Adding CO2 to an Air-to-Air Intercooler! | Engine Masters | MotorTrend

The guys explore the benefits of an air-to-air intercooler in terms of power and detonation resistance. They also test out external CO2 foggers that keep the intercooler extra cool, presented by AMSOIL.

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[MotorTrendWatch]

What lengths would you go to keep your intercooler extra cool?

[BrandonBurns]

Need to continue this. Subaru used liquid sprayers with good results. Also, I wanna see a water to air setup followed by a killer chiller setup using the cars A/C setup.

[carculture]

This little trick has been around for years. A cool story from down under.

Year: 1989
Location: Bathurst
Car: Ford Cosworth Sierra (Turbo 2L inline 4 engine)

Peter Brock qualified on pole position after having ridiculous speeds recorded on the two longest straights of the track (mountain and conrod straights).

During post qualifying inspection it was found that the onboard fire extinguisher (CO2) was plummed so it pointed at the intercooler, and Brock let it off going down the long straights, giving the engine more power resulting in a quick lap time. The result stood because their was no rule against it.

[RuckusGarage]

Definitely revisit this using liquid sprayers. It’s not uncommon for folk to run water/washer fluid/vodka/methanol on A2A intercooler sprayers 🤘🏼

[shawnwhitman]

I didn't know what to expect but I am surprised at the same time. These results are fascinating. As always another great episode.

[tonywhite]

Ive seen people use solid chunks of C02 stuffed into the intercooler ducting pre send down the 1/4mile. As the C02 changes from solid to gas it can take alot of heat with it. Which is great for an intercooler.

[-Just_Justin-]

Great information, i was just considering this on my supercharged miata. The intercooler made a massive difference.
It goes without saying that plumbing diameter, length, and size of the intercooler can directly result in a measured pressure drop.

[RBGgermanKXF]

The big drop in boost pressure between the run without and then with that you're seeing is the resistance of the intercooler as well as any difference in density.
Also likely the spray may have worked better without airflow as many of these systems are designed to quickly help rid heatsoak vs actually decreasing temps significantly.
Heat exchange is always delta temp and delta time in very basic terms. So actually giving the CO2 time to spray and "sit on" the cooler may have helped. But again mostly for getting getting rid of heatsoak after sitting.

[usefulemptiness]

Sudden end to that video.
Did you upload the right version?

Would have been nice to see the difference in temp compared to the earlier runs for the last pull as well.

Any rule of thumb for how much lower octane that can be run per degree lower of temperature regarding detonation?
A knock sensor and pump gas doing it all over again, pushing it right to the edge of detonation, would be really interesting to see.

[danielcox]

If you want to make consistent boost pressure, why not put the boost line to the waste gate closer to the intake plenum so the turbo hits higher pressures before aftercooling?

Also, if you want to see better results on using cryogenic cooling, try wrapping the coil around the discharge line on the intercooler with smaller diameter lines. You'll increase your surface area to volume ratio and increase the cooling capacity of the CO2 while also decreasing the amount of gas required per degree of cooling.

[randywestrum]

I’ve thought for years about a closed loop low pressure (R-12) refrigerant “tilt coil”as a charge cooler. Only moving part would be a mechanical pivot at the bottom of the coil. As refrigerant liquid flashes to gas in the tilted side of the coil the superheated (cold) gas would migrate to the coil high side condense to liquid, the coil would tilt and start the process over. The only requirement is warm airflow passing through the coil.

[phillippresley]

Love you guys, great info..yet I've got one for you...co2 with water injection..both on fuel and intercooler. Can even over tube the intake tube...way denser air...

[wheel]

Windshield washer fluid is cheaper and easier my Evo came stock with it and it works really good after I’ve been driving and have saturated my intercooler with heat

[michaelclanton]

I want to run co2 instead of water in the intercooler in my car under a roots blower using a nos solenoid. Thanks for the tip on using the solenoid.

[davidjames]

Would like to see a air to air vs a water to air intercooler test. Trying to decide if the added weight and hassle of the ice is worth the power gains

[suprakillavr]

you 100% can air to air intercool a roots style supercharger. In fact the Thunderbird Supercoupe had that exact configuration.

[billballin]

Also, yes there are air to air intercoolers for roots blowers. The ford t bird super coupe had one as well as there being aftermarket options to install them on GM 3800 engines.

[PMDW]

The lower boost pressure with the intercooler can also be attributed to pressure drop across the intercooler if it's restrictive. You would need to measure boost before and after the Intercooler to know for sure.

[MustGoFasterVR]

Put the inter-cooler on an NA engine with the C02 chiller. Artificial cooler air / DA modifier. Would be interesting to see if cooler air would out weigh the intake restriction.

[jamesmoore]

I wish you guys would just post screenshots of the dyno results. The camera on a tv thing doesn't show enough definition, and I can't tell the colors apart.