Hey guys, just had a quick question regarding intercoolers. No, I'm not planning on trying to install one on my 2.8, I was just curious if it is possible to run one with a naturally aspirated engine. Part of my logic thinks that there would be no problem doing so, but part of me also thinks that without the extra pressure from the turbo that the air would be severely restricted getting to the engine and would thus be a very inefficient addition to a NA motor. Though perhaps I'm wrong and the vacuum created by the motor would be enough to suck the air through the IC bars without much issue, but that's why I'm asking you guys who have more knowledge about the mechanics of air flow through an IC than I do

 

compressing air forces the molecules closer together, they have less room to move around and bounce off each other more, expending some energy to slow down to their new state. that energy is in the form of heat. the intercooler removes the heat generated by compressing air, and also some of the heat radiated by the turbo.

an intercooler is as efficient as the difference (delta) between the charge air and the outside air. as the difference increases, either from the outside air getting cooler or the charge air being hotter, the more heat energy the intercooler is able to remove from the charge air.

on a NA car, the intake air is already as cold as the outside air is. there would be almost zero heat transfer and all the intercooler would do is create some restriction.

 

Pretty much what he said...

 

Right, that's what I thought too. Like I said, I'm not trying to use one on a naturally aspirated engine for any form of a performance gain, I just wasn't sure exactly HOW restrictive it would be in the event that there happened to be one on a NA engine.

Would the air still move through there enough to run the engine at almost normal efficiency (<10% difference between straight pipe vs. run through IC) or would it decrease the flow significantly enough that the efficiency of a straight pipe to the intake would be greater than that of a pipe routed through an IC by more than 10%? IE if the engine puts out say 250 chp with a straight pipe to the intake, would running the air through an IC produce less than 225 chp purely because the air is more restricted?

 

And, yes... its harder to pull through the intercoolers (about 2 psi restriction) and thus lose power.

 

14.7 psi = 100% power, then 12.7 psi would = 86% power. So ~12-15% loss in power depending on the efficiency of the intercooler.

 

the drop depends on the specific intercooler used, how it was constructed, and the air volume and pressure being pushed thru it.

the whole point is moot though because there isnt any reason to use one on a N/A car. unless you have IATs that are significantly higher then ambient temperatures, all an intercooler would do is restrict flow. any flow restriction would be greater then if you had no intercooler at all, so puting an intercooler on a car when it isnt needed would only decrease performance. the benefits of an intercooler only come from its reduction in IATs.

 

Gotcha. Thanks guys, answered exactly what I was looking for