justa4banger said:
Stop thinking. Go find a good tread on intercoolers and once you come back a little wiser you'll see you comment is silly at best.
Give him a break... Speedy3 has provided us with about 75% of the data/testing material on this board. (thumb)
Speedy3's question:
Will the colder charge of air from a CAI help reduce the outlet temperature from the turbo? Thus allowing for a the removal of the IC for better flow. Will this produce more power?
My answer:
Lets start with some assumptions (hypothetical)...
(A) Under the hood intake temp = 100F
(B) CAI temp draws air = 65F
Stock IC = 3psi pressure drop and is 70% effcient
At 5psi of boost:
(A) Temp = 318F Density = 1.09g/L
(B) Temp = 269F Density = 1.17g/L
Outlet temp difference = 49F
With stock IC:
(A) Temp = 141F difference from no IC = 177F
(A) Density = 1.20g/L
(B) Temp = 126F difference from no IC = 143F
(B) Density = 1.23g/L
At 10psi of boost:
(A) Temp = 357F Density = 1.31g/L
(B) Temp = 306F Density = 1.40g/L
Outlet temp difference = 51F
With stock IC:
(A) Temp = 153F difference from no IC = 204F
(A) Density = 1.53g/L
(B) Temp = 137F difference from no IC = 169F
(B) Density = 1.57g/L
At 15.6psi of boost:
(A) Temp = 398F Density = 1.53g/L
(B) Temp = 344F Density = 1.63g/L
Outlet temp difference = 54F
With stock IC:
(A) Temp = 165F difference from no IC = 233F
(A) Density = 1.89g/L
(B) Temp = 149F difference from no IC = 195F
(B) Density = 1.94g/L
Conclusion
This tells us that at 5psi, a CAI w/no IC will make 2.5% less power than a stock intake w/IC.
At 10psi, stock setup would increase its power by 9.2%.
At 15.6psi stock setup would be at a power advantage of ~16% over a non IC CAI setup.
This is all assuming that you didn't run into detonation problems, but from strictly looking at temperature, pressure loss, and compression, there is no benefit of running without an intercooler even at low boost. And when you throw in the safety margin the IC provides it just makes it that much more of an important part to have.