3.2 DID intercooler upgrade

[Silver Fish]

Brilliant posts on an interesting topic!!
I will be watching this as I have searched this forum previously for new intercooler info and failed.

I know it is early days, but what are intercooler kits worth and what power gains would you expect for the trusty NP?

[stigmata]

Interesting thread. Do you have any images of the factory intercooler? Would it be possible to replace the OEM unit with an aftermarket one with a better core but place it in the factory position?

I agree with what you say about intercooler designs and efficiency. I have a FPV FG F6 sedan. When we data logged IAT's on the dyno with the stock cooler IAT's shot up from 36 C to 59C in one power run, running 15psi boost. Replaced the factory cooler with a Process West unit and IAT's are typically 8-10 deg higher than ambient now.

I will take some pics of the factory cooler and post them soon. We havent ruled out replacing the factory cooler with a custom made unit built with a high effeciency core. The problem is though, that several downfalls still remain with this idea, we are limited to a cooler not much bigger than OEM, there is stuff all air flow and the position of the cooler invites damage. Not a bad spot for a high speed road going vehicle, less than ideal for a 4x4. We should have the new core arrive from PWR tomorrow, I will post some pics of this system for you guys as we develop it

[stigmata]

Brilliant posts on an interesting topic!!
I will be watching this as I have searched this forum previously for new intercooler info and failed.

I know it is early days, but what are intercooler kits worth and what power gains would you expect for the trusty NP?

Its hard to say what power to expect as every vehicle differs with air flow requirements etc. My personal belief is that it will make a fair amount of difference given the base line thermal testing and restrictivness of the OEM cooler. People towing should notice a big improvement. As an example we just completed the upgrading of a D4D 3.0L Hilux intercooler. We fitted a chip, exhaust and a much larger fan forced intercooler. Power went from 84rwkw stock to a lazy 106 rwkw with no increase in boost pressure and the chip set rather mild as the customer was more than happy with the new power on tap. A cooler upgrade always responds exceptionally well to some increases in fueling as the intake charge has become a lot cooler, thus more dense as I'm sure you are aware. As you said, its early days yet but I'm quietly confident. Pricing is still to be determind but would be somewhere around the 1400 mark I believe, not too sure as its not my department. Will keep you posted on development progress

Kind regards

[stigmata]

Hi Guys

I hope everyone is well

Well we got back into some R&D time with the NP 3.2 Paj in the last couple of weeks, with all day today being focussed on getting the cooler mounted and plumbed up.

As you all know in regards to the thermal load testing we carried out on the OEM cooler, there was some major shortfalls with its performance. I personally belive that this is due to the location and size of the cooler. As far as coolers go I think the OEM unit would be great if it were larger and had adequate airflow and it wasnt in a position to become damaged (read) EASILY! lol The unit itself is very light weight, which is very good if you want to transfer thermal energy. But, because the tubes are so small and the cooler is not very tall (not many tubes in stacked height) the air speed through the tubes would be tremendous thus not giving the intake charge adequate time to transfer its thermal energy with the wall of the coolers tubes.

This is the very reason why we have opted for a much larger core. The core we are currently using in development is a PWR unit which measures 400x300x60mm. It has more than double the flow area and more importantly triple the flow volume. This extra flow "room" means that as the heated intake charge passes through the cooler the air speed slows giving the heated charge time to transfer its thermal energy with the tubes walls. I hope I havent lost anyone or put you to sleep! lol

I have attached some pics of the core, the layout and manufacture of tanks and the cooler as fitted by the end of today. We are hoping to have the 10" Spaal fan wired up in the morning and then get some dyno time in along with some real time thermal load testimg in road conditions. I look forward to letting you all know the facts and figures hopefully tomorrow

Take care all, Kind regards

[stigmata]

A couple more pics

[Jords]

Looking great, some nice clean work there. Will it fit all DiD CRD's?

[rotare]

As has always been the case Jon, the quality of your workmanship is up there with the best of them . This is a terrific thread and will be watched with interest by many. Thanks for sharing mate .

Regardes, Sean

[stigmata]

Looking great, some nice clean work there. Will it fit all DiD CRD's?

Thankyou for your kind words

I am hoping that it will be able to fit all DID 3.2's in the Paj frame. Not to sure abot the GEN 4's but hopefully

Kind regards

[stigmata]

As has always been the case Jon, the quality of your workmanship is up there with the best of them . This is a terrific thread and will be watched with interest by many. Thanks for sharing mate .

Regardes, Sean

Good on ya Sean, thanks mate. Looking forward to hitting the rollers 2moz! Cant wait for some boost in my bus tho! LOL

Kind regards

[stigmata]

Just spent an hour and a half writing up todays findings and posting pics and then the page wouldnt load! What the!!!??? Is there a time out or something when this forum will log you out? Aaargh

[BarryJ]

I have had a couple of timeouts when trying to load pages over the last half hour or so.

[stigmata]

Ok here we go again! We ran out of time today to fit the bonnet scoop to the NP so we couldnt do any on road testing as the cooler obviously had no air flow. We finished plumbing the cooler and fitting of the 10" Spaal fan by early afternoon.
On first drive of the Paj with the new cooler it instantly felt sooooo much stronger and power delivery felt absolutely seamless. The other amazing thing was very low post cooler temps even with a closed bonnet and no external airflow to the cooler.

On the dyno with the old cooler we recorded a best of 84 kw's and inlet temps were in excess of 120degC. We ran up the Paj today with the new cooler on the same dyno way with 3 power runs. Instanly it reeled of 91 kw's. I feel that this is an awesome result on a stock vehicle for just a cooler change. Remember you can only make as much power as your next limiting factor! The real outstanding achievement was the post cooler temps which I have listed below

OEM COOLER UPGRADE COOLER
first power run 116degC 37degC
2nd power run 126degC 45degC
3rd power run - 51 degC

Power comes on much sooner and is held for over 25% longer. Temp reductions like this would really benefit from some extra fuel via chip.

I have rushed this post as I dont want to loose all my typing again. Also the kids are getting very hungry! I will post some more details soon

kind regards

[NT GLS]

Ok here we go again! We ran out of time today to fit the bonnet scoop to the NP so we couldnt do any on road testing as the cooler obviously had no air flow. We finished plumbing the cooler and fitting of the 10" Spaal fan by early afternoon.
On first drive of the Paj with the new cooler it instantly felt sooooo much stronger and power delivery felt absolutely seamless. The other amazing thing was very low post cooler temps even with a closed bonnet and no external airflow to the cooler.

On the dyno with the old cooler we recorded a best of 84 kw's and inlet temps were in excess of 120degC. We ran up the Paj today with the new cooler on the same dyno way with 3 power runs. Instanly it reeled of 91 kw's. I feel that this is an awesome result on a stock vehicle for just a cooler change. Remember you can only make as much power as your next limiting factor! The real outstanding achievement was the post cooler temps which I have listed below

OEM COOLER UPGRADE COOLER
first power run 116degC 37degC
2nd power run 126degC 45degC
3rd power run - 51 degC

Power comes on much sooner and is held for over 25% longer. Temp reductions like this would really benefit from some extra fuel via chip.

I have rushed this post as I dont want to loose all my typing again. Also the kids are getting very hungry! I will post some more details soon

kind regards

They are excellent results. EGT's are directly proportional to IAT's, as you are probably aware. Thefore with lower IAT's you can put in more fuel without EGT's going through the roof. I'll be interested to see what results you get once more fuel is injected.

I've been toying with the idea of a turbo and intercooler upgrade for my NT. I've been recommended to go with a GT28. I see you're looking at the GT35. Won't that induce a lot of lag?

[stigmata]

They are excellent results. EGT's are directly proportional to IAT's, as you are probably aware. Thefore with lower IAT's you can put in more fuel without EGT's going through the roof. I'll be interested to see what results you get once more fuel is injected.

I've been toying with the idea of a turbo and intercooler upgrade for my NT. I've been recommended to go with a GT28. I see you're looking at the GT35. Won't that induce a lot of lag?

Lol, the 35/82R for my bus is chosen because I have a 3.5L petrol. I dont think it would come on boost on a 3.2 diesel! I dont know how far the OEM 3.2 DID turbo will go. Should be good for 110rwkw's? maybe. Thats getting up there for a four banger oil burner!

Kind regards

[NT GLS]

Lol, the 35/82R for my bus is chosen because I have a 3.5L petrol. I dont think it would come on boost on a 3.2 diesel! I dont know how far the OEM 3.2 DID turbo will go. Should be good for 110rwkw's? maybe. Thats getting up there for a four banger oil burner!

Kind regards

Haha, I should have read your signature a little closer! A GT35 on the V6 should make it sign along.

The OEM turbo on my NT is running out of puff by around 3200-3500rpm, boost tapers off rapidly. Starts off around around 22-24psi and drops to under 18psi.

My only concern is how the PCM will cope with a non VNT turbo installed. I plan on running 22psi (within PCM boost limits), add a custom made front mount and retune with the Chip-it unit.