who uses an air to water intercooler??

[dustyperez]

hey guys im just lookin for some insight or benefit as to the air to water over air to air. I am well aware of the plumbing that goes with it and ive read all the technical details of why its awesome but i was looking for real world experience. thanks

[MaxBell]

I think the main benefit is that you can have a smaller cooler.

In general you can use www.google.com to search for most simple questions like this.

For example: http://www.enginebasics.com/Advanced...tercooler.html

[dustyperez]

Well like I said I have used google to googles extent and I was looking for some first hand experience. Like is the heat soak a pretty big problem with street driving? I mean seems like it may just bee beneficial for the strip. Thanks tho.

[Coyote_ar]

id say the main benefit is that you can have 1 or more radiators, placed in locations that wouldnt be practical for an air to air intercooler. also you can mount the main parts of the system anywhere you want, trunk for example, as long as you have a proper air flow for the radiator.
and in cases of high peak load with low air flow, you have that nice buffer.

the drawback is weight, size and complexity.

i wouldnt say heat soak is a drawback, cause heatsoak happens when the radiator on the system doesnt have the appropiate size, with the proper radiator its not a problem. even street driving shouldnt be an issue, at least no more an issue its with a pasive air to air intercooler.

i did consider making a air-water setup for my track car, but eventually got to the conclusion that the advantages do not compensate the size and weight of the system. plus the complexity of the system means there are more parts prone to failure.

i would consider using a air-water setup for a car with mid or rear mounted engine, since air flow for an air-air intercooler in those cases is not optimal. but for our cars, a FMIC is the simpler system by far.

[Jaxx_]

It can be more compact or remotely located, but more to go wrong. Think about it--if your pump fails or you lose water you suddenly can grenade your motor.

heat soak can be managed to some extent by water volume and flow rates--if you calculate how much water you need for 20 seconds you're good for at least a 1/4 mile run. In some cases you can get away with a smaller radiator than needed, such as what Coyote pointed out(high load, low airflow).

[jaywood]

I have one in the kit car I'm building. They're great and very efficient.