Guys let me have your honest opinion. Do you believe our stock Intercooler can hold up everything the ko4 can throw at it? Or is an Intercooler upgrade a must on our STOCK turbo??? Thanks I really appreciate any feedback you guys can give me.

 

the stock intercooler is HIGHLY functional. I dont care what anyone says. When i got my car tuned by Vince. The air temp outside was 37 degrees. My IAT2 was 40 degrees. That was on the 3rd pull at 26psi. Don't waste your money on anything unless you go turbo swap. PERIOD

 

I agree 100%! If anything you might get intercooler piping. Other than that i dont see the need for a upgrade untill a larger turbo comes around the corner.

 

Thanks alot man thats how i feel about the subject. Im just trying not to worry about the things that are not really needed until I go with a big turbo. Thats why i decided to not get a bov even though it's a nice audible to hear but in the end you end up spend a couple hundred dollars on a mod that does not even help you really cause its not like the ko4 can produce enough pressure that you will NEED a bov. well im getting off topic thanks for your 2 cents keep the opinions coming guys!!



I got full bolt on's except a catback and intercooler lol....My car is running great I have just always been worried about the stock intercooler but i guess I was worried for nothing! Thanks

 

I have the Hahn Coolram Intake and it sounds like i have an actual BOV

 

I don't disagree that the OEM intercooler does the job of cooling air temps just fine. My issue is with the plastic endtanks. Just wait until you blow a chargepipe, then you'll see.

 

what aftermarket choices do we have?

 

Are you sure i'll blow a charge pipe mines seems to hold pretty dam good i got all new piping from CIA with t bolt clamps?? Or did you think i still had all stock piping?

 

and then you will have it replaced under warranty. Simple.


Most people think bigger is better. Bigger exhaust: They go out and buy a 3 inch that is marginally better than our 2.5 mandrel stock.

Bigger intercooler: Buy a monster intercooler that will give you a boost drop 0.5-1.5 psi on an already small and let's face it, running out of breath in the top end ko4.

Bigger piping: Go and buy huge piping with stickers on it that all it does is harm air velocity through the system and then wonder..how did that (insert car here) beat me?

Only thing that it's worth it as of today is catless downpipe and KN just because it gets rid of ...well the cats and help in/out breathing.

If you want to improve on these cars, KISS it.

Keep it simple, stupid.

Better tires, practice driving..NLS, launching, learn how to brake boost, LOWER weight..go on a diet, get rid of stupid wings that increase downforce on a fwd car, improve aerodynamics ie..lower properly etc.

 

It's not simple when you end up stranded on the side of the road because of a crack in your endtank.

 

Even simpler question for you...

Can you drive the car without boosting??

I rest my case unless you drive above 0 mmHg ALL THE TIME.

 

Depends on the size of the leak. If the leak is big enough, the car won't run. Nothing but black smoke and bogging.

 

You really have no idea how an engine works let alone a turbocharged vehicle do you? Please do us all a favor and wrap your car around a tree. Stick to bicycles.

 

dam dude that was a bit harsh lol

 

I think I'll just stick to ******* your Mom, instead.

 

LMAO DUDE I DIDNT MEAN TO START A FIGHT I JUST WANTED SOME INFO ON THE STOCK INTERCOOLER BUT THIS IS GREAT I WAS BORED AT WORK NOW I GOT SOMETHING TO KEEP ME ENTERTAINED!

 

Can you explain to all of us dummies just how turbo charging works?

 

I blew a charge pipe on a hwy entrance ramp and was able to drive home with it completely off...soo shouldnt you be able to with a leak in your end tank? just wondering I mean I had zero boost and the car was slow as **** but I limped it....

I concur, with a stock turbo you dont need a giant ass IC. the stock one is great but many people have issues with the plastic end tanks, I dont/havent yet. You are better off with a downpipe, new charge piping and a tune, then doing all light weight mods.

 

Literally Turbo 101. Then move up and read the others if you can grasp it all.

http://www.turbobygarrett.com/turbob...o_tech101.html

www.homemadeturbo.com

http://www.tunewithcrome.com/

www.hondata.com

My background is Hondas...spraying them, turbocharging single and double cams, vtec and non-vtec systems. Also turbocharging Mustangs. I had my own ecu that I could tune and datalog in real time.

www.tweecer.com

www.eectuning.org


I am sorry if I sound harsh, it is just some people really are this ******* dumb. SSlobalt is a great example of those who should not be allowed to reproduce making my tree wrapping method quite effective.

 

Even if theres a leak the car should still drive, under "na" power. I am wrong assuming that? I mean I did it myself. although the turbo was spooling high I had to keep it at like 30mph and a high gear to keep rpms down.

 

Nowhere in any of your links does it talk about what a turbocharged engine would do if it lost boost. Could you please click and post those areas? Or just highlight them?

In the meantime everybody else can read my explanation and choose the one they like best.

The BOOST gauge on the Cobalt is also a manifold VACUUM gauge at the other end of the scale with the higher numbers being more vacuum. It is measured in "inches of mercury". Also! A PERFECT vacuum is unobtainable. Except MAYBE in a Black hole in some other Galaxy. If the gauge is reading in that range there is a VACUUM in the manifold. Vacuum CANCELS boost and vice/versa. It is impossible to have both. A naturally aspirated engine operates with zero BOOST but does need manifold VACUUM to suck the air/fuel mixture into the engine. A good running naturally aspirated engine will produce 18 - 20 INCHES OF VACUUM. The vacuum will decrease depending on how wide the throttle butterfly is opened. As in demanded power. The BOOSTED, forced induction, engine, either turbo or supercharged, idles just fine with ZERO boost and at low throttle openings. At partial throttle openings the exhaust that drives the turbo will not spin the turbo fast enough to overcome the vacuum created in the inlet tract leaving a vacuum in it's place. If the engine is turning faster there is more exhaust which will spin the turbo faster to build more boost which overcomes the natural vacuum in the intake tract. Next time you start your car just let it sit there and idle as the engine heats and eventually goes into closed loop operation.. The RPM will drop and the vacuum will increase slightly. NLS is designed to eliminate turbo lag. When you are under full boost you are creating the maximum manifold pressure possible for that engine/turbo. If you were to shift normally the intake butterfly will will close, which will create vacuum, cancelling boost momentarily and boost will go away instantly. After changing gears and opening the throttle, vacuum goes away as the boost overcomes manifold vacuum again. NLS allows the turbo to stay spooled by NOT closing the butterfly which would allow manifold vacuum to overcome boost. Another example. If you make a fast shift normally, as you lift your foot comes off the throttle momentarily, you will hear an instantaneous, pronounced, noise of rushing air from under the hood. Kind of like pressure exiting a can of beer when you open it. This is the throttle butterfly closing and the boost that is present under full throttle escaping through the exhaust bypass because it has nowhere to go momentarily and because the turbo is producing maximum boost at that instant and must go SOMEWHERE. It can't go past the butterfly so the excess is expelled to to relieve the pressure. When the butterfly opens again the boost is allowed to continue on it's journey to the engine and you're off to the races again. But in that instant the turbo has slows significantly and has to to return to full speed/boost. That minute interruption of air flow is TURBO LAG.

To make a long story short. YES you can run a turbocharged engine with no boost but it will run like **** and probably go into limp mode because it isn't designed to operate that way. Sensors will see there is too little air flow PRE turbo and cut power drastically. Intake and output values will be off drastically. But it will run. Take the car for a ride operating normally. Everything in place and hooked up. Cruise along like a human. Hell! Even drive around town being very light footed on the throttle and you can drive with ZERO boost. Notice the boost/vacuum gauge is reading at the bottom of the scale in the VACUUM range, which also happens to be the most ECONOMIC way to drive. Maintaining high manifold vacuum, which means the gauge is reading further from zero at the BOTTOM of the gauge, is one of the tricks used by "hyper milers" to get ridiculous fuel economy. Now spike the throttle. Vacuum goes away and is replaced by boost on the other end of the scale. As speed increases boost comes down as the designed and mechanical limits of the turbo are approached. Air intake, boost, is coming closer together, to manifold vacuum, and boost goes down. Another way to explain it. You can ONLY have BOOST when the inlet PRESSURE is high enough to CANCEL all manifold VACUUM.

If I am wrong on any of these assumptions please correct me because this is the way I've understood forced induction for 50 years.



"If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of it's experienced patriots to prevent it's ruin." Samuel Adams

 

I like yours just for the simple fact this other guy did not even bother to explain in his own words anybody can copy and paste a link it does not prove to anyone your are a knowledgeable person in the area you where your intelligence was tested sorry you failed!

I cant believe I asked a Serious question and got 2 serious responses and the rest was blah blah blah blah crap! lol Someone please make it 3 SERIOUS responses to my question please?

 

I guess we did get carried away a little. But MY answer to your qustion of if the stock intercooler is adaquate for the stock turbo? The answer, according to a well respected member of this forum, is YES. The hot side pipe has some restriction and one of the mounting tabs seems a little on the flimsy side according to several forum members and the end caps on the intercooler, again according to several members are prone to breakage. I replaced the cold side pipe mainly for reliability reasons. At the cost of a new intercooler, I'll wait for the stock one to break THEN I'll decide if I want to replace it with a warranteed part or aftermarket.

Supposed to be "COLD side pipe".

 

stock intercooler CORE is perfectly fine. it flows great its just that the end tanks are garbage. so is the stock charge piping with the exception of the cold pipe but even the plastic on that can be upgraded. zzp looks like they have a nice intercooler. the performance autowerks street intercooler is good, and the hahn intercooler is nice. thats about all i would put on my core.

 

lol thanks guys sorry for breaking up the fight it was fun i atleast enjoyed it well thanks for providing the answers i wanted now I have full CIA Piping so im not so worried anymore now we can get on to round 2 continue the fight!!