to intercool or not to intercool. this is the question!

[Redlined]

Have me an SS. loving the tar out of it. I know it wont be long before the "bigger harder faster" bug bites me and ill want to start modding so figured Id pose some questions.

First. Why? What is the benifit of adding an intercooler to a SS legacy? I dont mean "it cools the injected gasses causing the fuel to become more dense allowing more fuel to be shoveled into the engine allowing for an increase in global warming" I mean. Is it worth it? Is the differance noticable by "buttdyno"? Or am I looking at 15 hours of work and $150+ for 10 horsepower?

Been scanning some of the posts about installing WRX intercoolers. Looks rather complicated. Is a front mount easier to install? Is a front mount better? (outside the obvious increase in cooling surface and readily available air flow) Apples being apples and oranges being oranges Id rather go with a top mount unless a front mount is radically better.

Is there a reason I see so many bare metal Intercoolers? I've been chalking it up to "lookie what I got! Roxorz!". Yes Virginia, there IS a reason that Radiators (and wood stoves etc) are black. Am I missing something?

Thats all I can think of for the moment. Just coalating data as they say.

Thanks if advance!

[92whitelegacy]

#1. Intercoolers cool the air your SUPER HOT turbo pushes through your intake, thus making the air charge cooler and denser thus alowwing more air, which means more power.

#2. A front mount is not easier, BUT a front mount is more efficient.

#3. A WRX top mount is not as efficient as as a front mount BY FAR, but is also the easiest of all intercoolers to install on our cars. alil pounding here and there and some creativity and your golden.

#4. If you want to raise the boost past..say..10psi or more YOU NEED to be intercooled or else your just hurting your turbo and pushing super heated-non-efficient air into your motor.

#5. You dont like the bare metal look.....fuckin paint it.

[Kelly]

Good questions!

Yes the cooler is worth it.

I noticed a huge difference from making my own hoodscoop which directed more air onto my WRX cooler!

The WRX cooler does involve some head scratching to get it to fit, and a ball peen. But is BY FAR easier to install than a front mount. The front mount is radically better if its big power your after, but unless your planning on installing a larger turbo, and an asston of surporting mods, dont worry about it.

Yes you can paint your intercooler black. It probablly wont effict much till' the 8 or 900 horsepower range. Some people feel it looks badass to show it (myself included) and some do not. Your call big guy.

[rallysam]

I wouldn't think of it as something that makes your car more powerful. Instead, think of it as something the needs to be done to allow you to make your car more powerful.

Another factor - If you autocross, rallycross, or drag, then top mounts tend to get heat-soaked when idling between runs and the runs are too short to cool the IC down. So, I'd like to go front mount eventually. But, on the road or track, my top mount is fine - no heatsoak even in stop-and-go.

[BAC5.2]

Black, technically, radiates more heat. But it also absorbs more heat from ambient light.

In a pure heat transfer situation, black is a more efficient color.

The differences aren't noticeable. The black FMIC on my old Legacy wasn't any more efficient than it would be if it was silver. I just painted it black because I thought it would be a bit more stealth. I was right, you could hardly see it.

[rallysam]

I just painted it black because I thought it would be a bit more stealth. I was right, you could hardly see it.

Yours was so stealth that even when I knew it was there, and I was standing 3 feet in front of your car in the daylight looking for it, it was hard to find!