Cold Air Intake and Intercooler

[skylinegtr34dood]

Hey i was wondering does an intercooler draw air into it? And I was wondering if you can have an Iintercooler and a cold air intake on your car? And if you can how the hell does it all work lol. Its confusing.

[98civicEX]

correct me if i'm wrong, but a IC chills the air, and yes you can have a intake and a IC :)

[skylinegtr34dood]

ok then how does it all work together cuz it dont make sense to me.

[2ndGenTeg]

Do not confuse an intercooler wih that "Front Mount Intake" you may have seen ads for (you know, the one with the two snow foxes doing the hokey pokey). An intake breathes air into the system. An intercooler cools charge air after being compressed (and heated) in a turbocharger.

In most of our cars, the intercooler plumbing goes through the fender well where a cold air intake usually passes to draw in the cooler air.

Even if you could reroute the intercooler plumbing, a cold air intake would be worthless. The charge air would then pass through the turbo, instantly being heated. Ever notice the location of the filter on turbocharged cars? It's right next to the block. Not great drawing in cool air, but it's great for flow. After exiting the turbo, the air then passes through the intercooler, resulting in a cooler charge air.

The intercooler is completely sealed. The air is already compressed by the time it hits the intercooler. If it wasn't sealed, how would you make any boost?

Making sense?

[skylinegtr34dood]

Why would you have a cold air intake on a turbocharged/supercharged engine? Why would u have two places where air is drawn into the engine?

[94_AcCoRd_EX]

Originally posted by skylinegtr34dood
Why would you have a cold air intake on a turbocharged/supercharged engine? Why would u have two places where air is drawn into the engine?

Did you read the above post? You don't need a CAI w/ turbo... and the intercooler is sealed.

[skylinegtr34dood]

ohhhh okay i get it now. Thanx. K it might be kinda stupid but CAN u have one on?

[Incubus]

There is no need or purpose to having an intercooler if you don't have a turbo.
A cold air intake works well enough if you don't have forced induction. The reason for an intercooler is to cool the hot air after passing through the very hot turbo.
Another reason why there aren't cold air intakes on turbo setups is because it'll really suck up water if you go through a puddle, plus the intercooler is there to cool the air, so it's all you need when running a turbo.
So, no turbo=cold air intake and NO INTERCOOLER
turbo=intercooler and NO COLD AIR INTAKE