Thread: How long/ what does it take to heat soak a intercooled set up?

SS intercooler/stage 2 or any inter cooler set up.

How long does it take for it to get heat soaked and not work very well? What do you (as the driver) need to do in order to make the car so hot that the intercooler doesn't preform good.

Thoughts?

It can take anywhere from hours to minutes, it all depends on how hard you drive. Beat on it like a red headed step child, or go to the drag strip, and it'll get hot quick.

Some have gotten ingenious, putting the heat exchanger in the trunk inside an ice bath, or using the A/C core as a chiller in front of the heat exchanger... All requiring a whole bunch of extra work and time, introduces potential problems, and makes using the car as a daily driver impossible or impractical.

It's all up to what you're doing to the car, with the car, and how much you're willing to spend.

My thoughts are: if he's worried about heat soak, then most likely he's either at the track, or trying too hard to make a w-body go fast.

If it's just a daily driver that one would want to make whine like crazy with a tiny pulley, just for the giggles, then heat soak isn't an issue one would think about.

a standard short stack intercooler with the core and a Scirocco-type FMHE will heat soak in a 1/4 mile pass or about 15 seconds at WOT on the street and take about 10 minutes of recirculation to cool back down (my experience at the track - YMMV). The core will transfer heat pretty well, but the key to a SSIC is capacity -- you need a big FMHE, reservoir, and a good pump to get good recovery out of it.

I'm not racing the car, it's simply a daily driver that doesn't get WOT all the time, here and there but isn't getting anywhere close to racing temps. I think with constant flow of good air it won't heat soak but i'm just wondering how badly they get when used. I know everyone bad talks the SSIC set up and all but if it's daily driven i don't see how even the smallest IC can get so badly heat soaked it can't do any good.

If you aren't racing or even going WOT very much, then a SSIC will do you just fine and probably won't ever heat soak.

The only bad talking was before the w-body platform died, and everyone was still trying to go fast.

okay cool thanks! Yea i like them. wasn't ready to drop over 100 Canadian on a massive IC











mine does go fast......

Originally Posted by mguzzo

a standard short stack intercooler with the core and a Scirocco-type FMHE will heat soak in a 1/4 mile pass or about 15 seconds at WOT on the street and take about 10 minutes of recirculation to cool back down (my experience at the track - YMMV). The core will transfer heat pretty well, but the key to a SSIC is capacity -- you need a big FMHE, reservoir, and a good pump to get good recovery out of it.

This. The ssic isn't bad as long as you stick some money into it. Well, besides the vacuum leak problems.

What exactly is an FMHE? is that a heat exchanger?

Front mount heat exchanger

i think i'll go for the SSIC but all i heard was bad things, like you said it was before the whole car was dead, guess guys tried pushing them to hard.

My experience was that the SSIC took away about 4 to 5 degrees of KR during a 1/4 mile run. This was on a mild 3.4 setup (3.4, front PLOG, SSIC, SR rockers, and 3" downpipe / catback plus tuning with an AFC). The car ran high 13's to 14 flat consistently. I didn't have a reservoir, just the SSIC and a Scirocco FMHE and some extra hose length.

If you decide to install the SSIC, there is a problem with a stock gasket leaving a gap in the core that can create a vacuum leak under the snout. You need to cut some extra gasket material and fill in this area.

you can PM me with any questions if you need help.

Thanks i defiantly will! intercooling is on the top of my list! so shouldn't be long now.

where are you in ontario? I'm across the border in Buffalo. Maybe with a little planning, do a mod day when you're ready and id be able to lend a hand