.....And last time I checked, air to water intercoolers already boast great effeciency with low pressure drop across the core.... why focus on improving an already effecient core... focus on sheding the heat from the system because that is the weak link. Just a thought.
I finally got around to throwing in a second radiator. If you recall, I had tested my intercooler core at about 75% effective, and the same for the 12x12x2" radiator. Put together the system was about 56%. Not overly impressive.
I had a second radiator from the old Denco system that I finally added in series with the bigger one. No fan on the little one at the moment. It measures about 9x9x1" but earlier testing had put it at about 75% effective as well.
The math suggested that in a perfect world the two radiators and the core should add up to about 70% effective for the entire system.
So this past weekend I did my first trip up the Coquihalla with the new setup (also featuring my new intake plenum and improved intake path from turbo all the way to the head). Low and behold, all those book learnin's, often criticized by those who lack them, are actually worth something!
My real world testing is done at full heat soak - several minutes of sustained full boost, full load, pushing 1200F the whole way, temperatures are all stable including the water.
Boost @ intake manifold: 22psi
Pre-IC temp: 135C
Post-IC temp: 52C
Ambient Air: 15C
Water temp (post rad): 40C
System Effectiveness: 69%
Theory is cool. Backing it up with results is
satisfying.
And for those who like interesting things as much as I do, I have a little more to add. Since I located my post-IC thermocouple downstream of my water/methanol nozzle in my new plenum I was able to see the results of turning the water/meth on and off during the test.
Adding the juice reduced the post-IC temp in the above test to 32C. When considered as part of the whole system that brings the effectiveness up to
86%. Not too shabby!
Now I have a new problem, though. The max EGT I was able to achieve was 1200F and most of the time I couldn't even get quite that high. On the big hill out of Hope right before Hwy 3 splits off I could only get 1100F in top gear holding just below the downshift point.
I'll have to add a bit more fuel so I can hit 1300 under maximum everything again.
IC is a
Frozenboost Type 10.
No pics of the two radiators but you can use your imagination. They have fins and stuff.
