Kamotors E30-Turbo to ITB M20

[kamotors]

What type of intercooler you switching to?

what ever fits currently, needs to be shorter than my current one
.

May switch to water to air but not sure I even have room for that.

[TheTacoMan]

Water to air is coo, throw ice in dat reservoir on a hot day. Plus low pressure drop mmm.

[IronFreak]

Water to Air is a giant PITA.

[jalopi]

I think a water to air will do you just fine as long as you don't end up tracking the car. From what I've heard you pretty much need another car-sized radiator for a water-to-air if you wanna track it hard

[CorvallisBMW]

Which then defeats the entire purpose of water/air cooling, since you're now dealing with 2 extra rads (air/water and water/air) instead of 1 air/air IC.

[jalopi]

yep, that's why you really don't see them on track cars. for the street they're great for situations where there isn't enough space for an air/air intercooler since for street use you can get away with a very small "radiator" for the intercooler.

the only practical racing purpose i've seen them used on is on drag cars - dudes dump dry ice in the water reservoirs between runs and it seems to work pretty good for some of them

another thing that's nice about them is that you can mount the "radiator" far away from the engine if necessary

[ThatOneEuroE30]

Rear mounted radiator

[CorvallisBMW]

http://en.wikinoticia.com/entertainment/engine/54093-a-secret-bmw-v16-engine

[Coyote_ar]

my 2 cents ...

water to air is not a problem, as long as you have the proper ammount of cooling area both on the heat exchanger and the radiators.

given the same cooling area, water to air is able to keep a more stable intake air temp, since a sudden increase in the heat imput wont cause a thermal spike. there is WAY more more mass to soak up the heat, than in an alu intercooler. specially useful if you dont have good air flow at the time.

the big problem with water to air intercoolers, is when the radiator for the water circuit is too small. that causes the heat soak, you put more heat into the circuit than what you can dissipate, and that increases the temp for the water. plus of course, there is an increase in complexity and weight, that a air to air doesnt have.

i'd say a water to air intercooler would be a nice idea, if you have very little space in the front or engine compartment, and you are willing to run the whole water circuit from the back of the car. then in that case a water to air would be really nice, and you are only adding the heat exchanger and 2 hoses in the engine compartment.

tbh the main reason you dont see them in track cars ... is weight, not efficiency. in a race car, the 10-20kg that the water to air intercooler weights (considering radiators, heat exchanger, reservoir, pump and all the refrigerant), is a lot of weight. and since race cars are rarely standing still, there is no point on having a thermal buffer like the one provided by a water to air circuit.
as mentioned before, sometimes you see them on drag cars, cause in that situation. you have no air flow and a sudden increase in heat imput. exactly the 2 conditions where a water to air intercooler excels at.

a street car, its usually more like a drag car than a race car. so i that situation the water to air makes sense.

[slammin.e28]

Laminova cores can handle the pressure of the AC system......

Jussayin'.

[AWDBOB]

Me thinks the CX Racing and Treadstone stuff is meh. I think you should get a Garrett core suitable to your needs and make some end tanks. Would be more efficient IMO.

Plus every e30 guy would eat that up for you to sell with your kits.

[ak-]

Me thinks the CX Racing and Treadstone stuff is meh. I think you should get a Garrett core suitable to your needs and make some end tanks. Would be more efficient IMO.

Plus every e30 guy would eat that up for you to sell with your kits.

There's a few CXracing/eBay coolers vs. Treadstone cooler dyno's recorded on forums that prove Treadstone's IAT's don't raise after multiple pulls. And these are just regular dudes, not endorsers or sponsored people.

[AWDBOB]

There's a few CXracing/eBay coolers vs. Treadstone cooler dyno's recorded on forums that prove Treadstone's IAT's don't raise after multiple pulls. And these are just regular dudes, not endorsers or sponsored people.

You're definitely right about Treadstone being better than CXRacing

The difference is in the fin density, and Garrett will blow 'em all away. I'm not saying this to bash Kam, just want to see him use the best core for his money.

Pics do all the talking. CX Racing vs Treadstone



Now compare that to these two cores.

This is a bell (top) vs Garrett (bottom). The fin density on the Garrett core speaks for itself.

[kamotors]

So here is what I went with lol, after many hours measuring pipe lengths, diameter and bends I discovered my current routing is not only shortest piping, besides reverse tb, But other routing means I can't fit my 3"charge pipes. So I bought some new couplers,sprayed the cooler black (for cosmetics) and slapped it on with it now being .75" further forward, and radiator is now within .5" if motor.


For those wondering about iat.

All my m20 setups will run within 15degrees of ambient for many pulls. My m30 setup runs BELOW ambient upon the onset of 1200cc worth of meth being injected, I can do a pull from first gear to tached out 5th gear and not get heat soak, and I can do that ALL day. When I pop the hood its the moist air you feel coming off the charge pipes that are ice cold, not like most cars. People need to realize this car utilizes lots of meth, my plan was to go smaller as my cooling is already excellent, but ive decided to hack up the upper valance instead. Now pics

[ThatOneEuroE30]

Pic of valance on?