Im changing my motor setup and I am in the air as to whether go with an air to water intercooler setup, or go with a bigger air to air setup. Opinions are welcome with some sort of reason as to why you think I should go one way or the other. Thank you ahead of time.

 

air to water because i like water

 

Air to air is easier to make efficient and usually way cheaper. You can get a lot of bang for your buck with a front mount air/air setup and there's no maintanance and nothing to fail really. You add more weight, complexity, and cost with an air/water setup, and there are more things to fail. That's not to say there aren't some good reasons to have an air/water setup, but for street cars it's a hard thing to justify. You have to have a radiator, charge cooler, header tank, pump, coolant lines, charge tubing, etc. instead of just the intercooler and charge piping for something like a front mount air/air.
It really depends on the setup and the car, but I'd find it hard to lean on the side of the air/water for most situations. It's just really hard to beat an air/air for efficiency most of the time..
That being said, I'm going to replace my top mount WRX intercooler with a air/water unit this summer if I can scrape the money together. Why? I like to fabricate stuff.. If I were sane I'd just buy a bigger top mount or front mount like the rest of the world.

So to answer your question, my opinion would be a bigger air to air setup..

 

Is it for your hatch? And do you even drive it on the street anymore or is it just a drag car?

Wanna fab me up a c/f roof?




Dead serious.

 

I already have an air to air setup, and one of the reasons i dont want to go with a bigger air to air is because i dont want to do away with my fog lights. I was also under the assumption that all i would really need is a heat exchanger like an oil cooler, water pump, fuel cell or some tank to hold water, coolant lines, and then i could convert my existing Intercooler piping to work with the air to water intercooler. And in the end i figured it would only be a tad bit more than a nice air to air intercooler.

Yes this is for my hatch, and i still plan on driving it on the street, but i might slack down on how much i drive it. Then again knowing myself i probably wouldnt drive it any less lol

I also know that air to water is not really good for driving on the street because the water heats up. I figured if i had a decent heat exchanger and a nice size resevoir to hold more water that i wouldnt have that problem. I mean Josh MR2 2NR didnt have a problem and the superchargers for s2ks have air to water intercooler setups. The only downside im seeing is having a water tank somewhere. But thats also why i made this thread to see if there is more to it that i do not know about.

 

You'll need more than an oil cooler, a small radiator is really better. Oil coolers are meant for thicker liquids; they don't have the same thermal efficiency with water because the passages are bigger and the water goes right through without giving up its heat.

The air/water intercooler itself is fairly $$, I've never figured out why though.

 

I always vote Air to Water if you are running hot air. Yeah air to air is easy and can be dirt cheap, but air to water isnt as "$$" as most thing. You can place the core anywhere you want vs in the front of the vehicle or an area of cool air flow- much less charge pipe to worry about. Its a million times easier to run 1" water lines threw an engine bay than it is to run bent metal 2-3" pipe. You can cool a charge much better with air to water due to the ease of iceing a reservoir.

All in all it just depends on budget, and what type of parts you are looking for. Yeah a bling water to air is going to be $$ but you could make one for cheaper than your off the shelf greedy/hks/etc. front mount kit.

Consider this one vote water to air, not to say I dont think air to air is efficent or smart, both have alot to say for themselves..

 

Stock air to water unit from 03 Cobra....interested?

 

How much for the heat exchanger?

I heard you lectured Cassie at the cedar location.

 

air to water i always thought of it being good for high HP drag cars or supercharged cars...you can just do AIR to AIR with the water spray or spray juice into the fmic