What's the Best Front Mount Intercooler
by JASON BARLOW
The best front mount intercooler is, quite simply, one that is properly sized and designed for the application. I will expound on that for a minute.
To large of a front mount intercooler design can have negative effects on automobile performance and drivability. A small front mount intercooler, with the appropriate venting and design, can be equally effective as a large front mount intercooler.
When shopping for an aftermarket front mount intercooler its important to do the proper research before you purchase. A new front mount intercooler can be extremely effective for the performance of a car, but it can also have negative results as well.
Always check with the manufacturer of the front mount intercooler to ensure that proper research and development has been done. Be sure you can obtain some numbers on it's efficiency, psi loss, design and effect on the vehicle just to name a few.
The efficiency is defined as the ratio of the temperature removed from the air charge by the intercooler relative to how much temperature is put into the charge by the turbo/supercharger. At wide open throttle and full boost the hot compressed air coming from a turbocharger is probably between 250 and 350 deg F depending on the particular turbo, boost pressure, outside air temperature, etc. Hot air from the turbo flows through tubes inside the intercooler. The turbo air transfers heat to the tubes, warming the tubes and cooling the turbo air.
Stay away from front mount intercoolers without any actual data and specifications on them, or wait until the information is available so that you may determine why that front mount intercooler will be beneficial to your car.
