amirza786
Senior Member
- First Name
- A
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2018
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- 87
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- 3,854
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- Location
- Northern California
- Vehicle(s)
- 2022 Polestar 2, 2010 Lexus IS 350 Sport
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- #1
As many of you know, I owned a 2018 Civic Si until September, and I kept it as close to stock as possible. Except for a few mods like an Acuity shifter rocker upgrade, an Acuity carbon fiber shift knob (so my hand would stop burning in the summer), and TSP's Stage 1 tune, I pretty much stayed away from other bolt-on's. Most bolt-on's add value only to the individual owner of the car. For example if I was in the market for a used car, I would completely 100 percent stay away from a modified car because I don't know about the quality of the add-on's, if they have caused any damage, or who installed them (the individual or a qualified mechanic) and were they installed properly.
I am one of those who believe OEM parts are the best, but there is one aftermarket add on that I believe adds real value over the stock component, and that is a quality performance intercooler. Earlier this year I wrote a thread on my installation of a Mishimoto Intercooler, so I will be repeating some stuff I wrote earlier. After replacing the stock intercooler with the Mishimoto, I noticed that heat soak was no longer an issue. As most people know, heat soak is the enemy of a turbo charged engine, which depends on compressed air to feed it. The more heat in the compressed air, the less dense it is. That means less air and fuel being crammed in the cylinders, and less power.
To see if the Performance intercooler was actually doing it's job, I logged a run I did on a hot day (103 degrees F), which is below:
As you can see from the log, the charged air coming in from the "hot" side (IAT) was about 145 degrees F, while the air coming thru the "cooled" side (IAT2) was 113 degrees F. That is a 32 degree difference. The cooler air is more dense, so more fuel can mixed in and the ECU doesn't have to throttle back as much. Although this was a hot day, the car ran completely normal.
To me a good quality performance intercooler is a much better way to spend your money than a CAI. I have asked several people who have used cai's and they tell me that they mostly installed them for the look and swoosh sound, and the performance boost they get from them is not much, and doesn't come on until they get moving, as cooler air doesn't get in right away (it's sucking in hot engine air at low speeds). Also, in many states CAI's are not legal unless they are CARB compliant, whereas an Intercooler has no affect on emissions.
So if you are looking for a mod that actually has a benefit, will not cause damage if properly installed, a quality Performance Intercooler will give your stock or tuned car better performance because it will heat soak less
I am one of those who believe OEM parts are the best, but there is one aftermarket add on that I believe adds real value over the stock component, and that is a quality performance intercooler. Earlier this year I wrote a thread on my installation of a Mishimoto Intercooler, so I will be repeating some stuff I wrote earlier. After replacing the stock intercooler with the Mishimoto, I noticed that heat soak was no longer an issue. As most people know, heat soak is the enemy of a turbo charged engine, which depends on compressed air to feed it. The more heat in the compressed air, the less dense it is. That means less air and fuel being crammed in the cylinders, and less power.
To see if the Performance intercooler was actually doing it's job, I logged a run I did on a hot day (103 degrees F), which is below:
As you can see from the log, the charged air coming in from the "hot" side (IAT) was about 145 degrees F, while the air coming thru the "cooled" side (IAT2) was 113 degrees F. That is a 32 degree difference. The cooler air is more dense, so more fuel can mixed in and the ECU doesn't have to throttle back as much. Although this was a hot day, the car ran completely normal.
To me a good quality performance intercooler is a much better way to spend your money than a CAI. I have asked several people who have used cai's and they tell me that they mostly installed them for the look and swoosh sound, and the performance boost they get from them is not much, and doesn't come on until they get moving, as cooler air doesn't get in right away (it's sucking in hot engine air at low speeds). Also, in many states CAI's are not legal unless they are CARB compliant, whereas an Intercooler has no affect on emissions.
So if you are looking for a mod that actually has a benefit, will not cause damage if properly installed, a quality Performance Intercooler will give your stock or tuned car better performance because it will heat soak less
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