The New turbo guide 2012

[Rossp]

Originally Posted by stevie_m

What about the intercooler size ? Is there a specific size it needs to be as I see a lot of different styles and sizes.

Originally Posted by jones91

Basically the bigger the better mate as the bigger the cooler the colder the air is getting into your engine, unless you have a pro ally one which will keep temperatures down better than say an eBay one. But generally goes by the spec of your build and how much power your looking to achieve

I'd disagree I'm afriad.

The smaller the better - both for space constraint issues in the engine bay, but also to reduce lag. Any space the turbo has to fill with air before the throttle body is a space that takes time to fill. The smaller the intercooler the better - providing it does the job required. If you're specc'ing something up to around 300hp and using the correct turbo (rather than hugely overspinning a littleun) then the smaller intercooler is fine. Don't forget though that if you're running high boost on a small turbo and it's working outside of it's compressor map (IE, a gt28 at 300hp) then you're generating a LOT of additional heat that you're asking the intercooler to dissipate. Better to spec the whole thing together in one hit really.

Titch made around 330hp on a small generic ebay manifold with no issues - and it was much easier to fit in the bay than my first intercooler (a GT3 one).

The pro alloy ones are nicely built but for the money you'd expect them to be. If you use them in conjunction with the pro alloy radiator, you wont see change from £1,000 - compared to using a diesel radiator and ebay intercooler, which will set you back around £200 all in.

One thing to bear in mind when shopping for your intercooler is the inlet/outlet size. 3" is no good at all, and 2.5" is as large as you'll want to go, with 2.25" being about best for most setup (again, unless you're chasing monster power). The smaller the boost pipes, the less air to compress / the less lag. Also, the easier the boost pipes are to route in the engine bay physically as they're smaller. (of course, the 2.5" pipes look nicer being more manly so ... up to the individual )