you wont see a big increass on a dyno you need to have the air moving over it a good clip to get the full advantage of a cooler

 

Hey soulzoo, why are you not partial to tube and fin? Do you like bar and plate better, or do you have no preference. If you were to buy another intercooler which one would you buy?

 

Bar and Plate Charge Air coolers offer a greater heat exchange rate than tube and fin.

Also, when you look at pressure drop across the core (end tank to end tank)
Bar and plate is more efficient.

Thermal efficiency is a logarithmic value in terms of pressure drop. For a given pressure drop across the core. Assuming both intercoolers receive the same incoming airflow, 1-3 psig can mean a difference of 200-350F in Intake air temperatures.

That being said, a tube and fin intercooler at 5 psig pressure drop will be the same efficiency as a bar and plate design at 7 psig pressure drop, if we use air density at a given temperature as the metric.

Since air density (more O2 gives more air to combust) per unit is greater with the bar and plate design, the POTENTIAL to make more HP with them is a given over a bar and plate design.

The trouble is, in a diesel, with Twins, you see more of an EGT drop than a HP gain with an intercooler.

Running Stock/VS Banks CAC on a TT DMX, I saw more of a HP gain because of less pressure drop than from actual temperature drop.

The main benefit from the bigger CAC B/P was EGT's were down 200-300F depending on ambient air temps and flow through the cooling stack.

 

Oh, don't forget... by nature of the design, bar and plate CAC's are less likely to develop boost leaks due to their construction than tube and fin.

So if you plan on running high boost (Twins/NOS etc) Bar and plate is on your list.

 

Are there only 2 bar and plate brands out there?

 

I think that bar and plate is what the majority of intercoolers are made of. I was reading through some old threads and one of the BD guys said that there is a difference between their extruded tube design and a regular tube and fin like other intercoolers. He claims that the extruded tube design is far more efficient than bar and plate or tube and fin. If this is so, does anyone know of any other intercoolers that utilize an extruded tube design besides BD.

 

BD said that because that's what they produce and promote.

The bar and plate coolers are nice. For the money you save with a bar and plate cooler, like an HTT, over BD's extruded tube it's a no brainer decision. Especially when you're not happy with BD's quality.

 

I got the ATS bar and plate CAC for an even $1k. It too was damaged in shipping twice and the third one I gave up and kept it. Gotta love those UPS guys, I think they beat up on heavy packages just cause they hate 'em.

 

I just about called everyone that makes intercoolers for our trucks this morning, and I am thinking of going with the cool twist intercooler from city diesel. Everyone that I talked to said that the only reason that they used bar and plate was for durability reasons. They never really said that it was better that extruded tube. The cool twist one has a lifetime warranty and they said they have not had any issues with leaking cores. The only thing that is holding me back is that some people have said that their build quality is poor. I there anyone with a cool twist intercooler that could tell me if they are happy with the quality or even provide some up close pictures.

 

I have an extra one...

Email me...cquestad@ssproducts.com

 

GOt Juice summed it up better than I could. The extruded type of BD's is effective due to its design. If you look at the cross section of how the inside of the tube appears to have the "points" sticking out toward the inside of the tube. This greatly increases surface area for cooling purposes.

I still hold to my earlier post there is simply is no empirical evidence at all when comparing any of these aftermarket CAC's to say one is more effective than the other. So you cannot compare apples to apples or pomegranates or anything else. That said, it is hard to go wrong with any of them. I prefer the HTT and BD as a personal thing... again based on no evidence.

However, it does bear noting that by far the build of choice for aftermarket intercoolers (not just diesel world, but high performance gassers too) is bar and plate. OEMs use tube and fin for cost reasons. Although, for stock power levels and even a little more, the stock CAC is effective. Also, while the design of the "tube" being used is important, equally important is the design of the cooling "fins".

 

I have a cool twist I bought off another member here when he sold his truck. It's not a drastic difference visually vs. the stocker when looking at overall size, but there are 8 or 9 more cross tubes vs. a stocker, and they are quite a bit bigger. It's just a little thicker and has pretty stout end tanks. The weld quality isn't the best visually (It's no Hogan intake manifold), but it's definitely not bad. The previous owner had it pressure tested and it held solid after his truck had put 80+ psi through it, so I believe it's a quality unit. For performance, I noticed my spoolup was just slightly slower (likely due to the larger volume), but temps at WOT were cut about 150 degrees.

 

Have you seen on the cool twist how the fins are not strait, they are kind of wavy instead. Is that what you are talking about soulzoo? What do you think is the best design of the fins?

 

Well, I can say the worst design is the basic flat fin. I am not an engineer so I don't know what is best, but you want a design that allows more surface area to draw out and bleed off the most heat possible and yet is still effective at maintaining proper airflow through the core. There is more than one way to skin that cat.

Sounds like the cool twist does that; I have not seen one up close myself.

 

What are your guy's opinions on the Banks intercooler?? I know all their stuff is way too expensive but I have heard that their intercoolers are top notch??