A silly question

[SolarSteve]

I keep reading threads where guys are talking about their intercoolers on their VWs.  Isn't an intercooler and device to cool the compressed air after it leaves one turbo but before it enters a second turbo?

Isn't the correct term for this piece of equipment on a single turbo motor called an aftercooler?

I'm trying to remember back quite a few years here, so I might be wrong...

[jack's lack]

It cools the charged air after the turbo before the intake. colder air is denser and contains more oxygen, which can burn more fuel. Same idea as NO2, except in this case the process of compressing the air is what adds the heat that is being removed. This also leads to lower EGT's which will let you run a little more boost. I think intercooler and aftercooler are synonymous. I have heard some refer to air/air as inter and air/water as after, but I don't think there is any consensus on this nomenclature.

[SolarSteve]

I seem to remember there being a distictive difference between the two and my though process was an intercooler cools the air "inbetween" two turbos, before entering the next turbo, whereas an aftercooler cools the the air "after" the turbo, before entering the engine.  If correct, then technically you could have an intercooler AND an aftercooler on your twin turbo setup.

I know its semantics, I just though I'd ask the question.  I like to use the correct terminology...

[SolarSteve]

Ooops, you beat me to the post button!

[SolarSteve]

I keep reading threads where guys are talking about their intercoolers on their VWs.  Isn't an intercooler and device to cool the compressed air after it leaves one turbo but before it enters a second turbo?

Isn't the correct term for this piece of equipment on a single turbo motor called an aftercooler?

I'm trying to remember back quite a few years here, so I might be wrong...

Actually it's a rock band from Australia. 

Technically you're correct, aftercooler or charge cooler would be more accurate terms.  An intercooler is any device that cools between successive heating stages but charge coolers have come to be called intercoolers in general.  Considering that the point to communication is to convey ideas, at this point more people will know what you are talking about if you use the term intercooler even if it is technically less accurate.

Thanks.  I'm not trying to change how people on this site communicate, I just keep reading the word intercooler and was pretty sure it wasn't "technically" correct.

Thanks for the info.

[maxfax]

From here on out let's refer to it as "radiator-like thingy that make it go faster"     Or maybe not...

[Turbinepowered]

From here on out let's refer to it as "radiator-like thingy that make it go faster"     Or maybe not...

"Air-to-air heat exchanging device in the air intake path."