well.