Intercooler details

[trackerjack]

Hi folks,
Can anyone help with the MX5 turbo special I am building?
Question I am using a nice shiny alloy rad and have a Saab intercooler, the engine sits back in the chassis and the rad right up front and I want to put the intercooler in front of said shiny rad, however it means that the distance between the turbo and inlet would end up about a metre, is this too far?
Would it be better to site it in line behind the rad closer to the engine?

Also it came with ERL water injection, does anyone know about these (it has all the plumbing and ECU controller as luckily I have the donor cars complete loom.
Thanks in anticipation.

[MX-5 Lazza]

On a turbo throttled volume (i.e. the volume of air between turbo, through the IC & pipework to the engine) makes very little difference. It can be a problem with superchargers which is why the dual throttle kit was developed (throttle on the back of the SC as well as in the stock position) but with a turbo the throttle stays in the stock position anyway. There is a turbo kit that fits on the back of the exhaust pretty much in the boot and the pipework runs the length of the car. That is supposed to drive just like a turbo on the manifold

[Phil @ P5]

What SAAB intercooler? In and out on the same side? I changed one of these may be 18mths ago to a generic aftermarket unit and the difference in power was huge. That thing had so much back pressure the tiny T25 was spinning its socks off to get 12psi at the manifold.

Might be worth checking it out before fitting it.....

P

[trackerjack]

Thanks lads so the distance should be no bother but it is an in out on the same side and now you have given me doubts.
How about a charge cooler as I have one of these on my Quantum 2+2 RST and it seems fine and is compact.
What cooler did you use Phil?
Cheers Jon

[deviant]

Assuming you are building a fairly sensible road car a generic ebay sourced intercooler will do the job for you.

[Phil @ P5]

trackerjack said:

What cooler did you use Phil?
Cheers Jon

A chap was breaking his FM2, so we used the IC and piping from that. They don't seem anything special though and are confirmed made in China. Perhaps look for something a little more money than the cheapest and you should get a good result.

Oh, if you want to support a UK business, http://www.forgemotorsport.co.uk/ have some good universal options at a reasonable price. Their product development manager is Chris Lloyd who happens to run a very nice NA with a M2 built engine and MoTeC ECU. His engine bay has been stripped of any clutter ;o)

HTH
Phil