Intercooling

[Hangar 18]

I have a Peugeot 406 (D8) with a 2 litre 8 valve turbocharged engine. It's currently tuned for torque (the engine code is XU10J2CTE where CT = Constant Torque) and produces 200lbft torque from new and ~150hp.

I bought this car with issues a while ago and have since managed to repair them. The engine has had the head rebuilt (at the previous owner's expense) due to the factory cambelt not being replaced in time and going ping- as such I acquired a bargain of a car with only 74k on the clock!

I'd now like to test the engine and get more power out of it (ORLY?!)

One of the things I noticed when I first lifted the bonnet is the intercooler is buried amongst the aircon, battery and radiator when air is not moving across it. There is a significant change in the power delivery of the car after about 5 minutes of driving that I would have thought would be due to heatsoak. I would like to uprate the intercooler (as well as other things)- I'm not sure quite what to replace it with- I would like to put in a front mount incooler (FMIC) to cool the air the turbos forcing into the engine!

I will be running about 14/15 psi of boost from a Garrett T25 turbocharger (this is 5 more psi of boost than stock essentially) and I don't want the intercooler to be terribly visible- I'd rather go for an efficient one suited for size and psi rather than as big as possible. I don't mind making minor alterations to the bottom of the bumper area if neccesary.

Where am I looking lads and ladettes!?

 

[HDi fun]

Interesting project. A larger intercooler will help but as you say finding space for it is looking like a problem. Also, the more plumbing between tehe turbo and the I/C results in a extended turbo spool up time.

Is is possible to modify other things to increase the airflow to the existing i/c in its current position? Something else to consider also is cleaning the i/c. Over time the fins get all dirty and clogged, thsu reducing the cooling efficiency.

 

[pgarner]

is there room to move the radiator and ac further back to allow more room at the front for a bigger intercooler ?

 

[MasterAuron]

What exactly are you asking? If you don't want it to be visible get a black one or paint it black. For that boost level you will be fine with a small front mount, as small front mount with good airflow will work much better than a large intercooler with no airflow.

 

[Hangar 18]

Interesting project. A larger intercooler will help but as you say finding space for it is looking like a problem. Also, the more plumbing between tehe turbo and the I/C results in a extended turbo spool up time

The space is going to be fun... On the plus- I've already combated a lot of the spool up time so far- by using a boost controller- as by default the waste-gate actuator starts creeping open REALLY early- now it's nicely cemented in place keeping in the boost. The turbo is quite small (Garrett T25) and operates from low down.

Is is possible to modify other things to increase the airflow to the existing i/c in its current position? Something else to consider also is cleaning the i/c. Over time the fins get all dirty and clogged, thsu reducing the cooling efficiency.

I wouldn't had thought so... It's side mounted behind the headlight down the side of the radiator and aircon radiator (whatever you call it!) I'll still look at taking it out and cleaning it out with a high pressure air hose or something like that. One of my other theories is that the intercooler has taken on oil from the turbo over time and lowered in airflow- requiring maintenance.

is there room to move the radiator and ac further back to allow more room at the front for a bigger intercooler ?

If somebody would like to show me how to go about it- I'd be willing to give it a try- as yet however- I've no idea?!

What exactly are you asking? If you don't want it to be visible get a black one or paint it black. For that boost level you will be fine with a small front mount, as small front mount with good airflow will work much better than a large intercooler with no airflow.

Questions essentially- How big, where to put it, where to buy it from, what to buy with it, how anyone would suggest I'd go about altering the inside of the bumper to accommodate this. Would painting a silver one (as most I've found are) lower the cooling efficiency of the intercooler? Is there a certain grade of paint you'd recommend?

 

[pgarner]

look and see how much space youve got behind them, some flat bar from and a drill to make some brackets.
you might not get much maybe 10-15mm but thats an area you dont need to cut out of your bumper

 

[Hangar 18]

I've taken a look at a couple of videos on youtube- looks pretty simple. Since the current plumbing is 2.5" I'll stick to that for simplicity and reversibility. Are the universal ones on eBay anygood?

 

[pgarner]

wouldnt take them at their rating but would probably do for what your after. and offer better cooling than the side mount

 

[jarrus]

these engines really do respond well to tuning, bigger intercooler is a good start, also something to look at is changing the camshaft out for one from a 205 1.9 gti,

you cant push the boost past 1 bar else the ecu has a freak out and goes into limp home mode or something... i believe there is a way round this but I will need to do some more reasearch on it before giving a definate answer