My retarded intercooler idea
#1
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Let me just say, first and foremost that I know that this is a very stupid idea, and that a normal front mount would be ten million times better. Also, that I rarely say **** this stupid, and maybe I am having an off day.
But...
Whenever I see the new begi s-kit's cross pipe I think, like someone else mentioned that it would be a useful part to modify. The logical, practical, and obvious thing to do would be to add water injection and have a very good system.
Ok, now here is my stupid idea. Get a really small intercooler, as in, a stock one from a turbo car or something of that respect and plumb it in where the cross pipe is. Now I know that airflow is needed for an intercooler to really work, but there is some air moving in there, just not a lot and its not exactly cold, but still. The only reason I really am thinking about this is that it would be painfully easy to just plonk down an intercooler there, and that it might have some kind of minuscule gain. Maybe cut a hole in the hood and make some dicting to get some flow through it? As I said, this is a stupid idea, and I have no idea what the **** I am talking about, but I would just like to know if this is truly retarded, or if some tiny gain could be made from doing this.
Oh and a side thought, has anybody ever just had an intercooler sticking up out of the hood like those giant double blowers on old muscle cars? new trend eh?
semi diagram-
But...
Whenever I see the new begi s-kit's cross pipe I think, like someone else mentioned that it would be a useful part to modify. The logical, practical, and obvious thing to do would be to add water injection and have a very good system.
Ok, now here is my stupid idea. Get a really small intercooler, as in, a stock one from a turbo car or something of that respect and plumb it in where the cross pipe is. Now I know that airflow is needed for an intercooler to really work, but there is some air moving in there, just not a lot and its not exactly cold, but still. The only reason I really am thinking about this is that it would be painfully easy to just plonk down an intercooler there, and that it might have some kind of minuscule gain. Maybe cut a hole in the hood and make some dicting to get some flow through it? As I said, this is a stupid idea, and I have no idea what the **** I am talking about, but I would just like to know if this is truly retarded, or if some tiny gain could be made from doing this.
Oh and a side thought, has anybody ever just had an intercooler sticking up out of the hood like those giant double blowers on old muscle cars? new trend eh?
semi diagram-
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#3
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If your willing to cut up the hood and all, I would go with a top mount intercooler, as Mach929 suggested. I would literally copy what Subaru did, and use a scoop off of a WRX, as I think they look cool as hell. Your gonna need cool air if you want to cool the air much with a tiny intercooler.
#7
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You could do it
It might be easy
As you said it would not be the ideal situation because of airflow.
Maybe with the right ducting it would function better than no intercooler at all
There is a reason people change out OEM top mount intercoolers
My coilovers don't fit and I'm in a bad mood
Try it with a scoop and a radiator fan from a sportbike wired to run all the time
Run the piping across the back into the wiper cowl and run a cowl hood
I'm out of things to say.....
It might be easy
As you said it would not be the ideal situation because of airflow.
Maybe with the right ducting it would function better than no intercooler at all
There is a reason people change out OEM top mount intercoolers
My coilovers don't fit and I'm in a bad mood
Try it with a scoop and a radiator fan from a sportbike wired to run all the time
Run the piping across the back into the wiper cowl and run a cowl hood
I'm out of things to say.....
#11
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I think I posted about a top mount intercooler in a miata like the first week I joined this forum. Everyone said it made no sense because of heatsoak, and the expense associated with cutting up the hood. No doubt it would make running IC pipes simpler but it just wont work to well. Recently I have also realized just how little space there is under the hood. Even if you mold a hood scoop into the hood, or chop one off a subaru and glue it onto our, the intercooler probably wont have enough space underneath sitting on the engine.
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Thanks for the responses. Well that liquid to air barrel intercooler seems to be the kind of thing I was thinking about, but hot damn, those are expensive. Plus they need lots of other bits to work, making them complicated, and the opposite of what I was after. y8s, how much did that setup cost you?
I guess I need to read up some more on WI as so far that seems like the most realistic idea, that will actually work well.
The small a/a IC with a scoop sounds cool, but it would probably like people have said, not work very well, and ultimately be more of a pain in the *** then just fabricating a fmic system. I still like the idea though
I guess I need to read up some more on WI as so far that seems like the most realistic idea, that will actually work well.
The small a/a IC with a scoop sounds cool, but it would probably like people have said, not work very well, and ultimately be more of a pain in the *** then just fabricating a fmic system. I still like the idea though
#13
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IIRC last year there was a post with a white turbo miata(90?) that had a saab 900 IC in the engine compartment (mounted on Passengerside). It was very nicely done. there was a small hoodscoop as well.
http://hometown.aol.com/cujet/turbomiata2.html
http://hometown.aol.com/cujet/turbomiata2.html
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I'd only do it if I could completely block the airflow from the radiators and scavenge good ambient airflow, It also would need a hood scoop and ducting to flow the air out under the car...
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edit: But ultimately FMIC are cheaper, easier, and much more efficient. But you cant deny the awesomeness of a miata + hoodscoop.
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thier location is better, behind the radiator means the only airflow is from the hot air passing through the radiator, it will quickly become a heatsink.
the stis, since they are sealed, wont cause airflow issues for the radiator. if you simply cut a scoop, the air forced in behind the radiator could very easily make it so no air travels through the radiator itself anymore.
the stis, since they are sealed, wont cause airflow issues for the radiator. if you simply cut a scoop, the air forced in behind the radiator could very easily make it so no air travels through the radiator itself anymore.