Intercoolers and dyno tests

[Spooler]

Hello,

I had some time to kill waiting for a flight in Lima, so I started thinking about intercoolers and dyno tests. Let say you have a stock set up, run your car and get some graphs (sounds like my car....). Then you cough out some money and install a nice FMIC. You put the car back on the dyno.....if I think this right, you shouldn't see much gain from this upgrade since there is no air with velocity to remove heat by convection. The only gain you should see is from more conduction to the still air surrounding it resulting from a larger surface area (more fins), access to colder air since it's a little further from the engine bay (minimal gain) and maybe less head loss if the design is less restrictive. I know some dynos compensate for this, but I think it is frustrating to know that you will never know how many ponnies your car really packs under the hood!!!! Any thoughts on this interesting technical topic???

Keep it spoolin'

Spooler

 

[SeR_Cyclops]

this is true, but who cares how much hp you got its the time slip from the track that counts bud!

 

[Spooler]

Couldn't agree more.....although they say on the track is 90% driver and 10% machine......but it tickles the hell out of my mind....also for benchmarking against other cars and return for your investment

 

[jeffmsp]

the aftermarket intercooler helps in a variety of ways. google intercooler and you will have your questions answered. If you are still not convinced read maximum boost by corky bell.

by doing before and after dyno runs under the same conditions on the same dyno you can see exactly how much power you gained. Odds are if you just bolt on an intercooler you arent going to get anywhere near the gains claimed by the manufacturer without properly tuning the air fuel ratio and spark timing to take advantage of the benefits associated with a larger intercooler.

 

[dEd hOm E]

I'd be worried if your dyno shop doesn't have a fan for cooling issues. The shop i go to has a 1500+ cfm blower positioned in front of the car for engine/intercooler cooling

 

[jeffmsp]

what shop doesnt have a fan for cars on the dyno?