Fixin' to be unique

[Turbineguy]

So after just dumping $1k into my brakes and changing all fluids to Motul the next step is to upgrade my intercooler upgrade. Already have a Spearco but wanted to go with something more at home on a street/auto-x car so out goes the Spearco and in goes a custom air to water intercooler with dual fan exchanger and 5 gallon reservoir. Alot of research has already gone into this over the last 4 months and I decided to have a go at it and see how it pans out. Through all of my searching on the big Subby sites I found a sum total of 3 STI's with an air to water. Two are dedicated drag cars and the other one is a ghetto DIY using the ATW from an Aussie Subaru Liberty(Legacy here in the states). I'm doing this for the performance possibilities but the uniqueness is a bonus.

Updates to follow.

[Accord2nrz]

Nice idea T! You have to take pics and see how it goes. I haven't heard from ron yet up here, but I do alot of the airspace stuffs. I've already decided to pull the motor completely and start over. the goal is 624whp reliably.

That subie is definetly going to be unique! Hey i was thinking of trying to take the car to the frame or just get a scrapper at the junkyard and build my AWD honda accord. I've been studying the frame and it's possible with the subies drivetrain but mating the tranny and engine up is the challenge.

I know... I know... =)

[Turbineguy]

Just going out on a limb here but have you looked at any of the drive train stuff from the Honda CRV? They came with an AWD option and may be a source for some conversion work. 600+whp and reliable don't usually go together except in a few cars but I think it could be done with some serious effort and good parts. If something breaks it's an upgrade opportunity:)

[Dzaster]

Nice! I've done a little research on the system myself when I was searching out an intercooler. I cam across a crazy deal on an FMIC so I went with thta instead.

Pics of the progress would be pretty cool to watch as welll.

[Accord2nrz]

Good point, but im not jackin your thread there. you gonna post up pics on your upgrade right T?

[Turbineguy]

Naturally. As soon as I get the whole thing rollin'.

[bluesnowgt]

id love to see how things are routed. i wonder how much the air to water i/c helps intake temps.

helpin zach work on his subie helped me see how things are arranged and how things are set with the boxer engines. street tuned 16 lbs is torquey for his subie with an upgraded intercooler and i/h/e. he needs a wideband, meth, and another turbo to make more (reliably).

[Turbineguy]

id love to see how things are routed. i wonder how much the air to water i/c helps intake temps.

helpin zach work on his subie helped me see how things are arranged and how things are set with the boxer engines. street tuned 16 lbs is torquey for his subie with an upgraded intercooler and i/h/e. he needs a wideband, meth, and another turbo to make more (reliably).

The core will be in the standard top mount location with some custom fabed brackets. If possible the turbo will be reclocked so the outlet points vertical. A tapered pipe will be used to go from the turbo outlet to the core which has a 3" inlet. The water lines are connected on the passenger and driver sides of the core-one in and one out. The heat exchanger will go in the same place as a front mount. The water flows from the reservoir to the core and then through the exchanger and back to the reservoir in the trunk. The hardest bits will be the pipe from the turbo to the core, mounting the BPV, and the bracketry. I'm also picking up this little toy to get some real numbers on temps and IC efficiency.

http://www.intensepower.com/noname26.html

My ECU starts to pull timing when intake temps go north of ~127 degrees and pulls out more as the temp goes up. Even with my cold air intake that routes into the fender I can get temps well over 100 degrees from a heatsoaked intercooler if I'm sitting still for any period of time. This will happen waiting to stage at the strip but the same thing happens when waiting at the line for an auto-x run which is a bigger deal to me. I ran a short ram intake for awhile that had the filter under the hood. The intake temps would never be less than 20 or so degrees above ambient and would shoot over 150 degrees when not moving. With my cold air temps are always ~5 degrees over ambient and I sometimes see 2-3 at highway speeds. The air to water will allow much more stable post intercooler temps which allows for finer tuning and more consistent power. When this is added in with my water/methanol injection I should be able to see post turbo/IC temps at the throttle body no more than ~15-20 degrees over ambient at 24-26psi. Add in some ice to the reservoir and sub ambient temps are pretty easy to accomplish. Should be fun.

[Accord2nrz]

I think this is the same application for my wifes' tiburon it's an icebox system for the super charger using two opening on the side that are routed to the a liquid to air cooler via water pump mounted on the front of the motor. the whole setup is upwards of 800 beans , but i plan on doing that after I receive the stage 2 clutch and 8 lb flywheel i plan on putting in with an upgraded steering assembly and tune for her car.

[ND_Neon_Guy]

wow interesting I would love to see this as always your upgrades are well thought out and planned always looking great and professional.

Good luck

[Accord2nrz]

lol you must be talking about T =)

[ND_Neon_Guy]

of course