Turbo Intake Setup

[Engine Dude]

Hey Guys,

Was just after some opinions on the intercooler/intake manifold setup that this car used in the US 05 race.

Just looking at the setup, there is a benefit in that the air is forced from the intercooler end tank straight into the primaries, which means the air does not go into a secondary runner; slowing down and speeding up through a small diameter pipe.

But I was wondering about the air each cylinder recieves. As the intercooler has tiny envelopes of air, would the cylinders see aditional swirl resulting from this?

Would be interesting to hear your thoughts guys, and if the guys who did this could shed some light.... would be good

Cheers

Engine dude
Australia


http://evilallianceracing.com/ipw-web/gallery/FSAE05/IMG_1531

[Dan G]

Here's the picture(s) you were linking to...

<A HREF="http://evilallianceracing.com/ipw-web/gallery/FSAE05/IMG_1531" TARGET=_blank>http://evilallianceracing.com/ipw-web/gallery/albums/FSAE05/IMG_1531.sized.jpg
http://evilallianceracing.com/ipw-web/gallery/albums/FSAE05/IMG_1532.sized.jpg
http://evilallianceracing.com/ipw-web/gallery/albums/FSAE05/IMG_1534.sized.jpg </A>

I hadn't even noticed the combined IC endtank / plenum before. Interesting idea!

My feeling is that the reduced velocity through the IC core and plenum will prevent you from seeing any drastic effects on the runners. So I'd say as far as equal flow, you're no worse off with that setup than a traditional "mid tubing" IC placement and traditional intake manifold plenum.

But like you said, it should have a positive effect in that you're not necking down to a smaller diameter tube then back out to an expansion.

[BryanH]

I did notice it and thought it a brilliant idea, the airflow out of the core is uniform low velocity and very straight compared to std setup, and lighter. The whole car was really neat.
The reverse setup is common, water cooled intercooler mounted inside the plenum which imho does the same thing to the air-flow.Look for pics of Porsche 935 intake manifold.

[Engine Dude]

When you say the air is uniform, do you mean each internal core has the same airflow? I am not sure whether this would be true, but I think the overall gain ascociated with the setup would be in the system flow.

The air from the compressor would travel to the first end tank, through the core and then into the outer end tank. The Overall changes in geometry from small cross sectional area (intake pipe) to large cross sectional area (end tank) would be..

intake pipe to end tank......1
end tank to intercooler core......2
intercooler core to second end tank.....3
second end tank to primary runners......4

If we end the flow route there.

In a plenum setup there would be

intake pipe to intercooler end tank.....1
intercooler end tank to intercooler core.....2
intercooler core to second end tank.....3
second end tank to secondary runner(and more pipework).....4
secondary runner to plenum.....5
plenum to primary runners.....6

Sorry for the really basic over explained post

The difference is two less cross sectional area changes. I have no idea how much of an affect this would have on flow in a turbocharged vehicle. In Nissan GTR's and most other hotted up street and track cars, the setup is the conventional type and they make pretty good power.

I am yet to decide which would be better, and with time permitting i think I will go the conventional type. We also wanted to have a system where we could convert back to NA during the event if our turbo system fails.

Cheers

Sam
UniSA Racing Australia

P.s Sorry for the really basically explained post!!

[Andycostin]

Sam,
The reason that cars like the Nissan GTR's run conventional style is due to the packaging constraints of the car, it would be nearly impossible for them to house the other type, and get enough airflow to cool the intake charge sufficiently, and if they could it would prob cost an arm and a leg.
As BigBird suggested in another post, turbo is a hell of a lot of work, and if you haven't designed the system yet for the 05 Aust comp, I would be leaving it for later.
A well sorted car that can compete for the whole weekend is a hard job, without worrying about turbo problems.

just my 2cents worth

[VFR750R]

I think that intercooler is bada$$. It seems like a very good solution, and defeats all my previous arguements against an intercooler, if only that tube between the turbo and intercooler could be made shorter with IMHO better turbo placement, but the idea is spot on. It seems like a great way to get both get equal flow rates to the runners and use all the intercooler area efficiently.
To the team that built it, is there a fan under the intercooler and if yes did you have a controller turn it on?

[jaimin]

If you notice from the guys working on the car, that is Helsinki Univ. car, without the massive amounts of bodywork. I never personally saw a fan, and I can't see any wiring from the pics, but a fan would no doubt assist in lowering the ambient temp inside the plenum.
My question about this setup is how much of your plenum volume is lost to the intercooler?

JTK2