An intercooler increases the power and efficiency of a motor. This intercooler can be operated air or water cooled. In a water cooling, the engine heat is delivered to a separate cooling circuit. The air-water-air intercooler is a very special type, which is used for example in racing.
How does an air-water-air intercooler for the car work?
In the case of an air-to-air charge-air cooling system, the cooling effect of an air-cooled intercooler is further increased by spraying with water. For this purpose, a certain design effort is required, which can afford among other tuning workshops. It is worthwhile if the performance is to be increased very much. Also to the subsequent maintenance, the holder must think. Therefore, there is the Air-water-air intercooler almost only in racing. A challenge in tuning is that the vehicles with their higher performance must still meet the usual approval criteria for road legal approval and therefore other vehicle parts such as the body and the brakes are adapted to the extra power. However, the air-to-air intercooler system is evidently on the rise, as it is now also being built into production vehicles, including the Subaru Impreza WRX STi.
What does the charge air cooling effect?
The charge air cooling system reduces the intake air temperature of the supplied combustion air. This increases due to the compression in the turbocharger. The intercooler is located between the compressor and the inlet valve. Chiller air has a larger mass at the same volume (like hotter air) and thus contains more oxygen, increasing combustion power. With a Intercooler The engine performance can be increased significantly with better efficiency. Physically, this is due to a lower initial temperature in the so-called Carnot process (Conversion of thermal to mechanical energy and vice versa in the piston engine). By intercooling, the consumption can be reduced, which in turn improve the exhaust emissions. Therefore, intercoolers for modern, powerful engines are practically indispensable. The costs of the air-water-air intercooler systems are likely to decline in the future, so that these particularly efficient intercoolers could be installed much more in series in the future. Currently they are still a priority of the tuning scene.
