Does intercooler improve performance?

[james_gt]

I did a 93 turbo legacy swap into gc8 95 impreza. I just got a wrx intercooler for it and I was wondering if the intercooler made the car any quicker or if there was a noticeable difference. Also I was wondering how to remove the coolant tank in order to fit the intercooler. Thank you.

James

[georryan]

I'm not speaking from experience so take that with a grain of salt, but from what I've heard the intercooler does help. The car pulls harder at stock specs sapposedly and I vaugely remember something about less engine wine.

The coolant tank wasn't removed, just relocated and new hoses were put in that were long enough for the move. I think Brat4by4 has some pictures of his coolant tank in a different location. Look up posts in the picture section that talk about intercoolers. You'll find plenty of pictures.

[LegacyPunk]

I put a WRX IC in mine and it made a hell of a difference. you can just move the coolant tank out of the way or just put it somewhere else, the only downside is figuring out how to connect the IC to the turbo. Check out some of the pic posts in the IC section and you should get a good Idea of how things can go.

[IggDawg]

in case you're still not sure about this (it's been a bit since your last post but you haven't replied yet ).....

it makes a LOT of difference. I noticed the boost come on a bit later, but a LOT stronger. presumably beacuse the more convoluted path is harder for the slower air to travel. or some crap. but yeah. a very worthwhile mod. you really can't do much to a turbo engine without intercooling.

I did the saab 900 IC dealie. it worked great. and certainly the price was right . I also felt better since I didn;t need to worry so much about knock and whatnot. I'd definitely reccommend it.

[JasonGrahn]

edited topic to show what the actual question is

We like accurate info here. thank you, come again!

[ciper]

Im not sure I understand why this is even a question for the board. It would be like me asking if washer fluid really makes the windsheild cleaner.

Instead of having us spend time explaining it you should read about the benefits and reasons for intercooling somewhere else. It doesnt need to be subaru specific. Heck it doesnt even have to be specific to motor vehicles!

[91White-T]

Im not sure I understand why this is even a question for the board. It would be like me asking if washer fluid really makes the windsheild cleaner.

LOL

[warlord]

what sort of silly question is that?

anything that makes the air denser is gunna make the car faster, because the denser the air the more gas can be mixed with it.

[THAWA]

That's not a silly question. It's quite legitimate, not everyon knows everything about everything. Did you stop to think that maybe he didn't know that an intercooler made the air denser or maybe he knew that but didn't know that denser air is good? There's no reason to be rude just to be rude, leave that attitude on nasioc please.

[NuwanD]

I definately noticed improved torque as well as power throughout the entire powerband, i did not feel more lag than stock but the increased low end torque may have made up for any added lag... definately worthwhile mod

[warlord]

ok, its not a silly question, it was a silly reply.
but anything that cools a) the incomming air or b) the fuel/air mixture (including water) will normally make more power

[vrg3]

It's also definitely possible to reduce performance with an intercooler installation that's not well thought out. The power loss due to restriction caused by a shoddy intercooler installation can exceed the power gain due to the cooling of the intake charge. Couple that with the tendency for top mount intercoolers to heat soak and it's easy to imagine an intercooler installation not really improving performance..