intercoolers. Brand names vs Independent dealers

blackfeesty

Full member
Points
178
Location
Scotland!
Car
Focus ST
Just been looking at a new intercooler for my car (Focus ST(. the Brand name intercoolers like forge and pro alloy are all retailing at around £500 but there are intercoolers on ebay from "reputable sellers" for around £100 that claim to do the same thing is this possible or are they just cheap imitations? .... whats your thoughts ?:confused:
 
Just been looking at a new intercooler for my car (Focus ST(. the Brand name intercoolers like forge and pro alloy are all retailing at around £500 but there are intercoolers on ebay from "reputable sellers" for around £100 that claim to do the same thing is this possible or are they just cheap imitations? .... whats your thoughts ?:confused:

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!!!

They may claim to do the same thing, but they don't.

An intercooler has to remove as much heat as possible from the compressed air whilst keeping the pressure differential between the inlet and outlet as small as possible.

If the intercooler isn't efficient the air entering the engine will be too hot. If the pressure differential across the core is too great there will be an increase in turbo lag.

Increasing the size of the core will help to reduce temperatures but at the cost of having to move vast amounts of air, again resulting in increased turbo lag.

To remove a lot of heat from the air without excessive pressure drop or having to be huge, the intercooler core has to be well designed and this doesn't come cheap. For example, the bare core alone for my car cost £350 and it is only 600mm x 170mm! However, it is only one step down from F1 performance.

If you are only changing the intercooler for looks, then buy the cheapest. If you want it to actually work, then you will have to dig deep. A properly designed intercooler will give you more bhp than any combination of cone filter/decat pipe/etc/etc.
 
The only real bargains on ebay are where people sell on parts they no longer need. Especially if these are performance parts.

I doubt it will be anywhere near as good as the standard intercooler.;)
 
If you are only changing the intercooler for looks, then buy the cheapest. If you want it to actually work, then you will have to dig deep. A properly designed intercooler will give you more bhp than any combination of cone filter/decat pipe/etc/etc.

Not doubting any of that BUT the question if is it worth the extra £400 (or whatever) for a Pace or Forge etc product over another of the same capacity and placement? On your average road-going car, you'd have to say no!
 
Not doubting any of that BUT the question if is it worth the extra £400 (or whatever) for a Pace or Forge etc product over another of the same capacity and placement? On your average road-going car, you'd have to say no!

Thats what i was thinking, if i was to go for a cheap one how can i determine if its working though? will the turbo lag be very noticable? if its truly that bad i can always put the standard one back on and just fork out for a brand name.
 
Not doubting any of that BUT the question if is it worth the extra £400 (or whatever) for a Pace or Forge etc product over another of the same capacity and placement? On your average road-going car, you'd have to say no!

I would argue that on an average road-going car, what is the point of buying a cheap intercooler that may even be worse than the OE version?
 
Thats what i was thinking, if i was to go for a cheap one how can i determine if its working though? will the turbo lag be very noticable? if its truly that bad i can always put the standard one back on and just fork out for a brand name.

What are you actually trying to achieve?
 
I didn't think intercoolers helped alleviate turbo lag. If anything they could exacerbate the problem due to the larger mass of air between the compressor and the intake manifold.
 
I'm looking to reach about 300Bhp on my focus thats about the maximum i think i could safely get without having to upgrade the clutch and gearbox. And as that advert said on eBay its been used to run cars up to 400bhp so i though i would seek you opinions (appreciate all the comments btw!) . I am looking to get a good quality sports cat within a good exhaust system and an uprated intercooler. topped off with a remap on top of what ive got (stage 1 bluefin 270bhp) but im noticing the turbo starts to really kick in at just under full boost around 4000revs and the intercooler was my first thought to get the boost on quicker and at a higher pressure.

cheers again!!
 
I didn't think intercoolers helped alleviate turbo lag. If anything they could exacerbate the problem due to the larger mass of air between the compressor and the intake manifold.

Correct. A badly designed one will increase lag. Proper design will keep the lag caused by the intercooler to a minimum.
 
easy way with ebay is find one of there buyers from a few weeks back and see what they think of it i have done this a few times

have to give it a few weeks for deiv and fitting
 
easy way with ebay is find one of there buyers from a few weeks back and see what they think of it i have done this a few times

have to give it a few weeks for deiv and fitting

This is better than nothing but you are relying on the other guy knowing what he is talking about which. in my opinion, is unlikely as he is buying to a price rather than to a specification. People also have an amazing knack of persuading themselves that what they have done works rather than admit they made a mistake. Also, their car set up and spec will not match yours.

You won't find the reputable performance tuning houses using cheap coolers, I wonder why?
 
Last edited:
The only real way to know is to measure the tempearture gains/losses between the two.

Extra lag should be obvious when you dyno the car, although I doubt many drivers will notice the lag difference between two intercoolers unless one was particularly bad.

NB: Bigger is not always better.
 
Similar threads
Thread starter Title Forum Replies Date
MasterAuron Corr....Intercoolers. Technical forum 12
obi_waynne Brand new engine design Technical forum 1

Similar threads


Please watch this on my YouTube channel & Subscribe.


Back
Top