GTM Performance Engineering 370Z SUPERCHARGER KIT PRESS RELEASE

Xan · 05-12-2010, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SAM@GTM

From that link...

Air vs Water

For automotive street applications, air-to-air technology is easy to install, highly effective, extremely reliable since it has no moving parts, and requires no maintenance. Air-to-water intercooler systems, on the other hand, are much more difficult to install as they contain an intercooler, a separate radiator to cool the water, a water tank, and a pump. But probably the biggest drawback to air-to-water on the street is that this technology requires the addition of ice to match the efficiency of air-to-air technology. Additionally, the requirement of ice and the possibility of pump failure or leakage means that air-to-water is also inherently less reliable.

For race-only applications, air-to-water works well since the need to add ice at the track prior to each run is not a big drawback. The other issues are the same as listed above for street applications, and efficiency will be comparable with the use of ice.

Not trying to start and argument, as that would be pointless in the GTM SC thread, but I did want to add some perspective.
I think a lot of the merits of an air to air cooler have been mentioned and I’m not disputing these.

As for the air to water cooling, you do not need to add ice to match the efficiency of an air to air cooler. Water is a more efficient to draw out heat, think about it, how many air cooled engines are there today? The possibility of adding ice is just an added benefit of this type of system as by doing so you can cool the intake air below ambient, something that is impossible to do with an air to air cooler. In reality this is only useful when you’re for instance doing a drag race.

An additional benefit is that typically an air to water cooling will have a lower pressure drop compared to an air to air cooler, based on their design.
Which as a result means the your SC can be used more efficiently for engine performance.

Another benefit is that you have more freedom where you place the intercooler with and air to water cooler then you have with an air to air cooler. So you can for instance avoid putting it in front of your radiator and not have air that has been heated up from your intercooler going into your radiator and making your engine cooling less effiecient. Which in the VQ engine is a welcome benefit)

And finally there is the fact that an air to water cooler has less trouble with heat soaking. When your car is standing still, either before an autox run or just in traffic, your air to air cooler isn’t cooling. However the pump on the air to water cooling is still running and will keep the temperature spikes from such a heat soak in control.

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