Intercoolers: How big is too big?

[MrGTST]

Hiya,

I am looking into getting a FMIC for my R33 .... My car is stock barring full exhaust and air pod. I want to get the largest intercooler possible without going past the point of sacrificing performance....

I am looking at the two differnet types of HKS coolers.... One is 600x300x65 and the other is 600x300x100 ....

Can I run the larger of the two coolers without making my car more sluggish ( bearing in mind my next step is an AVC-R with boost increase ) or should I settle for the smaller of the two??

I don't want to have to swap if out later on because its not doing a good enough job but I also am not chasing a huge amount of horsepower...

Advice/Opinions welcome???

[GTS-t VSPEC]

I think that the 65mm cooler will be fine, you need to be producing over 450hp before this will be any sort of restriction, save your money by buying the 65mm and get the AVC-R aswell.

See'ya:burnout:

[Jay95R33]

I've got a 700x300x76 and found no increase in lag from a stock one.

Saying that, I think a 100mm thick core is a bit of an overkill.

60mm to 100mm thick core is a increase of 40% in volume (is that right ?? )

Go with the 60mm and save your $$$ for the AVC-R.

J

[Kichigai]

I've got a custom 700X350X75 and you can feel its adds a little lag on the standard boost. All you need to do is up the boost and you should be fine.

I only got this FMIC as it was selling cheap and I knew it had a good core, otherwise I would have gotten something a little smaller.

Best thing is to have a power goal and have a plan to get the right parts.

Just my 2 cents....

[Hicks]

Don't construct one from a truck intercooler.

[benm]

hahah at BK last Saturday with the Westside boys there was a commonwhore that had a truck intercooler. This thing was the biggest intercooler ive ever seen on my life. You could disconnect it while at the beach and use it as a surf board it was just massive.

He seemed to be getting quite abit of attention, i dont know if it was coz people thought it was fully sic or they just thought he was a knob hah.

I have no idea what size mine is but i know its large enuff (and not aligned in the middle properly arggh)

[rev210]

stock turbo?

Going circuit racing regularly?

If the answers are 'yes' and 'no' save your coin for something else, the stock cooler is fine.

If you must have a cooler for no other reason than everyone else has one, then get a small one that flows very slightly more than your peak power goal, with some efficiency.

If you want accelleration there are other things you can do.

[MrGTST]

Hmmm thanks guys for your responses..... I think I will end up going for the smaller ( thinner ) of the two..... I wouldnt feel comfortable boosting to 12 psi on a stock cooler....

Thanks

[MrGTST]

Hmmm and rev210..... what would you suggest for a bit more go??? I am assuming you are talking about the more basic/cheaper mods before you go cooler and such?

[Guest INASNT]

i got 600 x 300 x 76 cooler on my car and there is no noticeable extra lag, works great!

Rev your car is just a freak man, u r keeping sumthing from us

[rev210]

Originally posted by INASNT

Rev your car is just a freak man, u r keeping sumthing from us

yeah, my stash man:cool: