I am replacing my current spearco intercooler and was curious what the difference is between say a Spearco Intercooler and E-bay Intercooler such as this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...MEWA:IT&ih=015

Thanks Guys!

JP

 

About $500 and a name.

I just got my IC on eBay. Review located here: http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=466769&page=2

 

yea, the workmanship on a Spearco may be a bit better... but it really doesnt matter. ive ran one of those XSpower intercoolers for year now and its been great.. im out growing the one i have so im going to be lookin into something larger soon. might get something like that one.

 

Do some research guys.

There is a difference besides 'name and cost'.

Whether that cost outweighs the benefits of the Spearco, Bell, etc., is up to the buyer.

 

Well, I have a Spearco on my Mustang. It is a very nice piece and of high quality.

I also just bought a cheap eBay IC that is also a very nice piece and high quality.

Both have excellent welds and both arrived in pristine condition.

What else is there to objectively compare (pressure drop vs flow for a given surface area IC)?

 

yea.. some types of intercooler cores are better than others.. my "XSpower" core is i belive very similar to a garret Core. so even the cheap ebay ones can be pretty good.

 

The only obvious difference in the two I have are in the fact that the one on my Mustang has a top feed/ bottom exit through the core and the one I got on eBay for the maxima is a side feed/exit.

This means that there are probably 2x the number of passages for the air charge to pass through on the Mustang IC and each of them is less than 1/2 the length of the passages on the IC I got for my Maxima build. Based upon this, the IC style I have on my Mustang should offer a lower pressure drop if all else was equal.

In addition, the endtanks on the Mustang IC are likely more effective at allowing a better flow distribution through the core (again decreasing pressure drop) compared to the eBay IC.


However, I was fully aware of these "issues" when I got the eBay IC. I was taking the approach that it will suffice entirely for my needs even if it isn't the absolute best layout from a theoretical flow perspective.

In my case, the money was much more important than a slightly higher pressure drop. To each their own...