Top Mounted Ic

[Wagondraggin]

Has any one tried a top mounted i/c ... similar to what subaru does??? a friend of mine builds intercoolers for semi trucks and said he could make what ever setup i want... i have some plans scetched out using stock hotair parts... i just don't want to re-invent the wheel... the hood would have to be modified to get air through it..maybe a fan ..? .. not a prob for me cuz my car is already ugly... it might deter the people with pretty cars .. i think i could make this work though... any thoughts??

mike

 

[mycarsucks]

I would think that they would be less effecient than a front mount. If he can make you anything. Tell him to make an affordable front mount and that he could probably make good money from both the IC and hotair cars.

 

[BuickTV6]

My 2 cents.

I would think a top mounted intercooler on our cars, especiallu hotair would be pretty ineffecient, mostly cause the turbo is on top of the motor, and the intercooler will be as well. That would tend to retain a lot of heat. It would probably end up sucking a lot of the hotair soaked into the motor right into the intake. It would be more like an interheater. So as mycarsucks said, front mount is the way to go. Just my thought

 

[HOTSIX]

3Rd vote for a front mount.

So much more space and area to route the piping.

Tell him to make a front mount prototype and he'd prolly get a few guys here to buy it.

 

[Wagondraggin]

Am i an idiot??

the amount of plumbing involved in a front mount in our cars i would think would drain the efficiency of an ic ... you would get a cooler charge but that you'd have to run a huge amount of boost to compensate for pressurizing the 250" of pluming you need. Dont beat up on me too much about this i am new to this so i may be wrong. and constructive criticism is always a good thing. one thing i thought about for this ic is making space for the addition of ice for racing.. i agree that top mount would not be as efficient as factory front mounted i think if i 'd modify the hood right i 'd still get a good bit of air through there in regular driving. since i really don't drive my car on the streets too much (if you've ever seen my car you'd know why) i really don't have to worry about the ugly factor.. i thought anything would be better than what we have... I'm just tired of losing the super 6 races to the low 11 high 10 86-87 cars. i hate to say it but i'm considering converting to the dark side...

 

[cool 84]

The amount of plumbing doesn't make a difference. I went from hotair to a FM Spearco to the huge Ford unit with 3" piping. The gains are huge and it doesn't even effect spool. The turbo puts out so much air, the volume of the piping and intercooler really doesn't matter. I'm sure the IC knocked down my spool some but it wasn't enough to notice, we're talking miliseconds here.

 

[Maroon91RS]

One word...
HEATSOAK
Definetely be better off going FMIC.There was a big discussion on a forum Im in about this whole thing.DSM owners were arguing with some WRX owners about an FMIC vs the WRX TMIC,and someone posted the math figuring out the pressure loss by putting a FMIC on a stock turboed WRX,and we also did a temperature check one night with a laser temp gun.Needless to say,the pressure loss was very negligible,and the temperature difference between the 2 was very big.I forgot the numbers,but we'll just say it was enough to justify the little amount of pressure drop introduced.

 

[TType84]

interheater

its not an intercooler anymore, read the book by corky bell. maximum boost.

i dont know what the SVO guys, nor the WRX guys (as in engineers) were thinking

there is no ****ing way an intercooler thats sitting over an engine block that is radiating 200* and higher heat.. STRAIGHT UP TO THE HOOD.. HEAT RISES AND IS TRAPPED BY THE HOOD..

that is the hottest part of the engine bay. the intercooler is going to be heating up, not cooling down, the air going through it.

dont yall remember bruce's 87 gn without an intercooler? it ran better without the stock IC, and its not even a top mount.

i would bet all WRX's would be faster without intercoolers at all..

 

[Maroon91RS]

Originally posted by TType84

i would bet all WRX's would be faster without intercoolers at all...

I really dont think that would be one of the safer bets youve made.After comparing the temps on the hotside vs. the cold side of an IC,although close,it still is a big enough difference.Astronomical heat in the intake means either huge losses in power or huge counts of knock.either way,its a lose lose situation.even the TMIC is better than nothing,even though it rest right smack above the turbo

 

[starjet]

since you say your car is ugly, try a true top mount and mount the intercooler on the roof like where those smash up derby guys mount their radiators. no engine heat will get at that sucker up there...

 

[Wagondraggin]

COOOL!!

Thats a great idea... hmmmmmm! the wheels of invention are turning....... then i could run 400lbs of boost, start calling nitrous "naaaws", put on some vinyl graphics 29 inch rims, a wing of a Kenworth truck and some bump in the trunk if ya know what i'm saying..... aww yeah!!!.. i'll run 9's for sure then.. WHACK! i just smacked some sense into my self.. whew...