looking at FMIC cores and thinking about what's out on the market
06-03-2003, 01:11 PM
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looking at FMIC cores and thinking about what's out on the market
I am looking at core flow rates on Bell's website. It seems that cores that have long runners don't flow well. And ones with short runners flow very well. So in other words, side to side flowing coolers don't flow even close to up and down ones. So how come so many tuners use side to side? I can't see how they can flow enough when looking at Bell's site, the core sizes similar to the EVO other side flow FMIC's out there barely flow anything. FOr example, 3x24x10 core flows 250 on Bell's site. That sounds way too low for most of our setups. As far as I know, the big turbos are flowing over 400 cfm, so we want at least that much flow from the FMIC, preferably more. What I was told that you should multiply the hp you need the FMIC to flow by 1.5, and that the CFM flow the intercooler should flow. So what am I missing with these side flow units? How are these cores flowing enough air to be effective? Are there different types of designs?
06-03-2003, 02:00 PM
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The problem with doing a top to bottom fmic is
we have a setup that has to go in from one side since the turbo is on that side of the car and out the other side since the intake manifold is on that side. Now on the eclipse the hot and cold side come in from one side of the fmic, this makes it much easier to do a top/bottom setup. Now you can do one on your car but the in/out pipes will not look right or you will have to cover them up so they cant be seen, or you do what APR did and end up adding more tube which adds more volume of space that has to be filled before even getting to the fmic.
BTW when your comparing core sizes, your forgetting 1 important part of the core and that would be the size/type of the tube that is used.
BTW when your comparing core sizes, your forgetting 1 important part of the core and that would be the size/type of the tube that is used.
06-03-2003, 02:37 PM
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I think the EVO core is more like
2" thick x 14" tall x 20" long. If you notice the taller the core is (more tubes) the more cfm it can handle, but as you go longer with the core the more the cfm drops. I think that is the exact reason a top/bottom fmic works better since the core has more tubes but are much shorter.
06-03-2003, 03:04 PM
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or I could cut the cross pipe
I have to take my car to this local custom chop I found....just to get a price and opinions on that will work well and look right.
06-03-2003, 03:18 PM
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I realize top to bottom flows more..but having an end tank on the bottom
make the intercooler sit too high in the S4 bumper, so the entire core isn't visible...and that looks a little weird.
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06-04-2003, 07:18 AM
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My spearco core:
I got mine from ebay. It is a 22"x6"x3" core, Spearco bar and plate design. It flows 600cfm, with a 1.5psi or less pressure drop at 600cfm. It is the Absolute largest you can fit in the S4 bumper w/o hacking it up. The other option is the core that is 20" wide, that one flows 560cfm and would make the piping a little easier.
XR4Tic has a program that shows intercooler efficency and I played with it for a little while. The top to bottom design is certainly more efficient, but did not prove to be so much more that I was willing to sacrifice the look in an S4 bumper. Sorry - every once in a while form does not follow function I guess... my bad.
XR4Tic has a program that shows intercooler efficency and I played with it for a little while. The top to bottom design is certainly more efficient, but did not prove to be so much more that I was willing to sacrifice the look in an S4 bumper. Sorry - every once in a while form does not follow function I guess... my bad.
06-04-2003, 10:29 AM
#10
Re: looking at FMIC cores and thinking about what's out on the market
Side to side or top to bottom really doesn't matter.
Its how long the core's run is, and how many tubes and how much surface area the cooled flow has to flow in and over.
I haven't looked at Bell's site, but I'll bet he was comparing pressure drops across different cores. A short core with a delta P of say 1psi will have a higher flow than a core of 2-3x its length with the same delta P.
Its how long the core's run is, and how many tubes and how much surface area the cooled flow has to flow in and over.
I haven't looked at Bell's site, but I'll bet he was comparing pressure drops across different cores. A short core with a delta P of say 1psi will have a higher flow than a core of 2-3x its length with the same delta P.