chargecoolers any good?

[tom w]

hi i have been offered a chargecooler kit for peanuts (cheaper than a fmic kits that i have seen) are these any good ? which is best chargecooler or intercooler?

 

[Rocky Rocastle]

the following may be quite useful

http://pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?f=66&h=0&t=268120

 

[tom w]

cheers for the link , but i am still abit confused should i go for it or just buy a fmic ?

 

[Rocky Rocastle]

i know that most on here go for the fmic, whether there is a reason more than cost, im not that well up on them meself tbh sorry mate

 

[ibizacupra]

what "exactly" have you been offered.
for your car? or a generic one

 

[tom w]

its a pace kit specially for the ibiza if that helps

 

[Damoegan]

I was just gona say ask Bill but I see he has alredy posted. I'm sure they work more efficiently than a FMIC. Is that right Bill?

 

[redcupraboy]

Think the lad is probaly on about the one off a well known auction site lol!

 

[tom w]

yeah i use the term " offered" loosely just tring to find out if its a piece of kit worth having or if its better to get a fmic instead ?

 

[Cupra20]

i understood it as the water-to-air(chargecooler) cooling is faster/better than air-to-air(FMIC) but water will heat up and not be as effective over a longer period of time but i could be wrong, plus with a charge cooler you've got to mount a rad, pump etc aswell.

i asked the same question a while ago don't know if it's still on here,

 

[ibizacupra]

searchy and all is revealed>> http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=171074&highlight=chargecooler

 

[tom w]

so then bill what do you think? i use the car as a daily commuter aswell as hacking around at the weekend is a cc a good idea? or should i follow the crowd and get a fmic?

 

[ibizacupra]

CC works... but once hot stays hot. if bottle resevoir it feeds off is in engine bay it will get hot.

simpler if FMIC, and there is a crowd for a reason.

chargecooler can be made to cool sub-ambient if you use things like peltier coolers like you get in 12v fridges etc..

if its the right price it will most definatley out perform the stock (shite) smic

 

[greg]

I've heard charge coolers get too hot over long journeys and thus reduce efficiency. I would go for a FMIC, you can get the complete kits on ebay for under £200 now

 

[tom w]

cheers people thats cleared that up i will go for the fmic sounds a better option

 

[BenS1]

Sorry to drag up an old thread, but this seemed like an appropriate place to discuss a chargecooler Vs a FMIC.

Firstly, just to dispell some myths...

My IHI'd Ibiza has a chargecooler, and uses a tiny reservour (150 - 200ml?). I drive the car very hard on track andwhen I put my finger into the water after a session the water has never ever even been lukewarm. If anything its actually felt cold!

Similarly, when driving on normal roads, including in traffic jams the water has never warmed up, at all.

However, I'm not sure how well the chargecooler performs compared to a FMIC at actually reducing the intake air temepratures, which is after all what a CC/FMIC is meant to do.

I have an intake air temperature guage, and after a hard session on track I normally get intake temperatures of around 32 - 37C. Is this good? How does it compare to a good FMIC?

Obvously its a bit difficult to compare apples with apples. Mines an Ibiza running an IHI at about 1.6-1.7 bar boost producing around 360bhp (According to Jabbas old rollers).

Also, I'm probably going to go for an Owens IHI hybrid int eh future, giving 400+bhp. I'm not sure if the Chargecooler will still be sufficient, or maybe I can add more cores (In paralell) to the chargecooler? OR would a FMIC be the way forward?

Thanks
Ben

 

[Damoegan]

With the power your running I woulod say your intake temps are fine mate

CC must be doing a good job..

 

[h17och]

if you have a huge rad for cc your laughing....which sounds like you are

 

[ibizacupra]

Sorry to drag up an old thread, but this seemed like an appropriate place to discuss a chargecooler Vs a FMIC.

Firstly, just to dispell some myths...

My IHI'd Ibiza has a chargecooler, and uses a tiny reservour (150 - 200ml?). I drive the car very hard on track andwhen I put my finger into the water after a session the water has never ever even been lukewarm. If anything its actually felt cold!

Similarly, when driving on normal roads, including in traffic jams the water has never warmed up, at all.

However, I'm not sure how well the chargecooler performs compared to a FMIC at actually reducing the intake air temepratures, which is after all what a CC/FMIC is meant to do.

I have an intake air temperature guage, and after a hard session on track I normally get intake temperatures of around 32 - 37C. Is this good? How does it compare to a good FMIC?

Obvously its a bit difficult to compare apples with apples. Mines an Ibiza running an IHI at about 1.6-1.7 bar boost producing around 360bhp (According to Jabbas old rollers).

Also, I'm probably going to go for an Owens IHI hybrid int eh future, giving 400+bhp. I'm not sure if the Chargecooler will still be sufficient, or maybe I can add more cores (In paralell) to the chargecooler? OR would a FMIC be the way forward?

Thanks
Ben

Pre-Rad size is key here. I think you had yours made larger after I had mine, and found it to be lacking.
heat exchange effeciency is related to temp difference of charge air temp, and ambient its exchaging to, so given its hot air to water to air again, the CC has a lower delta temp and correspondingly needs a larger (surface area) pre-rad to give away this heat.

sounds like yours is much better than mine was. (now on Jans Lupo)

water pump failures in continuous use will be a factor. on the 3rd pump now on mine. (7 years)

 

[BenS1]

Yeah I got mine custom made by Pace, as opposed to getting it done at Jabba.

Pace made me the largest pre-rad they could get to fit.

With regards to pump failure, I've not had mine fail yet (5 years), but then I've hardly used the car much in the past 2 years.

So, it looks like its doing a good job at the moment, but the question is, will it be good enough for 400+bhp? I guess the only way to find out would be to try.

Ben