MP5

Im changing my motor setup and I am in the air as to whether go with an air to water intercooler setup, or go with a bigger air to air setup. Opinions are welcome with some sort of reason as to why you think I should go one way or the other. Thank you ahead of time.

Fobby

air to water because i like water

Fabrik8

Air to air is easier to make efficient and usually way cheaper. You can get a lot of bang for your buck with a front mount air/air setup and there's no maintanance and nothing to fail really. You add more weight, complexity, and cost with an air/water setup, and there are more things to fail. That's not to say there aren't some good reasons to have an air/water setup, but for street cars it's a hard thing to justify. You have to have a radiator, charge cooler, header tank, pump, coolant lines, charge tubing, etc. instead of just the intercooler and charge piping for something like a front mount air/air.
It really depends on the setup and the car, but I'd find it hard to lean on the side of the air/water for most situations. It's just really hard to beat an air/air for efficiency most of the time..
That being said, I'm going to replace my top mount WRX intercooler with a air/water unit this summer if I can scrape the money together. Why? I like to fabricate stuff.. If I were sane I'd just buy a bigger top mount or front mount like the rest of the world.

So to answer your question, my opinion would be a bigger air to air setup..

blah

Is it for your hatch? And do you even drive it on the street anymore or is it just a drag car?

Wanna fab me up a c/f roof?




Dead serious.

MP5

I already have an air to air setup, and one of the reasons i dont want to go with a bigger air to air is because i dont want to do away with my fog lights. I was also under the assumption that all i would really need is a heat exchanger like an oil cooler, water pump, fuel cell or some tank to hold water, coolant lines, and then i could convert my existing Intercooler piping to work with the air to water intercooler. And in the end i figured it would only be a tad bit more than a nice air to air intercooler.

Yes this is for my hatch, and i still plan on driving it on the street, but i might slack down on how much i drive it. Then again knowing myself i probably wouldnt drive it any less lol

I also know that air to water is not really good for driving on the street because the water heats up. I figured if i had a decent heat exchanger and a nice size resevoir to hold more water that i wouldnt have that problem. I mean Josh MR2 2NR didnt have a problem and the superchargers for s2ks have air to water intercooler setups. The only downside im seeing is having a water tank somewhere. But thats also why i made this thread to see if there is more to it that i do not know about.

Fabrik8

You'll need more than an oil cooler, a small radiator is really better. Oil coolers are meant for thicker liquids; they don't have the same thermal efficiency with water because the passages are bigger and the water goes right through without giving up its heat.

The air/water intercooler itself is fairly $$, I've never figured out why though.

litlespic

I always vote Air to Water if you are running hot air. Yeah air to air is easy and can be dirt cheap, but air to water isnt as "$$" as most thing. You can place the core anywhere you want vs in the front of the vehicle or an area of cool air flow- much less charge pipe to worry about. Its a million times easier to run 1" water lines threw an engine bay than it is to run bent metal 2-3" pipe. You can cool a charge much better with air to water due to the ease of iceing a reservoir.

All in all it just depends on budget, and what type of parts you are looking for. Yeah a bling water to air is going to be $$ but you could make one for cheaper than your off the shelf greedy/hks/etc. front mount kit.

Consider this one vote water to air, not to say I dont think air to air is efficent or smart, both have alot to say for themselves..

UNCLEBENZ

Stock air to water unit from 03 Cobra....interested?

litlespic

How much for the heat exchanger?

I heard you lectured Cassie at the cedar location.

EEK

air to water i always thought of it being good for high HP drag cars or supercharged cars...you can just do AIR to AIR with the water spray or spray juice into the fmic