Charge cooler or intercooler? Which would suit?

[Butter Face]

Looks like a nice job.

I went for air-to-air in the end, found a local company to fabricate the pipe work for me.

Relocated the throttle body to after the cooler for better running and also fitted a Forge 008 recirculating valve. Very happy with the results as temps don't seem to go above 25 when being pushed!

Mapping session on Friday to unlock the full potential.

[jontysafe]

Be interesting to see the results Escy.

I also see you`ve got a Polish ECU! How have you got on with it?

I`m looking at possibly using the tecomotive Tiny-CWA to run a CWA200 as a 2nd coolant pump. Have you got it working?

[Escy]

I've been using the test modes on the pump controller to bleed the system but I haven't driven it yet to see how it performs.

The ECU is a good bit of kit, I've not tried any others to compare with but the software is nicely laid out and it's not lacking on features; Bluetooth app, gear dependant boost control, anti lag, launch control, flat shift, etc. Seems a bargain compared to anything else at the price point.

[jontysafe]

The spec on the ecu on paper looks amazing and if you buy it in Poland it's about £450.

Is it mapped and running the engine?

I only know of one on a race Cossie and it's a bit iffy on part throttle.
Who will map it?

[Escy]

jontysafe said:

The spec on the ecu on paper looks amazing and if you buy it in Poland it's about £450.

Is it mapped and running the engine?

I only know of one on a race Cossie and it's a bit iffy on part throttle.
Who will map it?

You'll need to have a Polish copy of Windows to run it if you buy the Polish only version.

It's not mapped yet. I plan to map it myself.

I've joined an ecumaster Facebook group and there are plenty of impressive builds running this ecu. 485bhp kawasaki zx12r, 800bhp R32 Golf, etc.

[stevieturbo]

I think Craig at Dynotorque uses ECUMaster on some cars too.

On paper ECUMaster does sound good.

Although have to say, after using Syvecs I really wouldnt care what others have to offer unless it was a mega budget build. I'd be choosing Syvecs every time.
If for no other reason than their safety strategies are superb, although of course the rest of what they do is great too. And the software isnt full of graphical colourful nonsense and horrible menus than require the mousepad that makes it a nightmare to navigate through like some others ( Link, Haltech etc ). Many good ecu's are hampered by crap navigation options.

Only other consideration would be Life Racing ( they make Syvecs and have a slightly wider range of ecu's so just depends what fits your needs best really )

[Escy]

What are the safety strategies offered on the Syvecs?

[stevieturbo]

Escy said:

What are the safety strategies offered on the Syvecs?

you name it, they have it.

fuel pressure ( relative to manifold pressure ) so actually usable, lean trips, oil pressure, coolant pressure, crankcase pressure and all the usual temperature/boost related stuff and normal sensor error type functions etc

That's just safety features, obviously the level of actual control options is superb too.

Really you need to be using and understand one to appreciate how good they are ( and of course used other systems to compare it against )

One of the best features is perhaps the simplest. Connectivity ! No bullst slow unreliable connections, slow log downloads, slow comms...having to shutdown an engine to pull a datalog etc.

Slow datalog downloads on some ecu's drive me insane !

[indee321]

Hi guys i realise this is a very old thread but i came across it and found some very informative and educational comments. Im hoping some of you are still around and somehow read this comment and reply, nothing to lose !

So im about to install a low psi supercharger. It will be 6 psi max. I realise i dont HAVE to intercool at this level of boost but ive decided i want to to increase releability and gain a little power.
I was intending to go down the air to air route for all the reasons most people do but i am now thinking about a reasonably priced chargecooler / intercooler set up. The reason for that thinking is i have such a low boost to start with reducing it further ( probably by 2psi ) installing all the piping and cooler will have a dramatic effect.

What do you guys think ? As i understand it a watercool setup has minimal boost losses.

I know they are generally more expensive than air to air and i certainly get the impression its far more complicated than air to air systems to get right. But does it become more complicated as the boost gets bigger and the charge gets hotter?

For example i understand i need a pump but if the water flows to fast it can be counter productive. Many of you guys dont really rate the bosch pump but im guessing its becausw many of you are running much higher boosts than 6psi.. will the bosch be suitable for me?

Am i correct in thinking ( as opposed to an air to air system) its best for me to get the biggest sized charge cooler and (front mounted) intercooler as possible ( obvious budget restraints) what kind of sizes do you think i need to make a benneficial difference with 6psi?

Is it worth my while fitting a tank to hold extra water with a 6psi boost. I think the system would run cooler but is it worthwhile difference for me? Someone might say its essential , i just dont know.

Thanks for any advice in advance.

[eliot]

First of all you arent going to loose 2psi of boost between a2a and a2w
But then again you haven't told us anything about your setup; Engine type, layout,vehicle, supercharger type etc

[Escy]

The Bosch pump is used by OEM's (Mk1 Focus RS as an example) so it should be fine for a modest system.

[GreenV8S]

indee321 said:

As i understand it a watercool setup has minimal boost losses.

You can't generalise it like that. Either could have large or small losses depending how well they are sized relative to the air flow.

[227bhp]

GreenV8S said:

indee321 said:

As i understand it a watercool setup has minimal boost losses.

You can't generalise it like that. Either could have large or small losses depending how well they are sized relative to the air flow.

You can generalise, generally they do.

[Escy]

What's the best strategy to stop the system heating up in traffic, run fans on the radiator or turn the water pump off?

[stevieturbo]

Escy said:

What's the best strategy to stop the system heating up in traffic, run fans on the radiator or turn the water pump off?

The entire system ? what system do you have ? And which bit is heating up ?

[Boosted LS1]

Escy said:

What's the best strategy to stop the system heating up in traffic, run fans on the radiator or turn the water pump off?

Not sure exactly what your issue is but my chargecoolers ran constantly at a low pressure ignition fed and then switched to higher flow via a boost pressure switch. My chargecoolers were independant of the car's cooling system.

If you have a coolant issue then you need more air flow through the radiator. In my case I used a viscous crank driven fan.

[Escy]

It's a Boxster so mid engine, I have a pair of barrel charge cooler units in the engine bay, these get really hot as the engine bay has poor air flow. On my commute to work, the car is just crawling along with not much air flow going through the radiator up front. By the time I'm there, the coolant is hot and it's not even seen any boost as its been circulating through the hot charge coolers.

I'm currently upgrading my radiator to a larger one but the general problem will remain.

I can try and add fans to my new radiator to try and cool the system back down or just set up a strategy on my ecu where I don't circulate the coolant until say my roadspeed is >10mph. Just deciding what's the best way to go, fitting fans won't be easy

[stevieturbo]

Escy said:

It's a Boxster so mid engine, I have a pair of barrel charge cooler units in the engine bay, these get really hot as the engine bay has poor air flow. On my commute to work, the car is just crawling along with not much air flow going through the radiator up front. By the time I'm there, the coolant is hot and it's not even seen any boost as its been circulating through the hot charge coolers.

I'm currently upgrading my radiator to a larger one but the general problem will remain.

I can try and add fans to my new radiator to try and cool the system back down or just set up a strategy on my ecu where I don't circulate the coolant until say my roadspeed is >10mph. Just deciding what's the best way to go, fitting fans won't be easy

I've never really seen anyone say anything positive about the barrel style, although that's a different issue.

By coolant, I presume you mean in the chargecooling system and not the engine coolant ? What temperatures are you seeing ?

Let's face it, if you're just sitting in traffic, there is probably no need at all to be circulating water. Just let the hot water sit there, and have a reservoir of cooler water in the front and radiator ready to be pumped into the cores once there is a need for it.
Either that, or as you say you should have suitable fans and radiator anyway, to try and keep all the water in the system cool at all times which shouldnt be that difficult really ?