Air to Water vs FMIC Pressure Drop
#2
i cant answer that question, but i can say 100% that if i was gonna mess with my seup anymore, i would try a fmic. you just cant beat the efficiency it has when sized properly and the consistency you get. my A2W works well, but if you drive for awhile it can heat soak. the heat transfer in the cooler and the heat transfer in the exchanger takes longer then heat transfer in the fmic. just my thoughts based on a turbo hatch i had and on one side of the intercooler it was warm and on the exit side it was ice cold.
on my a2w, i never get that kinda cooling effect.
on my a2w, i never get that kinda cooling effect.
#3
I can't tell you how much I lost from one vs. the other but.....my IAT's went from 180-190 down to 100-110 when I ditched the A2W and went front mount.
I was running a Comptech kit w/ 12lb pulley and was seeing 9.5-9.75lbs of boost with the front mount (this is in Denver, so Altitude is a factor also).
Scott-
I was running a Comptech kit w/ 12lb pulley and was seeing 9.5-9.75lbs of boost with the front mount (this is in Denver, so Altitude is a factor also).
Scott-
#4
Originally Posted by camuman,Oct 16 2010, 11:44 AM
i cant answer that question, but i can say 100% that if i was gonna mess with my seup anymore, i would try a fmic. you just cant beat the efficiency it has when sized properly and the consistency you get. my A2W works well, but if you drive for awhile it can heat soak. the heat transfer in the cooler and the heat transfer in the exchanger takes longer then heat transfer in the fmic. just my thoughts based on a turbo hatch i had and on one side of the intercooler it was warm and on the exit side it was ice cold.
on my a2w, i never get that kinda cooling effect.
on my a2w, i never get that kinda cooling effect.
#5
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Thread Starter
Originally Posted by Evans Tuning,Oct 16 2010, 09:14 PM
I seen an average of 3-5 psi drop from the "rated" pulley size with an A2W intercooler.
That being said for a smaller turbo system that sees mostly street driving and the drag strip using a Air to water might yeild great results. The extra heat of compression from 5PSI is quite large.
#6
Bottom line, if your looking to get the most power from your centrifugal SC, the FMIC is out. If your looking to max out at 9-10psi and want max cooling for racing then it makes more sense. With the ult racing fmic which seems to be a very common one, 4psi loss seems to be typical. You just cant make 60-80whp up in lower AIT.
#7
Ok guys, I just went from a custom front mount IC to a comptech aftercooler +'s large upgraded heat exchanger. With the front mount boost was about 7.5 psi and the car made 347whp with the aftercooler the boost is about 8.8-9psi and maximum power was 350whp on the same dyno different days. The car had to be retuned after the switch back. So my conclusion is that they make the same power given you upgrade the heat exchanger of the water to air. Boost maybe a bit higher with water to air but the volume of air will always be the same for both setups so at 8krpm the supercharger will output the same amount of air so the power will be the same. What you get with water to air is a bit more response in the low end, what you get with front mount is that you can run more timing safely to offset the lower psi and a bit more constant intake air temps. The car was tuned by Red Star's "Pepo" so I think is a good comparison.
Run whatever is more affordable to you. For water to air I recommend "Frozen boost" they have nice affordable exchangers.
Run whatever is more affordable to you. For water to air I recommend "Frozen boost" they have nice affordable exchangers.
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#10
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I really think that if proper upgrades are done to the aftercooler system it can work really well. I dunno if anyone here ever wonders over to the Cobra forums (all my friends drive fords) but they have huge problems when it comes to heating because of the eaton aka "heaton" superchargers on them. If they can figure out how to control their IAT's I see no reason why we cant.