questions about i30krab's vortech powercooler
 

what is the part# for the powercooler that i30krab is running underneath his hood. i went to vortech's website and i only saw them for stangs and civics. i definitely want to run this item with my charger setup. if u catch this post i30krab, just want know if you had to do any major alterations to fit this in your car since it is not advertised for maxima applications. also, how come i30krab seems to be the only one running this with the supercharger, it seems to be a beneficial mod, especially in comparison with the intercooler usage. of course this is based off of what i read on vortech's website. anyone beg to differ let me know. thanks

Biggest reason is cost IMO.

An AWIC is more suited for drag cars(short bursts), then street cars. Once you get the coolant hot, it isn't as efficient as an air-to-air IC.

Also, an AWIC is more efficient then an air-to-air IC initially especially with ice, however the time to heat saturation of the coolant is determined by the coolant reservior capacity which is pretty limited.

The AWAC will never be as "efficient" as a FMIC but the "net" is still in favor of the AWAC in the case of Maxima with S/C... With FMIC People have seen as much as a 3psi drop in boost (which can't be compensated but mere adjustment of a boost controller like on turbos - which still isn't a simple solution).

The AWAC plumbing is simpler with less than 1/2 psi drop due to the direct flow of charged air.

I've got a 2 gallon reservoir fabricated along with a front heat exchanger... If I heat soak that system, you'll see me on TV followed by pretty flashing lights or in the morgue...

I agree on the net point.

You can heat soak the system enough to drop below typical 70% air-to-air just daily stop-n-go driving not just boosting.

The amount of water you'll need depends on airflow through your front water/air heat exchangers, so if you direct enough airflow through them maybe 2-gallons will last. You should rig up a temp gauge to your water reservior and monitor how hot it gets.

Remember though that the main reason to get an intercooler is to run more boost. Pressure drops are really a moot point since you install them to run higher boost levels that you normally wouldn't be able to do non-intercooled.

For instance. The turbo I have on my 3rd gen Maxima (85-86 300zx turbo) has a boost limit of 10 psi non-intercooled and 15 psi intercooler. Anything higher than 10 psi without an intercooler would be too hot and would easily cause detonation. If I installed the intercooler without changing the pressure the final amount of boost would most likely drop a few psi. But, as you remember the reason I installed it was to run it up to 15 psi. That is pretty much the whole point of intercoolers.

Was only comparing FMIC and AWAC.

Supercharged Maximas in specific...

You are right of course but another reason is to run at the boost you are at ALREADY, safer, seeing that folks are ALREADY running smaller pullies to start off with. Some have knock, some don't depending on the individual. So if it does knock, you would be gaining back power due to the ECM pulling timing.

Not everyone need an intercooler... Agreed.

The 1/8" NPT bung is already welded in...

I probably don't really need that big of a reservoir... I never go to the track and "getting too old for this $h!+" anyways... :mardi:

SportCompactCar magazine did a vq30dek a while back that had the vortech supercharger and powercooler. Search their site maybe. It was about 2 years ago. I have the article somewhere, but I just moved, so everything is packed up.

I'd *REALLY* like to see that article.

Can anybody find it?

my awac has the iat sensor plugged into it.

i also have the heat exchanger in the front with a remote switch.

the problem with the iat in the boosting path is trying to find out how to make it stay without creating a boost leak. that was a problem that i had to fix in april.

I heard you got some boost options so I see that you've decided on one. If you don't know who it is then look at my sig and then should be able to tell.

Yeah, that is definitely true. Means that your fuel or ignition tuning isn't perfect or you went over the boost limit for not intercooling (in the case of my post above about the turbo). I'm not sure what the limits are of the s/c's so I don't know when an intercooler would be needed.

Actually I found the magazine. Its a Turbo from a couple of years ago. I might be able to hook up my scanner, cause I couldnt find the back issue on the turbo magazine website.

You are talking about the Eibach STe Maxima w/JWTs custom turbo.
http://www.greghome.com/Greg's%20Gar...CCTurboMax.htm
http://vbxmaxima.8m.com/eibachmax.html


No Powercooler though.:slant:

Nope, that isnt the Maxima I was talking about. I found the magazine with the article in it while the .org was down, and left it at my friends house. I will bring it home and have someone host the article when I scan it. The max I am talking about made even more power than that one actually.

Yeah, that was one sick puppy....JWT actually hacked the harness and ECU from a 4th gen into it. I don't think the VIAS was functional and a lot more working.

Please post that article, if possible.

I have this crazy idea of running the AC evaporator lines through the AWAC reservoir. You could get the water down to 40-50 F before a race, depending on how cold your AC runs.

i was thinking about something like that as well. does anyone know about how much power is required to turn the a/c?

The beauty of doing this is, for drag racing at least, you can run the AC while you're waiting to race, then you can turn the AC off and the water will be nice and cold. Actually, I think the compressor clutch disengages when you are at WOT anyway.

Shoot... we all think alike...LOL... Worried about icing over at the needed thermal transfer block that needs to be fabricated, though.

I've even toyed around with the thought of using Peltier coolers...

Just run antifreeze in the coolant...no problem freezing then. This can easily be done by just tapping in at the low and high pressure ports and running another evap coil, expansion valve, and collection tank.

Ford did this on the new upcoming Lightning to provide ~50hp boost for X-seconds, however they are using a LESS efficient air-to-air heat transfer method inside the intake manifold.

Its not really a "moot point", because if you had an IC with a smaller pressure drop you would get to 15 psi sooner than you would one with a larger one. So if i had an AWIC i would be seeing 15psi when you were seeing 12.5 with your AAIC. But for a streetcar i would run AAIC.

Just use a 30 shot of nitrous you wooseys! ;)

Even better.:bowdown:

I was talking to my dad about the a/c thing and he brought up a good and interesting point... running hot air over a cold surface will create condensation, condensation that will go into the engine. depending on how much is created is the more important part but if there is a lot of condensation that could potentially be a bit terminal to the engine. that'd be something worth testing out.

Sorry about my claim, I was mistaken. I hadnt read the article in a while, so thats probably why. The maxima does not have an aftercooler, just a V-1 S-trim setup with intermediate pipes and an exhaust belching out 281hp and 231tq. Stock dyno run was 188hp and 170tq. The reason I thought it had a vortech cooler on it was because there is an article right before it that has a Civic SI that is supercharged with a vortech aftercooler.\\\

June 2001 Turbo & High-Tech Performance

No problem Julio, I suspected that, since I get that magazine and I'm sure I'd have seen/heard something about it by now.

mtcookson,
I don't remember what pressure/temperature water vapor condenses to moisture, however I doubt intake air especially compressed intake charge is anywhere near those states intersection point. Also, if there was some condensation, the small amount would simply act like water injection, which people have been successfully doing for many years to lower intake charge temps. Plus, Fords super cooler new Lighting is doing this somehow, although they may only allow it to work above a certain RPM.

Not only that, but you're talking about moisture that is already in the intake air, then gets condensed out and enters the engine as droplets. The amount of water entering the engine as droplets can't be more than the amount that would have gone in as water vapor. Bottom line is the amount is miniscule.

[QUOTE=IceY2K1]No problem Julio, I suspected that, since I get that magazine and I'm sure I'd have seen/heard something about it by now.

But, the car was making that much power at only 6psi the magazine claimed. That is the amazing part. I dont keep up on superchargers that much, but I dont think that is normal.

It's not...they were full of it.

I believe it was running a smaller pulley, ie more boost, and it said "tuned ECU". Stock pulley DEK will be around 240-250whp, I think.

well i have a question.

Now that i have solved all the boost leaks and loose belt problems, I am only seeing about 8 psi on a good night. the radiator like core of my awac does not seem to take up that much more space than the stillen piping diameter. the piping also does not have as much space to travel in comparison to the aaac.

I am running a 60/40 water/coolant ratio.

ps-stephenmax, can i borrow your stock piping if i paypal you the shipping. I would like to see if that would help.

related mods are 3.33 pulley, walbro 255hp, aem fpr @ 34psi, stock injectors