Just Cool It: Nitrous Express’ N-Tercooler Ring System

By Richard Holdener October 09, 2019Almost by definition, intercooling is, well, cool. Before we can get to the cooling part, we need to first understand why things get hot. It matters little that the boost in question comes from a supercharger or turbocharger, as the effect is the same. The compression of the air we see as boost has a negative effect on the temperature of the air. One of the unfortunate laws of physics dictates that compression causes heat, and when we build boost in the intake manifold with any type of forced induction, we heat the air. The higher the boost pressure, the greater the increase in temperature. The heat causes both a reduction in power, from the diminished number of oxygen molecules per volume, while simultaneously increasing the chance of harmful detonation; the proverbial double whammy. Not surprisingly, cooling the charge air from the turbo or supercharger has become commonplace. Charge cooling or intercooling is simply running the elevated charge air through some type of heat exchanger. Cooling the air improves power while diminishing the likelihood of detonation.

Photos By: Richard Holdener

The NX ring puts the cooler in intercooler!


Charge cooling is nothing new to LS owners; in fact, it is usually an integral part of most turbo or blower build-ups. We purposely used the phrase charge cooling, as opposed to intercooling, since there are additional forms of cooling beside the usual heat exchanger. Things like fuel cooling from a blow-through, usually a carbureted application, water/meth injection and even alcohol-based fuel like E85, have all been used successfully to reduce the all-important inlet air temperatures. Of course, the two most common forms of charge cooling are the air-to-air (ATA) and air-to-water (ATW) intercoolers. Both systems work well, but do have specific design applications. For maximum cooling on high-boost, short-duration racing, we give the nod to running ice water in an ATW system. For extended durations under boost, with plenty of air flow, the ATA works well. For our test, we decided to further enhance a typical ATA system by using a secondary cooling agent, namely, nitrous oxide!