Im not sure if this has been discussed before but SEARCH SUCKS

What are some advantages and disadvantages of a backdoor intercooler?

I know one disadvantage is NO AC

 

I know one of the big advantages, especially those of us with the EF chassis is space. With a traction bar and tight fitment with everything else, there is VERY little room to run piping on the hot side. The backdoor style makes it very easy to run straight to the turbo. It looks cool too I guess? lol

 

shorter piping, but i have found that the backdoor intercoolers are much more expensive since you have to get them made usually..

 

The biggest advantage of backdoor IC's is that you can cut out a few feet worth of piping. This aids not only in faster spool, but also in greater throttle response since it takes the air from the turbo less time to get to the intake manifold. The downside is the additional cost...

 

good info...was wondering the same

 

I have a dual backdoor with AC

One other disadvantage is that in most cases the IC is not centered But they do tend to work very well.

 

I have yet to ever see a backdoor intercooler increase the spool time by any noticeable difference.

The ONLY benefit I see of the backdoor intercoolers is space and one less place to have a pipe blow off or leak.

 

How do they compare to conventional style I.C. as far as pressure drop? It seems like it would be horrible because of the 90 degree angle. Anyone tested it yet?

 

Big advantage for me is easier to run piping.

 

do you have pics
i would like to see it

 

I have had a few cars I tune that went from normal style intercoolers with the outlets on either end to dual backdoor style setups because of the bigger cores and the only thing we noticed was more power in the higher boost levels due to the cooler being more efficent.

 

how is it more efficient? shorter piping? or are you comparing cores here as well?

 

Pressure drop deals more with the IC CORE than it would the piping.

 

Angle of entry is also a factor. I know the core is the biggest factor, I'm just wondering if anyone has monitored it at all.

 

PiCs??
I never seen this befor/...

 

https://honda-tech.com/forums/showth...light=backdoor

 

It was the cores and endtanks themselves that allowed for a bit more efficiency. Nothing to do with piping. Generally, on our setups, pipes are pipes unless they are made of different material. They direct a substance to where it needs to go.

 

ok i wasnt sure what miller was meaning when saying the backdoor setup was more efficient. what two cores were you comparing? same brand/different dimensions?

 

I wasnt referring to the backdoor as being more efficent due to it being backdoor but I was referring to the cores being more efficent that were on these cars. Like i stated earlier, I saw no spool up difference or power difference until higher boost levels and that is all the core itself. I do believe if the piping was the same and just the cores were different then you would see the same gains in the higher boost levels.

I have had cars that have tons of excessive piping due to the way the intercooler piping was done and when i compare data to a car with shorter piping and other wise very similiar setups the difference isnt even noticeable.

 

thanks for clearing that up miller. good info for sure

 

I'll see if I can dig up some pix. The setup was designed by me, single cam, it uses a custom twinscroll manifold with twinscroll turbo that should top out @ around 3-350 hp, everything compatible, full 3" off turbo.

A similar setup on a d15 three stage netted 220hp on 13 psi with a much smaller exhaust and intercooler setup. He fabricated a really cool side mount intercooler for ultimate sleeper status.

 

an advantage of running a backdoor intercooler on a 99-00 Si or any EK with a 99-00 front end conversion is you can retain your fog lights. my end tanks on my regular FMIC were touching the fog lights so I had to remove them and go with a bumper that didn't have holes in the bumper for fogs(unless I wanted my pipes hanging out)