eBay Intercooler Test

[GsT Racer]

can you just buy the core? if i upgrade the intercooler i might have to get this one.

https://secure.buschurracing.com/cat...14d1a7a9c7024c
i think its about the same, except a half inch shorter

[Alpha]

That isnt a bad price, not saying its a great price, considering it's on their web-site. I'm sure they have lower prices through the forums, etc. It's also a kit. Intercooler core, end tanks, piping, good couplers (look like three ply) and t-bolt clamps

[BOX SENTRA]

when i start getting knock ill switch to that. right now the greddy 18r and meth are working out fine.

[Alpha]

Meth is a different story. You know better than most meth drops your intake temps quite a bit. As long as the pump is working

[GsT Racer]

i actually hate the 18r. it was on the car when i bought it, and the piping is so crazy. im getting short-route asap

[BOX SENTRA]

Meth is a different story. You know better than most meth drops your intake temps quite a bit. As long as the pump is working

thats very true....the meth system isnt as reliable as i would like, but i have enough failsafes setup where im pretty safe.

[slowy]

so, he lost 10hp with a huge ass turbo. i bought the ebay 'ssautochrome' fmic. under $300 shipped.
NOBODY EXPECTS something that is a 3rd of the price to perform the same
(does a honda civic perform as well as a 5 series bmw stock for stock? no)

i dont think i'll ever be over 400, hell i doubt i'll ever get close. his turbo is creating a LOT of power and heat, smaller turbo's would not.

and he says "it has no mounts and that it doesnt fit with their piping.
if he's referring to the ssautochrome fmic, it has mounts. see below


and as far as it not fitting with their piping, why would it need to? it comes with piping?

but my main question is, is it the SSautochrome fmic he's referring to?? becuase he never really says, just refers to the fmic as "the big ebay fmic"

all in all i guess it all depends on what you want your car for, i drive mine every day, barely ever get on it enough to get over 15psi on my dinky 16g, i think saving $500+ was my better option

[Alpha]

An eBay intercooler is an eBay intercooler is an eBay intercooler. They all use the same Chinese manufactured core. If I still had the company's name, web-site, etc. I would post up where to get these for less than $150.00. Geoff from Full-Race showed me at one time. A stock ecu based car would have been better for this test. Why? It would adjust ignition timing and fuel based upon the higher intake temperatures ... And it would have higher intake temperatures. Like you said though. If you're not looking for 300whp - 350+whp it isnt the end of the world. Everyone has a budget but some people want everything as cheap as can possibly be

[lancerman]

Cliff note to that test.
davids core 24x12x3.75=1350sq/in
e-bay core in test 20x12x3.5=840sq/in
intercoolers are heat sinks=they quickly absorb heat on a pull then slowly ambient air takes it back off. Of course a larger core is going to perform better=dave FTL
Only 10 whp was lost on e-bay core and there was no tweaking of timing to try and recover lost hp from added intake temp=dave FTL
Dyno airflow doent even start to immitate onroad airflow=dave FTL
e-bay core did flow better adding 2 pounds of boost without touching boost controller. with meth or water injection a 150$ e-bay core would likely outperform the 750$ burshur core.

A real e-bay intercooler test should have been a back to back with the AMS street core and the e-bay core that copies it. END OF DISCUSSION

[lancerman]

An eBay intercooler is an eBay intercooler is an eBay intercooler. They all use the same Chinese manufactured core. If I still had the company's name, web-site, etc. I would post up where to get these for less than $150.00. Geoff from Full-Race showed me at one time. A stock ecu based car would have been better for this test. Why? It would adjust ignition timing and fuel based upon the higher intake temperatures ... And it would have higher intake temperatures. Like you said though. If you're not looking for 300whp - 350+whp it isnt the end of the world. Everyone has a budget but some people want everything as cheap as can possibly be

you would be surprised at how many venders are using ebay cores with their endtanks and calling them their intercoolers.

[lancerman]

The power on my particular car even with the Ebay stuff on it is decent. BUT, if you tried to run this intercooler on ANY OTHER vehicle with air temp correction the results would be a lot less favorable in the HP department. The factory ECU would kill the car with fuel and timing adjustments as would any other car that had corrections for air temp turned on.

Oh really dave? I thought the factory car measured Intake temp at the MAF? Must be some pretty smart ecus to know what temp is after intercooler.

[Figs]

Hahaha Jerry FTW!

I don't think this test is valid due to the conditions and variations between sizes of the core and what not. That's like saying coco puffs are better then chocolate rice crispies.

If they are going to do a test both cores need to be the same size and the conditions need to be the same... same air temps, same running temps and what not.

Some of these namebrand intercoolers are overkills on people who are running stock turbo's or as close to them. Some you do loose power with, some you see a 1-2 psi drop and so fourth.

I don't know why people try to prove points without posting exact variations. There's plenty of people out there with ebay intercoolers in the 400-500whp range. So even so they are doing their job, might not be as good as one that cost $800 but there hasn't been complaints on the ebay intercoolers. Maybe the turbo's, some bov's, etc... but intercoolers I've yet to see any devasting effects.

[Scandelous]

Lancerman = Rep'd

[Alpha]

Take the comparison for what it's worth to you. I appreciate people taking time out of their days to do a comparison. There is ALWAYS going to be some discrepancies in ANY comparison. If someone on here wants to step up and do a comparison of their own. I'm all for it. Hell. I would even be willing to help. Until then ... ... ...

[David Buschur]

Below is a quote from above. I need to correct this guy, are you related to 94awdcoupe over on EVOm by any chance? You sound like you are as intelligent at he is! (that is not a compliment btw) My responses are marked with **

Cliff note to that test.
davids core 24x12x3.75=1350sq/in
e-bay core in test 20x12x3.5=840sq/in
intercoolers are heat sinks=they quickly absorb heat on a pull then slowly ambient air takes it back off. Of course a larger core is going to perform better=dave FTL

**No kidding, why is that a "loss". The idea is to test the parts, proof is in performance and numbers, so it is proof that a larger core in this case worked better. That's PROOF, not a "FTL"

Only 10 whp was lost on e-bay core and there was no tweaking of timing to try and recover lost hp from added intake temp=dave FTL
Dyno airflow doent even start to immitate onroad airflow=dave FTL
e-bay core did flow better adding 2 pounds of boost without touching boost controller. with meth or water injection a 150$ e-bay core would likely outperform the 750$ burshur core.

**Tweaking of timing. That is an interesting idea. So you would suggest "tweaking" the timing on a car that just had a huge gain in intake air temps and an increase in knock counts? Very interesting. Please, do NOT TUNE ANYONES CAR!!!! The fans we have on our dyno produce 48 mph winds at the face of core, would you like to see a video for the proof? The test was equal in every way, the ebay was outperformed in an equal test. Comparing one intercooler to another by adding meth/water injection is stupid. Why don't you just say, "Well if I buy all junk for my car and then spray a 200 shot of nitrous I can beat a car without nitrous." Same stupid comparison.

A real e-bay intercooler test should have been a back to back with the AMS street core and the e-bay core that copies it. END OF DISCUSSION

**I don't have an AMS intercooler, why don't you have them do that test? Or better yet YOU should perform some testing. Maybe you and 94awdcoupe can get together over on EVOm and do it. Hell he's been talking about it for a year now and hasn't done crap, maybe you could team up with him.

**Also a few posts up from this one you went back and mentioned my comment about the AIT's and the factory ECU, you are correct about that, the factory ECU does pull AIT's from the MAF, I must have been typing too fast when I made that statement. BUT, it is pointless, as no matter where it is measured the power losses would have been severe with a MAF equipped car or speed density with that much intake air temp increase, the knock count increased and had I used any safety measures during this testing the power would have fallen considerably. I tried to keep the HP number comparison as fair as possible and turned off all corrections and knock control.

It's odd to me that I get critique'd from guys that are so much slower and have done so little. Not sure if I need to remind you or not but I've been doing just 4g63's for 19 years, we were the first to break the 12, 11, 10, 9, 8 and 7 second barriers with that engine and the first EVO8 in the 8's. I'd think when I posted information that it wouldn't be so hard to believe with my track record.

David Buschur