Water Cooled Intercooler

[Alais DJA]

So, at work today - i was talking to a mechanic that tunes scoobys....

After a quick chat about how great they are compared to Evo's - he suggested a mod to divert the rear washer pipe with a headlight nossle on it facing the intercooler to keep it cool - cooling the air to make it denser - causing better explosion and performance.


With the power for the wiper being used for my exhaust neon - could it really be worth it...kind of makes sence in principle and he had it installed on his WR1 outside parked up.

On a positive note - wellycooler ordered.....

 

[<tuffty/>]

I spray water on intercoolers when running cars on the dyno... water absorbs heat better than air... StaceyS3 fitted something similar IIRC but with a welly cooler then there probably isn't a requirement for this unless running lots of boost...

<tuffty/>

 

[coatesy]

search function brought this up.. boom!

http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/a3-s3-forum-8l-chassis/122612-diy-intercooler-spray.html

 

[Alais DJA]

I spray water on intercoolers when running cars on the dyno... water absorbs heat better than air... StaceyS3 fitted something similar IIRC but with a welly cooler then there probably isn't a requirement for this unless running lots of boost...

<tuffty/>

I imagine once it goes to R-tech we'll know official figures after the Hybrid goes in. Hard to juggle money knowing i'll not only need the Hybrid - but the rods and clutch.

Im only grateful i work at Euro and get a hefty discount - £109 for a S3 clutch kit and flywheel

 

[coatesy]

I imagine once it goes to R-tech we'll know official figures after the Hybrid goes in. Hard to juggle money knowing i'll not only need the Hybrid - but the rods and clutch.

are you still going k03 hybrid, what you going for?

 

[ReDBull]

You'll love the Wellycooler.

 

[Alais DJA]

KO3 / RS6 internals...made redundant on April so car got put on hold - gotta get back in touch with the guy who makes them.

Got the fuel pump and injectors - VR6 Maf - the clutch is ready to buy, wellycooler on it's way hopfully all done by Jan

 

[16Klappe]

Your mate has got it all wrong. I looked into this a while ago, that won't work.

The water will only cools when it is sprayed at high pressure and atomizes, if you just spray the washer jet at the IC you'll just end up with a soggy front bumper all the time.

You can get kits for them, but they involve VERY high pressure pumps and metal rings which work like so -





"Sprayer" is a very loose term, they should actually be called misters because it is the creation of a fine mist and the massive increase in surface area that occurs which removes the heat effectively.

All in all, it's pointless in our climate and with any less than 400bhp. Get a decent WMI kit; it will do 10x more good at half the cost.

 

[Grale1]

So, at work today - i was talking to a mechanic that tunes scoobys....

After a quick chat about how great they are compared to Evo's - he suggested a mod to divert the rear washer pipe with a headlight nossle on it facing the intercooler to keep it cool - cooling the air to make it denser - causing better explosion and performance.


I know this kind of thing from when I used to have integrale's, my mate used to have the evo1 number 75 of the production line the first ones for holmologation, the first I think 100 had a water bag set up in the boot that sprayed the intercooler with a mist for that reason of performance,

 

[16Klappe]

In theory, great yes that will work.

Reality of it is that a washer bottle will not provide enough pressure to make it actually work, on a Subaru with a top mounted intercooler that suffers from chronic heat soak it might aid a little bit more than a front mounted intercooler. But on a FMIC, it's going to do sweet fa.

Trust me, I tried in the name of science.

 

[StaceyS3]

I've used the headlight washer pump which is a high pressure pump with a soleniod in line as will syphon followed by 3 manifolds with 12 spray nozzles, this produces a fine mist...I'll see if I can post up the photos and vids when I get a chance....if not it's in my build thread somewhere

 

[16Klappe]

Got any before and after logs or dyno plots? Otherwise, I call placebo on any claimed benefits.

Sorry to be a c**t; but it just doesn't work IMO. I've tried it, done the same setup as you've made using the washer pump and citroen mist jets and it made sweet FA difference to my logs. All it did was **** me off and make my car covered in water.

I just didn't think the pump was up to the job, I couldn't get it to produce what I would call a mist. With a more powerful pump and proper hard pipes I think it could offer some benefit.

But if you think you can basically move your washer jets onto the bumper and magic up more performance then you're mental.

 

[StaceyS3]

All depends on how efficient your intercooler core is as to be honest on the ah v2 the only time have seen it make a noticeable difference is when has been sitting in traffic for long periods of time it recovers quicker (all this is on the liquid gauge)

When I was on the ah v1 core on this set up I couldn't get IAT's any lower than 60 degrees on boost, me and a friend sprayed the cooler with a hose and for the first time on this set up the car flew and IATs were in the 20's to my amazement but with in 5 mins the car developed a nasty misfire which turned out to be a bent rod and a broken valve!

 

[StaceyS3]

Forgot to add the main reason I ended up doing this as it was something to do and my headlight washer aliens had been dissconnected for nearly a year due to one constantly leaking so it seemed a good excuse to make use of the pump and didn't spend any money apart from a £5 on a solenoid as all the other bits were from work

 

[16Klappe]

It'll do something, but probably be immeasurable whilst on the road.

The reason it works is because the mist on the IC has a huge surface area and as the fine mist evaporates it causes the energy transfer which removes the heat. A spray or water has larger droplets and much less surface area, so it takes longer to evaporate and cools far less efficiently. It's physics baby.

The benefit of just hosing water onto your intercooler will be the fact that the water hitting it is colder than the intercooler so cools it down. So yes, it will make your intercooler cooler. It isn't providing a large surface area energy transfer to do the job properly.

For the intercooler to drop it's temperature enough to sufficiently increase the density of the air and act in the way that an intercooler mister should (and in the way you are expecting it to work) you would need a lot more than some 6mm fuel hose, a couple of washer jets and a washer bottle pump.

It's a GREAT idea, and it does work. But as I said, if you think you can just mount a couple of jets onto your bumper and splice into the washer bottle then you will be hugely disappointed.

 

[badger5]

water has x4 shc of air.. so will absorb heat and evaporate more heat away
indeed physics baby

spraying water onto intercoolers during dynos for example does make for cooler ait's.........

wmi rocks of course for several reasons... its got water, its got meth, its got high pressure spray.... a world of fun....

 

[16Klappe]

water has x4 shc of air.. so will absorb heat and evaporate more heat away
indeed physics baby

spraying water onto intercoolers during dynos for example does make for cooler ait's.........

wmi rocks of course for several reasons... its got water, its got meth, its got high pressure spray.... a world of fun....

Agreed, but there is no point absorbing that heat if it's just going to sit on the surface as warm water droplets.

How much do you spray on your IC's when logging and running, I'm thinking like 500ml but I haven't really got a clue to be honest. I've never personally seen it done, but I know it is if you know what I mean.

WMI for the win as you say, arguing about some girly mist jet that's straight off Need For Speed is gay.

 

[superkarl]

In theory, great yes that will work.

Reality of it is that a washer bottle will not provide enough pressure to make it actually work, on a Subaru with a top mounted intercooler that suffers from chronic heat soak it might aid a little bit more than a front mounted intercooler. But on a FMIC, it's going to do sweet fa.

Trust me, I tried in the name of science.

you are wrong

 

[16Klappe]

you are wrong

How dare you!

I challenge thee to a lengthy and very dull argument over my correctness.

 

[Kave]

Agreed, but there is no point absorbing that heat if it's just going to sit on the surface as warm water droplets.

The warm water will be both evaporating and dripping off the IC, and therefore removing heat from it.

You are correct in so much as, if you have a decent FMIC setup not pushed to its heat dissipation limits, then you will not notice any difference, unless you are static in traffic (or dyno) and heat soaking.

However, if you have a comprimised IC setup, for example standard SMIC, or a poor flowing front mount IC, it would make the difference between a heat soaked IC at 60deg+ with engine management pulling timing, and an engine pulling in air at closer to ambient temperatures not pulling timing.