Best ways to improve efficiency of stock IC?

I would like to try to improve the efficiency of the stock IC to help with some of the extra heat generated by the new 17% pulley I’m running. This is a daily drive car that doesn’t see any track time….so it’s hard for me to justify going out and spending $1000 on a new IC. It looks like there are several methods of thought out there on improving the efficiency of the stock IC’s. Some people say that the stock IC’s are actually pretty good, and the aftermarket ones don’t really gain you much…maybe a 10 degree reduction in IAT’s best case. Some people have said that you can add a bigger hood scoop (M7), add a new diverter plate on time of the stock IC, and it really helps…others have said that it doesn’t help at all. I saw the one thread about the guy insulation the top of his motor near the injector area, and the bottom side of his IC…he said it really helped. Others that that it doesn’t help at all. Some people say that unless you have a track car….and aftermarket IC is going to be more prone to heat soak on a car that drives the streets at slow speeds, and gets stuck in traffic and at traffic lights…..an IC is only doing its job when there is air flowing through it. The more surface area you have (aftermarket IC) ,the faster it’s going to soak up heat….but the faster it’s going to cool down when air is moving through it. It just seems like there is a lot of good/ban info floating around out there. Lots of opinions…….but not a lot of facts that I’ve seen (kind of like most stuff you read on the net).

So what’s the real story on the stock IC’s? Does anyone have any real hard facts on their efficiencies, and if it’s possible to improve their efficiently by adding aftermarket diverter plates…..bigger hood scoops….and insulation the IC from engine heat? Anyone have any data from IAT’s with a stock IC vs aftermarket IC?

 

Bigger scoop...
And maybe better sealing to the hood....the stock plastic diverter kinda sucks...ddm makes a nice one...but $$ per hp is gonna be $$...so it is for bling.

 

Sure water/meth injection

 

I had my GP intercooler coated with a thermal dispersant and use a larger scoop. Also toying with the idea of hooking up my HID washer pump to Subaru intercooler spray nozzles. I don't have any data to prove these modifications made a significant improvement but my car produces 225whp and doesn't ping ever.

 

water/meth will be the best

there isnt going to be anything else that will bring you below ambient

larger hood scoop, different diverter is about all you can do, the GP intercooler the best intercooler you can get from what i have read

need flow to go through it, if you dont track it, i wouldnt worry about it, i track my IAT's

normal cruising in winter im 2-10 deg above ambient F

normal cruising in summer im 10-20 deg above ambient F

hammering on it, ill get spikes of 100 deg+ in 5000+ RPM but comes right back down when i either shift or slow down

you could try a water to air, which will be fine so long as you keep moving, the water takes much longer to cool down but will have more consistency on IAT

 

+1 on water/meth.

the install is more complicated than an i/c install, but i was able to do it in my driveway with hand tools (with the eception of a drill).

the price varies on w/m kits. i went went the aem because it was cheaper than most i/c's. its been installed for about 4k miles with no issues i know of.

however, if you have the money to drop on an i/c, i would suggest the aquamist/howerton kit, as it is known to be a quality product. not to bash aem... i use it, it works. just depends on how much you can spend.

the pros/cons of an i/c vs w/m:

-i/c will heatsoak, w/m will not
-i/c has easier install, w/m requires drilling and tapping of engine components
-i/c is most likely more expensive
-w/m needs to be filled with fluid, creating a constant cost for cooling (however if you are NOT tuned for it, you can still drive the car with an empty tank)
-w/m will generally decrease iat's more than i/c (my setup drops iat's usually at least 10*F at full spray)
-w/m will clean your internals (so they say)

so, choose for yourself and what works for you. both will be an upgrade from stock, my opinion is that w/m is more efficient.

 

Water/Meth is great ....only when you are at WOT (wide open throttle)....the other 99% of the time when you are driving your car around town, it's not doing anything for you. An IC is working all the time....not just at WOT. If you can improve the efficiency of your IC, you are reducing your IAT's all the time, not just at WOT.

I like the idea of a bigger scoop, like one of the M7 scoops. Also, some type of coating on the IC sounds interesting.

I know water/meth will reduce your IAT's at WOT...but I'm looking to reduce them in all driving situations....around time, cruising at 30mph, part throttle at 70mph on the highway......

 

there is no need to have the IATs cruising of anything less than 100 deg F

car will make minimal power differences in that area, past 100 deg F thats when the ECU will start to pull timing. without using some sort of coolant its hard to reduce below ambient, its just physics, you need something to evaporate and take the heat with it.

so you could run a refridgeration cycle =) but i dont think it would help that much

plus with w/m it wouldnt be pumping all the time, they are based off of boost pressure or injector load. so when under vacume they dont even do anything, some accelerations you would get a squirt, wot would squirt more

 

Since lower temps in cruise do basicly nothing unless the temp is 100° over ambient...not sure what you want to achieve.....
But the answer to your question is more air flow.....bigger scoop...voltage/m7 have both made decent ones....but it is like an arms race....you add more drag to the car...bet not a huge amount...but a constant amount of air..getting funneled into a hole...pushed through a tight engine bay.....
Meth does have pluses....but overkill perhaps...and talk about killing resale...ouch...if it goes wrong...you granade a motor if the pump/nozele fails too...but for bang for the buck gain in lower temps and even hp gain...hard to beat.

 

at the risk of geting off topic of "how to improve the stock i/c", i also have to point out, that any decent meth kit comes with a controller.
you can set it to full spray all the way down at like 5psi if you really wanted to. for my car (with a 17% and 2% creating more boost at lower rpm) it helps.
but as you guys said, resale, risk, and cost/benefit are all factors.
id really love to have one of those aftermarket scoops, but i cant bring myself to spend $250+ on something like that.

 

WRONG!

This can happen if you tuned aggressively for the w/m injection, BUT if you do not tune for it and run a high amount of Methanol to the Water (I am running 90% meth). You get all the benefits of having an extremely low intake temp without the problems associated with a Meth Injection failure.

So in other words if you have not tuned for the w/m and it fails you just dont get the benefit, but there is NO RISK.

You can have a tune on the car, just not one that is for Meth all the time.

And why would it kill resale value? I could remove mine and you would never even know that it was there.

Under the Drivers Knee Pad:



Added Fuse Block and Relay:



Controls and Feed Lines:



Tap into the intake, I can put a this out and put a plug in it or replace the horn:



Control Gauge:



Tank and Pump Housing:

 

I really like that setup! My nozzle is in pretty much the same spot. I have my wires run the fusebox in the driver footwell, the controller mounted behind the cupholder between the seats, the tank mounted to the back of the rear passenger seat, and the pump underneath it.

And very true. I got tuned and added the w/m afterwards.

Where did you get that gauge pod?

 

What you are talking about for the install seems to be the most common way, the instruction for my kit even showed it done that way. I just went the distance with the wring as I was installing other gauges at the same time.

As to the gauge pod, I made it: here is some photos

Another note about making the intercooler more efficient vs W/M and cost:

Bahawton - did the best you can do with the intercooler, but lets break it down:

GP Intercooler (considered the best without losing pressure) 550.oo$
Thermal Coating (guessing on price) 80.oo$
Spray Nozzle Kit (guessing again) 100.oo$

So thats 720$, for that you can get a HFS-3 AquaMist System w/o the tank.

Bahawton not that I am knocking your setup I wish I had the GP Intercooler and I will get one eventually, but I can still get to a 78°F intake temp in no time flat, and its like running 108 Octane Gas! Of course the down side I have to put meth in mine and Bahawton does not have to do a thing!

 

I want one! lol

 

My HFS-4 shipped today. Can't wait to install it.

 

Are you going to install yourself?

Also why the HFS-4?

 

Yeah, going to install myself. The 4 is only $140 more and injects on boost and IDC and some people on here say you get better results when injecting on both. I do have a R56 though. If I had a R53 then I would have gotten a 3.

I'm still learning about the system though.

 

Yes, Installation is not that hard. Did you get the Tank/Pump Housing? If so it makes it so much easier.

If you run into problems join the AquaMist Forum at aquamist.co.uk and get help from Richard or Jeff.

 

I did go with the R56 specific kit with tank. One of the reasons I choose aquamist was the good reviews regarding customer service and the support from the forums like here at NAM, at aquamist and RMW.

 

I would really suggest that you (or anyone) that is going to run an AquaMist system join the forum there, I have been having some great conversations with Richard.

He recently made a Custom Diagram for me that is going to be made public soon as its fully tested, and let me tell you that guy is the master of wiring and diagrams. I am not going to post the diagram yet as he wants it to be fully tested and he plans on posting it as soon as its done.

Also Jeff has a section and weigh in quite a bit on that forum.

Richard has shown me how to read boost from my car, so that I can read IDC and Boost and soon I think we will have a Fail-Safe using the factory computer!

 

Curious, what is the reason you'd get the 3 if you had R53 instead?

 

Because the R53 a not direct injected, and I believe that the HFS-4 is modified for DI engines while the HFS-3 is not. I could be mistaken though.

 

Thanks for the reply cerenkov. You are indeed correct as the R53 is port injected. I guess I needed to research the various Aquamist offerings to see how they differed...

From their website:

http://howertonengineering.com/mini/

 

Talk to c0op3r he has a R53 and has done a lot of research on the systems.

 

Yes all you need is the HFS-3, for the R53 and i would suggest the Howerton MINI Cooper Tank as it looks like it was made by MINI and makes the install 10 times easier.