To intercool or not to intercool supercharger

[jp455]

I'm with Tim in that you should definitely run an intercooler setup. You have to decide what you want to do with the car. Is it 90% street and 10% track or vise versa? If it is the former, than the occasional overheating at track events would be a small sacrifice for me if the rest of the time I got a tame engine that made gobs of torque and was fun to drive on the street. There are always trade offs and you have to be brutally honest with yourself in terms of how the car will be used. As much as we all like to pretend that are cars are race cars, they just aren't...



Mark Stelow's last few builds have used a custom 427 engine with a modified LS9 supercharger. Seems to work pretty well for him.

Andrew

Thats the rout I was thinking as well, a built engine with an intercooler. Although I didnt think performance would drop off after 3-4 laps with an intercooler! I was under the impression that an intercooled system would basically hold up for however many laps.

The car is 100% not going to be a racecar. I actually design/build racecars and I have that very clear...it will be as you say, 90% street and 10% track. But since it will be going to the UK with me I am trying to find the best drivability/reliability combination. I havent heard much really from guys running non intercooled systems, and all my experience is with intercooled turbo systems which basically run all day long in race conditions. I dont want to go that route though...too heavy.

[71RS/SS396]

Thats the rout I was thinking as well, a built engine with an intercooler. Although I didnt think performance would drop off after 3-4 laps with an intercooler! I was under the impression that an intercooled system would basically hold up for however many laps.

The car is 100% not going to be a racecar. I actually design/build racecars and I have that very clear...it will be as you say, 90% street and 10% track. But since it will be going to the UK with me I am trying to find the best drivability/reliability combination. I havent heard much really from guys running non intercooled systems, and all my experience is with intercooled turbo systems which basically run all day long in race conditions. I dont want to go that route though...too heavy.

What kind of fuel is being used in the racecars you're building? Methanol, Gas?
I suspect the supercharged set-up will be every bit as heavy as a turbo if not more so by the time you package all the necessary components.

[jp455]

What kind of fuel is being used in the racecars you're building? Methanol, Gas?
I suspect the supercharged set-up will be every bit as heavy as a turbo if not more so by the time you package all the necessary components.

The cars I do are all gasoline. Why do you ask?

A supercharged system I think would be lighter...theres no metal intercooler and piping on the nose, no cast iron turbos, no heavy flanges to mount the tursbos etc.

[71RS/SS396]

The cars I do are all gasoline. Why do you ask?

A supercharged system I think would be lighter...theres no metal intercooler and piping on the nose, no cast iron turbos, no heavy flanges to mount the tursbos etc.

I was curious if they were run on methanol which would help with heat soak.
The blowers are heavy, the heat exchanger in front of the radiator would add some weight.

[jp455]

I think something naturally aspirated is looking more likely. Saw the Mast engine with the Harrop intake and it looks awesome AND makes 700hp! Plenty for me.