what are some of the benifits of running air/to water intercooler vs a air to air intercooler ? i know water is better at transfering heat and the air has a shorter route to the engine so there is less pressure drop.and there smaller so its easier to mount them but i also heard they suffer from mechanical issues often? is this ture? but then on the same note and air to air intercooler. theres no water lines to worry about but there is the issue of mounting and the issue of how long the air has to travel before it reaches the motor thus more pressure drop and the sht load of pipeing to figure out ? the reason why i ask is i know mysaab turbo is are oil and water cooled so would an air to water intercooler make a big diffrence vs a air to air ?

 

1. Search. I have read threads that sounded exactly like this one, minus the saab thing.

2. Search. Google is your friend. We have a little toolbar for your searching needs right at the top of the page, on every page.

3. Search. Air to water set ups are more expensive and more complicated than air to air, if there are more parts there are more parts to break.

4. ??????

5. Profit.

 

Air to water setups can be cheap if you build your own. You could probably find a cheap one on ebay, and buy a water pump at like walmart, then pick up some tubing and hoses from the parts store and custom rig it. I've seen a few done and they work.

With Air to water setups there is definitely more to diagnose should something go wrong, but if you built it yourself it shouldn't be a problem

 

Air-to-water setup needs:
- intercooler
- intercooler piping
- water lines
- water pump (electric)
- water cooler (small radiator)

Air-to-air needs:
- intercooler
- intercooler piping


Personally, I think the only really advantage to an Air-to-water setup is the ability to dump a bunch of ice in the intercooler at the drag strip. Otherwise, the air-to-air gets my vote.

 

thats what it is looking like the only thing is what about pressure drop? i know some of the higher end intercoolers are supposed to be setup so it isn't really a problem but its still a long way for the pressurized air to travel before it hits the engine correct me if im wrong though?

 

It's negligible unless you get a huge intercooler and huge piping.

 

A top-mount or v-mount will have much shorter piping(less pressure drop) and can easily be cooled down with ice(I dont think it lasts long though). But that would take alot of work and fabrication compared to just cutting a bumper and making a bracket to fit a front-mount. I think subaru used water sprayers on some of they're intercoolers, also theres kits available that spray co2 or n2o in front of the intercooler and (supposedly) cools it down quite a bit. Hope that helps.

 

The only real advantage I see air to water having over air to air is the power consistency they can provide compared to air to air. Not to mention you can get well over 100% efficiency from an air to water IC.