as water can't cool charge air below 180F, air is more efficient on the highway, but it takes up more space under the hood and is not as efficient at low speeds w/o a fan...
Awesome piece of engineering work !!! I didn't know there was much automotive research in N.H. :-D I guess being at the big 3 for so long I missed it.
Actually if you look at his temp charts you can see he is definitely cooling below 180F! Looks like his peak post-IC temp was about 32C / 90F.
The place I've most frequently seen that 180F number quoted is when people are talking about using engine coolant for their AWIC setup which is definitely NOT what is happening here...
engine coolant is less than ideal for cooling a charge.. cause its just warming up your air unless you are on the boost. the engine is supposed to have a cooling system, and the A2W IC should have its own cooling system also.. completely independent of the engine..
Some industrial / heavy duty applications use engine coolant for their AWIC, but in those cases we're talking about engines designed to be at full power for hours at a time. Things like mining equipment, gensets, etc. An engine coolant cooled AWIC on a motor boosting 30+ PSI can still delivers a respectable decrease in intake temperatures, especially when off-bost isn't a consideration.
Obviously though what we are doing is quite a bit different. We tend to drive at significantly less than full power for the most part, we spend a lot of time at part throttle and we usually only see maximum boost for a few minutes at a time tops. It'd be nuts to be heating our inlet air up to engine coolant temperature the majority of the time.
Anyhow, now that we've got that sorted, was still hoping the OP would chime in with an update after a year of running his AWIC!
Some industrial / heavy duty applications use engine coolant for their AWIC, but in those cases we're talking about engines designed to be at full power for hours at a time. Things like mining equipment, gensets, etc. An engine coolant cooled AWIC on a motor boosting 30+ PSI can still delivers a respectable decrease in intake temperatures, especially when off-bost isn't a consideration.
Obviously though what we are doing is quite a bit different. We tend to drive at significantly less than full power for the most part, we spend a lot of time at part throttle and we usually only see maximum boost for a few minutes at a time tops. It'd be nuts to be heating our inlet air up to engine coolant temperature the majority of the time.
Anyhow, now that we've got that sorted, was still hoping the OP would chime in with an update after a year of running his AWIC!
come to think of it, our generators up in alaska (big waukeshaws) had A2W intercoolers, but im not sure if they were cooled by the engine coolant, or the raw water for the heat exchangers.. and those things NEEDED them.. you would fire up the genset, and slowly start applying a load, and as it warmed up, the turbo would start glowing..
Some industrial / heavy duty applications use engine coolant for their AWIC, but in those cases we're talking about engines designed to be at full power for hours at a time. Things like mining equipment, gensets, etc. An engine coolant cooled AWIC on a motor boosting 30+ PSI can still delivers a respectable decrease in intake temperatures, especially when off-bost isn't a consideration.
Obviously though what we are doing is quite a bit different. We tend to drive at significantly less than full power for the most part, we spend a lot of time at part throttle and we usually only see maximum boost for a few minutes at a time tops. It'd be nuts to be heating our inlet air up to engine coolant temperature the majority of the time.
Anyhow, now that we've got that sorted, was still hoping the OP would chime in with an update after a year of running his AWIC!
Back from the dead, if vanbcguy still cares. The AWIC continues to work great on the Rabbit, though it isn't my daily driver these days. The biggest challenge I have had with it is getting a good pump for the coolant loop. They make pumps specific to the application but they are expensive. Most of the pumps I've tried fail or leak, so anyone doing this should not scrimp on the coolant pump.
Ha, very much back from the dead! I did my AWIC probably about 3 years ago now, it's worked quite well. I am running a Bosch pump - more expensive up front but I'm still on my original one with no issues. Cheaper than replacing it again and again...
I believe i utilized a shurflow pump in my bug. Thing was awesome but rather expensive
I use a Rule 401FC in my setup; it's a bit leaky sometimes, though, so I have to top the system off every so often. Flows nice, though. I'm eventually going to redesign my system (too much charge piping) so I'll probably pick up an entirely different system with a better pump. Also, the liquid mix I run is distilled water from the grocery store with about half a bottle of Water Wetter.
idgtd, which core type are you using, and how did you support it against the rest of the drivetrain? I might think of copying your setup a bit when I do change my system.
I got the core from Frozen Boost, but I don't remember exactly which one it is. The core is supported by a bracket to the head, but it's not super rigid.