more intercooler power

[GTR-34]

How about Nitrous Oxide injection through the intercooler?...We had it installed on our car, attracted to much attention (copz) and didnt see the benefits of it so we just uninstalled it...

[Busky2k]

I reckon a IC spray would be useful to help it loose heat quicker. For example when Im crusing with the team and giving it a good old squirt here and there, i want the IC to cool down as quick as possible between WOT squirts. Once intercoolers are heat soaked (and it doesnt take long on a stock one), it does take a coupla minutes for them to cool down again. And on cruises, im nailing it like every 30 secs haha. So i think in these situations a IC sprayer would be useful, but not in a situtation where youre trying to reduce intake temps while on boost with it on...

[Clint32]

While not being overlly efective it cant hurt to give it a spray every few mins.

In 32s they have a hose from the washer bottle for the rear window, seeing i removed the rear wiper im going to use that to spray the intercooler, just push the button when on a streight run. Everything is allready there and mounted just need to position the hose.

[Guest RedLineGTR]

yep it should work fine...see if u can get a better squirter since the stock one dosent really do it so misty..but it still would aid the heat.

[Sydneykid]

Hi guys, freezing spray has been tried many times, it doesn't do squat. As soon as you spray it on the outside of the cooler it freezes the humid air and then there is no spray getting inside where the majority of the fining is. This also stops the ambient air getting through the cooler. Worst of all, have a look at the volume on the can, it would take 6 cans to do the surface area of a standard GTR intercooler once.

There has been plenty written about this, Autospeed did an long article on it some time ago, try searching their archives, I think its a free story.

[OVL-747]

it isnt worth the hassle really , pending where the water tank is mounted , often its hidden down by the engine , thus heating the water considerably , turboluke , off calaisturbo forums , has done it to his , he has temp probes here and there , measuring cooler core temp amongst others , difference is minimal , and unless u set it up right ,and the car is a race car/track car its a waste of time.

[Majanal]

I have been doing a test over the last few weeks... on the hot days anyway, and have come up with what I think are some interesting results.

The test is quite simple... I have a spray bottle that I keep in the car that is filled with water... before I start (or when I stop and am getting out of my car anyway) my trip on a hot day I spray some water on the front of my FMIC. So far I not had to refill the 500ml spray bottle and I would guess that I have been doing this now for about 2 1/2 to 3 weeks.

The results, When running with Air con on before I started my test the water temp would sit between 84 - 86 degrees , now it sits between 76 - 78 degrees (mostly at 76). Without air con the benifits seen are a little less. Normal running temp is 78-81 degrees, with the water sprayed on the cooler the temp sits between 73 - 75ish degrees. These temps were taken from an Apexi Hand controller. The problem I am facing is that after about 15mins (half an hour ish from cold start) the temps start to rise again.

So, what I want to know is how to install a water spray so that I can every 15mins or so give the cooler a little squirt and cool everything back down again.

Might mean that once a week when I check oil etc I have to fill my water spray bottle... but how hard can that be.

Has anyone installed one of these FMIC water sprays and if so how did you do it?

[sewid]

The temperature of water in the washer bottle is quite high since its sitting in the engine bay. You would need to mount the resevoir inside the cabin or something to make it worthwhile.

[Majanal]

Yes but would the water not cool quickly when traveling at even 60kms? Where I'm coming from is if you are in the wind and you pour water over your arm then that part of you cools quickly even if the water is warm. would this not have the same effect on the IC?

[The Mafia]

good point. I agree

[Sydneykid]

Put some metho in the water, the alchohol makes it cool faster and lower.

[Duncan]

but don't let Pete know there's alcohol in ur car...

[Busky2k]

Well that would work, but I dont see the point of pouring water thats 60C onto an intercooler thats 30C at all. You guys can work that out....

[GTRman1992]

1. Using the AirCon.

The air con does not create enough air to be of any value to the cooling of the charge. Think about how much air the engine consumes, 2.5litre at 8000RPM. Then think how much air comes out of the vents in the cabin. Also how will you stop the pressure from the turbo from blowing down the air con pipe as it is not pressurised.

2. Water Methanol (W/M) Injection.

This is totally different to intercooler sprayers. W/M is sprayed into the hot air charge to cool down the compressed air. Sometimes it it sprayed in front of the turbo as this is easier to control but slowly destroys the compressor wheel. W/M is of huge value, on my last car (Starion) I had it fitted and gained 50Hp at the wheels. Although given the different design of the intake plenum chambers a simple W/M spray will not work. As the plenum is side mounted to the intake runners, the heavy (even a micro mist) water will travel down to the end pistons easier than making a sharp right turn into piston no 1. So piston 1 starves and piston 6 drowns. This is why I am currently designing a direct port 3D mapped W/M system for my GTR.

3. Intercooler Water Sprays.

These are of little value to a car that is being driven hard, such as circuit racing or hammering through your favorite mountain range, as the Intercooler already has a huge air flow through it. If you are traffic light racing or doing something like a motorkahana or even drag racing, they are of value because of the heat sink effect discussed above. If the core is sitting still it will heat up and not cool the charge of the off-the-line blast until the air flow has started to cool it down.

That's my 2 cents.

[Sydneykid]

Hi GTRman1992, you posted "These are of little value to a car that is being driven hard, such as circuit racing or hammering through your favorite mountain range"

If that is so how come our Evo 6 Group N rally car comes with an intercooler water spray standard? And one of the power up, Ralliart, homologated parts is an even larger intercooler water spray.

For Busky2k, the reality is, air blowing across water, cools down the object the water is sitting on and it dosn't matter how hot the water is to start with. The concept is not one of using cold water to instantly cool the intercooler, it is to improve the heat shedding of the intercooler over a short space of time.

Simple test, lick a spot on your arm. Your saliva is the same temperature as your arm, it comes from inside your body so it basically is at body temperature. Now blow some air over your arm. Keep in mind the air is the same temperature as your arm, it also comes from inside your body so it also has body temperature. It feels cooler in the wet spot than the dry area around it. But the water (saliva) and air are the same temperature as the arm.

This is exactly the theory (and practise) of an intercooler water spray. If you want to check the metho theory, do the same test but wipe a bit of metho on your arm. Being alchohol it gives up the temperature faster ie; cooler arm.

Hope that helps

[Merli]

The temperature of water in the washer bottle is quite high since its sitting in the engine bay. You would need to mount the resevoir inside the cabin or something to make it worthwhile.

Yeah, it's actually the EVAPORATION process that cools down the intercooler (and hence the air going through it), not the starting temperature of the water...

So it wouldn't matter how hot the water was that was being sprayed onto the intercooler. As that's not the reason the intercooler is being cooled down.

[owned]

please dont forget that water is totally incompressable so if u inject too much water from someone doing a cheap-yet-dodgy installation, somethings gonna go ping and wallet goes light. Good way of bending rods i hear.

[GTRman1992]

Hi Sydney Kid, You will find that over the years factories have fitted all sorts of equipment to cars that is no longer in use. I would not use that as a concrete point.

Also as I said, cars that are being driven hard do not require it because of the huge air flow. The main market of EVO's and STI's are traffic light racers, those are the guys with heat soak to reduce. The Rally cars have them fitted to gain every poof-teinth of advantage, such as between stages where heat soak may effect them.

Another thing to consider is that on race tracks you are not allowed to drop fluid, so they cannot be used.

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To Owned. You are correct with what you are saying for in-engine water injection or W/M injection as discussed above. For intercooler sprayers, it doesn't really matter on the volume of water, if you consider a Water to Air intercooler it is just an intercooler core submerged in a tank of water.

[rev210]

the next best thing is alchohol/water injection as someone else has mentioned this is excellent for high boost applications. The best alchohol is isopropyl by the looks.

[GTRman1992]

Are you sure, I thought it was Methanol. Everything I have read says best is 50/50 water/methanol. But has to be at the right mix. That's why I'm building the direct port injection controller for my W/M system (see above).