Lizzle

What are the advantages/disadvantages between the two?

flubyux2

you mean on intracoolers?


Horizontal is not good cuz its has fewer tubes for air to go across, which means it presents more of a restriciton and flow drop as well as pressure drop. On the upside, it gives more time and surface area for the heat to transfer into the ambient air, meaning more efficient as far as heat transfer.

Vertical is good cuz for the same amount of surface area, you can have at least 3 times the amount of internal passages for the air to travel thru. This means less flow drop, less pressure drop, quicker response and possibly better heat transfer due to the extra internal passages. It depends on what type and size the core is, but i personally would go w/ a vertical/top-to-bottom flow over a similar sized horizontal/side-to-side flow... however, if cost was a factor, which it is, and the horizontal was cheaper, id buy the horizontal... cuz im a cheap bastard.

Boosting240

i agree....

Solar Specialist

I've never seen any vertical flowing I/C's I don't believe. Especially not fmic. Anyone have any links to some?

flubyux2

I want one'a deez.

i just dont like adding more heat to my intake charge than necessary. like if someone is trying to run a true 1.0 Bar, measured at the manifold, they are probly running anywhere from 1.1 to 1.3 Bar. It sucks if someone is pushing their turbo past its efficiency range and adding more heat to their intake charge than necessary just so they can run the boost taht they Want to... But, this could happen to anyone, doesnt necessarily have to be someone trying to run 1.0 Bar on any given turbo... maybe someone trying to run 1.6 Bar on a 60-1 and pump gas but actually pushing 1.8... im sure you know what im sayin, i dont have to spell it out for you.

sometimes its a matter of design and how to install it on the car... some applications are more suited to a vertical, and others like the horizontal. Like the MA71 supra w/ the 7MGTE is better suited for the Verticle, but the Silvia's are better suited w/ a horizontal. know what i mean?

PoppaSmurf

i had that same one on my car, i miss ....but it gets replaced by an HKS 4 core horizontal flow, i did love the big up/down fmic while i had it though, hmm, too bad so sad

Acidtalons

Unless overwhelming reasons dictate, the core should always be constructed to provide the greatest flow area. A vertical flow intercooler is usually going to have more flow area (more passages are better than longer ones). Also internal baffling in the end tank design is preferable to create more uniform airflow distribution through the core for better cooling.

Edit: Also making up for a less efficient intercooler design by running more boost from the turbo is just a band-aid because running the turbo harder is going to increase the temperature of your intake charge and defeat part of the gains from the intercooler.

Tom N

Who cares about pressure drop. Its a stat that only really matters on paper. Top to bottom front mounts just dont use all of the runners like a side to side does. Make a run with a top to bottom then feel all the runners only a few on the far side will be hot the rest still cool. Thats because the air isnt going through them. Now do this with a side to side and see the difference. A side to side is just better at cooling the air.

Acidtalons

Ha, giving away boost is always a great idea huh? An internal baffle will solve the problem of uneven flow.

Not saying Horizontal is bad, but vertical is gonna give you a better end result if done right. Intercooler has two purposes, 1. create a denser air charge, 2. reduce temprature to reduce chance of detonation.

There are 3 factors to consider about intercoolers
1. Heat transfer area - how big
2. Internal Flow area - how much restriction
3. Internal volume - how much air it holds / lag

1. A horizontal flow and vertical flow have the same heat transfer area.

2. Horizontal flow has poor streamlining thus large restriction and better cooling. Harder for the air to get through a horizontal flow therefor it is cooled for longer. Vertical flow has more streamlining thus less restriction which means less time in the intercooler, baffling will correct this problem.

3. Internal volume means, don't make your intercooler too big for your engine. not an issue here.

If you lose too much boost because of the intercooler restriction you are defeating the point of the intercooler cause the turbo is going to have to work harder to create the same amount of boost which is gonna make more heat.

Horizontal = more restriction = less boost at same compressor speed = turbo turning faster to compensate for poor design = less efficeny = more heat = less power.

So, the best possible solution is a Vertical flow with internal baffling, the cheaper is probably a horizontal flow. So its a cost benefit analysis. The difference may only be a couple of %, say 5 to 10%, but sometimes thats worth the extra expense