RE: Home made intercooler

["Livolsi, Stephane" <livols1@investorsgroup.com>]

I was also thinking about the intercooler on my car and how to improve
upon it, especially now that temps have turned cooler and you can feel
the additional power from the colder air.  One thing I was thinking
about was integrating the IC with the air conditioning.  Again, you
wouldn't need it in the winter but in the summer, when you have the a/c
on anyway, what if the cold air was routed through the intercooler
(somehow) before going through the vents in the passenger compartment?
Maybe the cooled air would pick up too much heat from the IC, but maybe
not.  Also, the additional burden on the engine may overcome any hp
gains from having colder intake air but I have read that even a small
drop in intake air temp will result in significant power increase.  If
you are going to go to the trouble of manufacturing your own IC, you may
want to consider this.
I keep running through it and it seems that it should work.  This is the
way I see it:

1. You can get more power by burning more gas.

OR

2. You can burn more gas but use the additional power to run the a/c,
which cools the intake air, resulting in a denser charge in the
combustion chamber resulting in more power out of the engine.

The big question of course is will the colder air give more power than
just burning the gas?  I don't know!  Any ideas? 

Oh, BTW Yes, I am from earth, but sometimes I think out loud....

Stephane Livolsi
180 Yorston St
Williams Lake, BC, V2G 3Z1
ph 250-392-2637
fax 250-392-2693

'86 5KTQ stock (if you don't know what it means, you aren't in the club)

>----------
>From: 	Sachelle Babbar[SMTP:sbabbar@iris.nyit.edu]
>Sent: 	December 6, 1999 11:07 AM
>To: 	quattrolist
>Subject: 	Home made intercooler
>
>An idea hit me this morning about my ic. The Audi units (double pass)
>aren't very efficient and structurally weak.
>
>1. Has anyone found another vehicle with an intercooler that can
>physically fit the type44 turbo? This is plumbing aside. Price?
>
>2. In normal boost and additional boosted vehicles, what tends to be the
>highest pressure spike at the throttle plate? This is without a bypass
>valve, of course.
>
>3. CFM flow and air velocity at boost? This is probably a question that
>may go unanswered, but it's not totally necessary, anyhow.
>
>The idea is to replace my L&R matrix-type intercooler with a homemade
>copper tubular type. I do have decent physics and chemistry knowledge to
>be able to account for tubing sizes and the number for surface area
>purposes and to reduce the stagnant air that may appear in the "core".
>Copper will be use due to its high level of thermal transfer,
>availability, price, and ease of assembly. 
>
>I still have to design the thing, but I have a fairly specific idea of
>what materials, size, configurations. It'll be tubular; won't be a
>rectangle matrix. All parts, including fins will be sourced from the
>plumbing industry. Basically, it'll be the inlet pipe being divided into
>smaller copper tubes that converge back into the outlet pipe. I guess the
>closest thing in appearance would be a home hotwater radiator with larger
>diameter inlet and outlet pipes.
>
>I'm still divided on the configuration; single pass or double pass. Double
>seems to be the way thus far due to the ease of plumbing and space
>restrictions. A third outlet for the overrun valve (boost bypass) will be
>included. An oil trap and drain may be included, based on what I find at
>the bottom of an old ic. Sludge, no go, liquid oil-large amt, maybe.
>Additionally, I'll add some pneumatic ports for testing and various
>cockpit valves that I have planned.
>
>The interior will see som "aerodynamic treatment" to aid flow.
>
>Testing: for winter, the cooler air has a higher colorie capacity and most
>anything will work. The real test would be in warmer seasons. At the
>least, I feel airflow would be improved quite a bit through this design.
>Reliability would see a boost due to stronger construction.
>
>I'll see about starting this project next week. Right now, I'm gonna put
>the design on paper.
>
>*****************************************************************************
>**
>*Steve                                             Sachelle Babbar
>*'87  5000CS Turbo 5spd 1.3-2.0 bar             <SBABBAR@IRIS.NYIT.EDU>
>*Cockpit adjustable wastegate, AudiSport badge
>*
>*Disclaimer:"Any information contained herein is based purely on my own
>*personal experience and may not necessarily reflect yours. Use caution as
>*your results may vary from mine."
>*****************************************************************************
>***
>                                                                             
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