What's everyones opinions on cheap intercoolers? Right now I have the one that came with my supercharger kit, which looks like this (mine's not black):



It's a good, quality intercooler and it costs an arm and a leg through Active Autowerke.

BUT .. I'm looking into purchasing their upgrade kit that would put me at 550rwhp, and it comes with the intercooler you see mounted behind it. Again, that new intercooler through them would probably be $1500, but looking on ebay I found ones that look exactly like it and are 3 and 4 inches wide, for around $100. What are your guys' opinions on these?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/CXRac...ht_5393wt_1158

I'm looking to save money from spending the several thousand that kit will cost .. the other things it includes are injectors (that i'd probably need to buy from them), an aeromotive inline fuel pump and fuel filter, aeromotive pressure regulator, and a 115mm crank pulley (which i'd also need to buy from them).

So, opinions?

 

i run one of those. works ok, but i'm only running about 15 psi. i never see more than 2-3 degrees above ambient in the logs. oem temp sensor in charge pipe.

 

I'm only running 9psi now, but the 550rwhp i'll be looking at will still only be at 12.5psi.

You think that would be ok with my setup? Is there any reason why it wouldn't or why i'd want to look elsewhere?

 

Re-reading that ebay listing, it lists its max hp at 500hp ... and i'll be at 550rwhp with just the supercharger and ~618 on nitrous, so i guess I'll need to look for something better?

What do you guys think?

 

I know active's stuff is spendy. But if I were you I wouldn't buy the ebay knockoff stuff. I know your M3 is nice, I've seen it in GDD a few times now, don't dooooo it! Personally, I would assemble my own with a quality core. You won't even come close to spending 1500 all together. I bought my precision core for a little less than 250 and it was in PERFECT shape. The ebay core designs are terrible compared to the quality cores out there that are much more efficient.

 

I just bought some couplers and clamps from CX racing....they charged me $53.40 for FedEx 2day shipping, and then two days later, sent me tracking confirmation through USPS. Poor guy on the phone got an earful from me about it. Anyway, they sent a refund for about $25 off of shipping since they f'd up.


Back to the subject, as for your intercooler, I have a treadstone, in which I was informed that it was a cheaper knockoff brand, but it holds 10psi nicely on my ls/v. Should be good to go!

 

Thanks for the advice. I'm not sure where they got their new intercooler from, but it honestly looks like an ebay one, though I'm sure they'd likely not use those.

An intercooler just seems to simple to me and it's one of those things that is hard to mess up. Guess i'm wrong though.

I looked the precision core that i'd need, something along the lines of 18x12x3 which is good for 650hp, but it's $350.

Guess i just need to see what Active is gonna charge for their upgrade kit and go from there.

 

My old intercooler from ebay worked great for the price up to 370whp, then it started holding my setup back, couldnt flow the air needed...

 

There's a E46 locally that is getting one of their kits installed right now, and honestly I thought the same thing...hmmm.

 

with the big intercooler or the standard one that they've been offering for the last few years? the one that's been coming on it seems like a quality piece, haven't seen the new one in person though.

 

It looks like the one mounted on the car in the first pic you posted, but MUCH smaller. I guess he bought the kit, and the intercooler was an added option seperate from the kit?

Is the piping mess on the driver side of the engine bay as tight of a fit as the one I've seen around here? It's like a puzzle to get the piping to fit lol.

 

Awesome! Any insight on the difference is when comparing a quality core to a cheapo?
Nothing really jumps out at me as poor design when looking at them from the outside.

 

i used ebay intercooler from cx racing and made 600whp on it.. just be sure to get one that will support your whp goals