im thinking about investing in one but i dont know much about them. what is your opinion on them compared to air-air?? what is needed to set one up? also, post some pics of your setup if you have some..thanks

 

is this a street or strip car? you will also need a reserve, water pump, lines, heat exhange(if used on the street). It can be pretty pricey. FMIC is more practical, but the air-water cools better when used with ice water. Just make sure if u take it to the track you bring some extra bags of ice. The ice water only last about 3-5 runs.

 

daily driver

 

id say go with air-air...water-air will be better when theres is, but once it melts, air-air is more efficient. i think....

 

I have a Water/air, not installed yet.

Here is some food for thought if you use a heat exchanger (radiator) for a water/air system....

Take a air/air intercooler and a water/air heat exchanger of the same dimensions; the water/air heat exchanger will have almost 2 times the effective surface area.

Its because the "channels" that the water will travel through are much smaller because you are not worried about the amount of resistance the water will encounter. This is because it is run from an external pump.

On a air/air IC the "channels" the air passes through are large, this is to promote flow and reduce pressure drop over the IC. At the same time it reduces the IC efficiency because it is now has less surface area exposed to the ambient air while having a larger volume of air to cool to surface ratio.

Take a look at these 2 pics...

This is my heat exchanger:


Here is a pick of an xs unit that has almost the same "Height" size as mine:

Its 1" taller.

Now not looking at how long they are, can you count amount of rows of cooling fins there are?

The first pic of mine is kind of hard to see but there are 23 rows, the second pic has only 15 rows even though it is 1" taller than mine.

 

i got a spearco liquid to air dual core i/c for sale.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dkj &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">id say go with air-air...water-air will be better when theres is, but once it melts, air-air is more efficient. i think....</TD></TR></TABLE>

i have to agree as well. When the ice melts and and the water temp goes up, you're gonna have to rely on air for cooling. Plus water is denser, so wouldn't it be harder to cool when it's warm? Just my take on it for daily road use

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TrueNorthStar &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have a Water/air, not installed yet.

Here is some food for thought if you use a heat exchanger (radiator) for a water/air system....

Take a air/air intercooler and a water/air heat exchanger of the same dimensions; the water/air heat exchanger will have almost 2 times the effective surface area.

Its because the "channels" that the water will travel through are much smaller because you are not worried about the amount of resistance the water will encounter. This is because it is run from an external pump.

On a air/air IC the "channels" the air passes through are large, this is to promote flow and reduce pressure drop over the IC. At the same time it reduces the IC efficiency because it is now has less surface area exposed to the ambient air while having a larger volume of air to cool to surface ratio.

Take a look at these 2 pics...

This is my heat exchanger:


Here is a pick of an xs unit that has almost the same "Height" size as mine:

Its 1" taller.

Now not looking at how long they are, can you count amount of rows of cooling fins there are?

The first pic of mine is kind of hard to see but there are 23 rows, the second pic has only 15 rows even though it is 1" taller than mine.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

looks faimilar

 

hahahah

 

Air to water intercoolers are gonna have a greater heat transfer rate from water to alumunum. This is a way to exceed the 100% thermal efficiency. Which is more efficient than Air to Air. However it is not pratical for daily drivers.

I believe you could have a set up running both. That way you could use your Air to Air intercooler for everyday use. And than use your Air to Water for special events.

 

where did u get your heat exchanger. i also will be running a custom a/w kit i all ready have all my peices i'm using a setrab oil cooler
22x6.5x2 what does yours measure and how much did u pay.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 1bar &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> Air to water intercoolers are gonna have a greater heat transfer rate from water to alumunum. This is a way to exceed the 100% thermal efficiency. Which is more efficient than Air to Air. However it is not pratical for daily drivers.

I believe you could have a set up running both. That way you could use your Air to Air intercooler for everyday use. And than use your Air to Water for special events.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

An air to water can ONLY exceed 100% efficiency with ice or something added to bring the water below ambient temp...

I'd stick with an air to air for street applications.

 

the thing is i want to look stock..so i dont want a front mount no matter what color it is and i dont want a grill that can cover it. also side mounts are garbage.

 

I think there won't be that much difference, so you should go with what you like. I had a spearco air to air, but due to the rising theft rate, I decided to go with a water to air intercooler. Even though a painted or anodized intercooler is hard to see, I had to cut up my bumper and people can still see it. Also I found a vortech aftercooler kit real cheap so I went with that. I haven't finished installing it yet, but I will tell you how it runs. I have a friend with an air to air so hopefully we can compare some intake temps.

 

up

 

I my Spearco water/air intercooler on my street car.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SiR Kid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I my Spearco water/air intercooler on my street car.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I love your setup too! It's actually the reason I went with an air to water.