Mounted the Intercooler....Criticism needed

[FlawleZ]

Well I fabbed up a bracket and mounted her up today. Just wanting everyone's opinion. Here's a couple pics:




What I'm most concerned about is the clearance I have on the right. I'm thinking to downsizing to 2" piping just for fitment issues. I don't think it will have any adverse affect on the air flow until I exceed well over what my fuel system will supply anyway.




Oh and I'm seriously considering ditching the splash guard. Looks like it will only hinder flow and doesn't quite sit how it should anyway.

[2+2turbo]

seems to me to be at a too steep of an angle to get large amounts of air thru it , you cant get it more vertical?? , i would put the bumper(not the bumper cover) back on and measure from there , some type of duct box would help too i wouldnt worry about the i/c sitting to low . i mean look at 88hybrid i/c and numerous people who have a tbo lip . idk it just seems like its too steep to get air to go thru the core and cool the charge, i would go as vertical as possible . the bracket looks good tho .... my 2cents...

[grahfz]

how big's the turbo outlet?

I wouldn't worry too much about sizing changes unless you're going smaller than the outlet. bigger piping probably just increases lag a little bit.

[FlawleZ]

2+2turbo wrote: seems to me to be at a too steep of an angle to get large amounts of air thru it , you cant get it more vertical?? , i would put the bumper(not the bumper cover) back on and measure from there , some type of duct box would help too i wouldnt worry about the i/c sitting to low . i mean look at 88hybrid i/c and numerous people who have a tbo lip . idk it just seems like its too steep to get air to go thru the core and cool the charge, i would go as vertical as possible . the bracket looks good tho .... my 2cents...

It is a steep angle, I agree. But I think once I remove the splash guard it will actually get quite a bit of air. Plus, it will pull up another 1/2" almost flush with the radiator once I get the plumbing installed. It will then be at the same pitch the radiator will be and it gets plenty of air way back there.

Thanks for the comments!

[Ken in AZ]

you want as much room between the intercooler and the radiator as possible

[Jason84NA2T]

It looks fine. The angle does not mean as much as having it in the fresh airstream. The core only needs 5-10mph worth of air to be efficient and it should have no problems getting that sitting just as it is with a 30+mph vehicle speed. The only real "problem" I see is there will be less laminar flow through the core to get to the radiator. Having a vertically front mounted intercooler is so grossly overrated for no real reason except cosmetic appearance (and as ken noted, getting it further from the radiator).

[G-E]

if the ic has space behind it you won't get much airflow through the core, air can go around.... I'd actually recommend some ducting like the silvia side mounts do....

just get some duct repair tin and make two 45 degree scoops and mount one backwards facing down, remember as the air rushes by under the car it will help to suck the air over the cooler.... and you can probably live with the small radiator efficiency loss