http://www.are.com.au/feat/techtalk/intecoolersMR.htm
Here are some links to a turbododge forum. Pay attention to the user "Turbominivan." He knows what he's talking about. View his website here: http://www.turbominivan.com
http://www.turbododge.com/forums/showth ... p?t=103873
http://www.turbododge.com/forums/showth ... p?t=105523
Alright i'm sick of searching everywhere for info on this cooler and that cooler. Let's PUT ALL THE INFO HERE so all you have to do is get this one thread and BAM! There's the intercooler information!! Ok i'll start.
AUDI 5000: Bar and Plate (IIRC). (referring to the smaller one, probably about 2 feet wide and a foot tall... ish) Dual-pass, poor design. Probably not a good way to go. Lots of pressure drop. Local junkyard has one for $25, and it's staying there.
DODGE TURBO II: Bar and Plate. Decent cooler when running lower boost, but when you turn up the boost there's LOTS of pressure drop (about 6 psi pressure drop at 25 psi boost!). Fairly inexpensive, but also fairly rare. [see pic at bottom of page]
FORD PROBE: Tube and Fin. Decent flow, can be good for packaging.. easy to mount on a merk, i would know. seems to work ok, we'll play around with other coolers too though. purchased the cooler, the stock BOV, and the hoses for $25. around $30-40 on Ebay. MAZDA MX-6 COOLER IS SIMILAR, BUT NOT THE SAME!!! YOU CANNOT MOUNT THE MX-6 IN THE SAME WAY AS THE PROBE! I spent over an hour removing an MX-6 cooler from the JY and found it's just a little different.
FORD RS COSWORTH: Very popular merk upgrade. Really thick core, very similar in design to the Porsche 944 cooler. Works well and relatively easy to install. Usually can be purchased for ~$100, but requires shorter radiator. IMO there are better options, but this is tried and true and people who have it are usually happy with it. Here's an install thread courtesy of jkxr4ti: Cosworth
FORD T-BIRD SC: Bar and Plate. jkxr4ti provided this:
Just got around to measuring my intake temps recently. Here are the results.
The max temps were taken on a third gear blast from 2500-5200 RPM.
Max temp before intercooler 280 deg. F
Max temp after the intercooler 140 deg F
Ambient temp 85 deg F
Boost 16PSI
The intercooler is a thunderbird supercoupe unit mounted horizontally below the radiator and crank pulley without any scoops.
Under normal cruise conditions it shows an average of 15 deg F above
ambient.
Stock T3 turbo, 3" exhaust, ported exhaust manifold, 16PSI with gillis valve.
Can be found cheap in JY, but hard to find.
FORD T-BIRD TC: Bar and Plate. good flowing core, actually not a bad way to go, especially if you don't top mount it. A bit too small though. Can often be bought for $25 or so. [see pic at bottom of page]
Isuzu NPR (small): Tube and Fin. Decent intercooler. nice for packaging, good interior and exterior flow, but expensive when you can get your hands on one. Thermal efficiency won't be as good as a good bar and plate because of the lack of good internal fins. Here are some pics of an installation, courtesy of merk23literturbo: NPR
photo by Gus Mahon
MITSUBISHI ECLIPSE 1G: I hear it's a good-flowing unit that can often be used in a similar way as the saab 900 but flows better. Usually around $50 on Ebay, maybe less in JY. [see pic at bottom of page. one of the tubes in the pic is modified, usually comes out and up from where you can see the other hole.]
MISHIMOTO INTERCOOLERS: Bar and Plate. I have one of these on my '87. Purchased brand new for $125 shipped. Fin density is, well, NOT dense, but it seems to do a great job. the one pictured is the one I have (18X12X3) but they have several different sizes. Cheap, new, pretty, and quite good. woohoo!
MITSUBISHI STARION: Tube and Fin. I hear it's a great cooler, but they're expensive (usually) and increasingly rare. I also don't think they're really all that great, but it's hard to say. there's one for sale in the classifieds. $125 for this one, but prices vary. Friend recently bought one for $65 shipped from Ebay, will post results.
Photo by... some kid in Ohio...
PACE PRODUCTS RS500: Info provided by Chris Anglin:
core type:
tube and fin
core dimensions (not including endtanks):
width: 21.5"
height: 16"
thickness: 1.5"
wetted area (w*h) = 344 in²
plate or tube dimensions:
gap between plate/tube: 0.3125" (5/16")
width of plate/tube: 0.1875" (3/16")
fin density: approximately 9 fins per inch
tubing/plumbing info: N/A
weight: 9.5 lbs
other details:
inlet and outlet tubes on IC core ar 3" OD, but the manufacturer has 2.5" OD inlet and outlets available.
PORSCHE 944: Bar and Plate. Good cooler. REALLY thick, but expensive and hard to find.
RAPIDO XR INTERCOOLER: (see page 9 for this discussion) Excellent for the not-so-do-it-yourselfer. Bolt on, decent core, and you get to keep your A/C and everything. However... expensive. Price forthcoming.
Info provided by Chris Anglin:
The Rapido IC is bar and plate and the core measures 12" wide, 7" tall and 3.5" deep. The core has 0.25" gaps between the plates and the plates are .25" wide. The external fin density is about 11 fins per inch. The core and endtank assembly (nothing else) weighs 10 lbs. The tubing from the turbo outlet elbow to inlet side of the intercooler is 33" and the tubing from the oulet side of the intercooler to the throttle body is 48" (that's 6.75 feet!!!). The tubing is 2.25" OD. The endtanks are cast.
Let me put this in a more concise format.
core type:
bar and plate
core dimensions (not including endtanks):
width: 12"
height: 7"
thickness: 3.5"
wetted area (w*h) = 84 in²
plate or tube dimensions:
gap between plate/tube: 0.25"
width of plate/tube: 0.25"
fin density: approximately 11 fins per inch
tubing/plumbing info:
inlet length: 33"
outlet length: 48"
OD: 2.25"
weight: 10 lbs
other details:
end tanks are cast
SAAB 900: Bar and Plate. Approx. 11" X 14". Also dual pass, but much better design than Audi cooler. nice for packaging since inlet and outlet pipes are on the same end, pointed in the same direction. The best 900 intercoolers were the '89 and later coolers, they had much better flow than the earlier ones. It seems to me that the major limitation in the design is the TEENY bottom tank. there's not enough room for the air to turn around and flow back through the core. The all-aluminum ones are not great because of their tiny passages.
The better-flowing later ones will go for around $40 on Ebay, maybe less from a JY. Here is an installation walkthrough courtesy of merk23literturbo: Saab intercooler installation
SAAB 9000: Tube and Fin. Not a great flowing cooler. it's huge, but there's tons of pressure drop. Go for around $50, maybe less from JY. [see pic at bottom of page]
SSAUTOCHROME RS500: HUGE cooler, not the best end tank design, but should do an excellent job. somewhat expensive, about $250 on eBay, but when coupled with there radiators it seems like an excellent combination. However, the quality of this company (along with Mishimoto) is somewhat inconsistent, hence the nickname "SSAutoCrap."
Matching Radiator:
SUBARU WRX: Tube and Fin. I understand it's a decent core, but with poorly designed end tanks. I'm working on figuring out how to mount one, but i'm probably not going to go through with it. It's relatively large for a factory cooler. Can be bought for about $65, wonder if it's worth the extra cost.
SPEARCO: (model shown below, bar and plate) Excellent intercooler, though exterior flow isn't super. Great interior flow. Spearco coolers seem to be some of the best--and their prices reflect that, new or used. [see pic at bottom of page]
TOYOTA SUPRA: Denso Tube and Fin. Good intercooler. convenient for packaging and great interior and exterior flow. Ugly as sin though... Also fairly expensive, go for $70 and up on ebay.
photo by Gus Mahon
VOLVO: Tube and Fin. this is about the volvo cooler that looks just like the saab 9000 one. i understand it has the same saab 9000 problem, but is a little bit better than the saab cooler. [see pic at bottom of page]
CUSTOM TRIPLE CORE MOPAR: This is an intercooler made out of 3 of the above-mentioned dodge mopar cores. This was crafted by Tom Hair located in Payson, Utah, and belongs to Mr. Turbominivan. Notice the end tanks designed to use ALL the core. This should be an EXCELLENT performing intercooler.
Big main intercooler pic:
photo by Gus Mahon
Come on guys, let's make this list into a wealth of cooler info, shall we?!?!
EDIT: added info, will continue to do so. Now in alphabetical order by manufacturer!!
