for someone thats not totally used to boosted cars i have a question

i have access to high pressure silcone/clear hose in fairly big sizes and wondered if something like that would work as hoseing to run the intercooler as a front mount, the hose can hold good temps, and is made to hold like 200 psi, and flex with out busting.

i was thinking about using this since i could squish it between the radiator and front brace and it wont bust, also would allow some movement for the engine with out breaking the hose like the webb motorsports one does\ did

does this sound like it may work??? im willing to be the guini pig

also does anyone know the size of the couplers that hold the intercooler on? so i know what size hose

thanks
chris

 

There are a couple things you want to watch out for. You are dealing with an oil-soaked, high-heat, vibration-heavy environment. You will want to make sure whatever hose you use is capable of withstanding those 3 elements simultaneously. It sounds like you are also putting the hose at risk of abrasion by sandwiching it between two surfaces.

Typically boost tubes are made of (your choice of) metal since it is typically resistant to the big 3 listed above. You can even go on the low-tech and use straight sections of metal tube with silicone couplers, elbows, and hump hoses to assemble the tricky curves. How you are describing using the hose above sounds ill-advised.

 

well the hoses are made for industrial type situations, they are high heat, fair abraisive resitant, and are oil and chemical resistant, i work in parts at a food plant and have ready access to these materieals. from my vendors. ive also concidered using the same hose as couplers and tilt the intercooler so it would have better airflow.any ideas on that???

 

Have you concidered using spell-check?

As for tilting the IC... meh. The air diverter does that for you. You will probably have hood clearance issues in a hurry if you tilt it enough to make a difference in the air that flows over it. IMO the limiting factor in airflow over the intercooler is the scoop, not the angle it sits at.

 

What i would do is move the intercooler into the Grille and hard mount everything except the engine and make a short piece of hose as a flex point. but then why not just go full water to air its way better anyway.

 

Perhaps you need to take your own advice first?

GotMINI

 

That was meant to be "ironical"

As for the OP - the merits of water-to-air vs air-to-air are debatable. When you consider the added cost, weight, complexity, and heat sink properties of A/W, it becomes less appealing. AWICs don't exactly shed heat well - if you don't have a large enough reservoir and cooler you can heat soak the system and it becomes an "interheater".

A front mount setup would be best accomplished using an aftermarket intercooler any way - the oval inlet/outlets don't lend themselves to clamping very well and adapting to a round tube is also difficult. If you want to go FMIC, then do so with proper parts.

 

I figured as much, hence the ... hehe

GotMINI

 

buy extra horns and cut them up.

 

You might consider the stock intercooler off a R56. Some people have upgraded to the larger Alta intercooler, so there may be some stock ones around for cheap.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...87&hg=17&fg=05

 

NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT ILL LOOK INTO IT