Hey Jokers, I was looking the other day at the Cobalt SS and wondering if there would be any gains from improving the heat exchanger for the intercooler. Any idea how good the stock unit is? Efficient? Does it get heat soaked?

(Like the ported blowers) The Cobra's get gains from replacing the heat exchanger for the intercooler. Thought it might translate into a few hp for you guys too.

Thoughts on whether it would be worth it?

 

I think stock setup, the intake charge temperature isn't that high, but as soon as you toss a pulley in, that is going to be a great mod.

What a helpful SRT-4 owner to have around

 

I was thinking that. Hopefully someone steps up to do some testing.

Despite what some might think, I want to see you Jokers tearing up the track.

 

you also might want to look into a co2 sprayer for the heat exchanger.

 

Yeah the grand am cup cobalt has a beefed up intercooler core. Maven posted about it some time ago. It's a dual pass system. If you search the forums you should be able to see something about it.

EDIT: Found it for you.

 

Thanks Zinner, I was more thinking of the upgraded heat exchanger rather than the intercooler (ie. they refer to it as the intercooler radiator). From that quote it appears they have an upgraded part, perhaps it will be made available to you all. However it would be better if you could keep the A/C.

 

Yeah when I talked to Maven more he said they probably won't lose the A/C on the consumer upgraded version. I think they lose the A/C in the grand am cup cobalt because they don't use it anyhow and it's extra weight.

The A/C condenser, radaitor and intercooler radiaitor are all sandwhiched together.

 

I was thinking about this a while ago. You could do a pretty basic test with nothing more than a good thermocouple. Stick it at the OUTLET of the heat exchanger - ie measure the temperature of the coolant entering the manifold. If the heat exchanger were 100% efficient, the coolant temp would be the same as ambient. Obviously it's not - the higher it is above ambient, the more you'd benefit from a better heat exchanger.

Now I just gotta find a thermocouple and a good place to put it.