I've been giving this some thought, and I think I've come up with an idea that would work to provide effective water-to-air intercooler for S2000 Rotrex applications. This idea would not involve a U turn from blower to intercooler, but rather a fairly straight shot, similar to how a Comptech or Vortex kit feeds blower directly to intercooler with a very short, straight hose.

The idea should work with either Kraftwerks or TTS Rotrex S2000 kits (but not the TTS bottom mount kit that eliminates AC compressor). The Kraftwerks would just have a slightly longer hose.

This would eliminate the front mounted intercooler, and its jumble of tubing between blower and Throttle Body.

It should improve throttle response.

It would simplify install, and reduce (eliminate?) cutting of stock plastic panels in grill/fender liner area.

It could potentially offer better cooling, and less psi lost in lengthy a2a piping. If so, more power to the wheels with same compressor rpm.

Is this of interest to the community? Should I pursue creating a prototype? Anyone interested in testing it?

I am in CT, we'd need to mock it up on your car, then I'd fabricate, then you'd return for actual install. We'd want to do a before & after dyno on the same day, measure before & after psi, intake temps, etc.

I will eventually build this for my own car once I'm able to purchase supercharger for my own car. But if there is interest, I could prototype sooner.

 

I like where this is going.

 

Pretty cool. About time someone took this on.

Frozen boost seems to have quite a selection of aftercoolers. I've got to think one or more of these would be adaptable with some custom piping.

 

I see what you did there!


Trying to use an off the shelf IC is doable, but would require an inefficient 180 custom piping (which could be accomplished with a pair of 90 bends and some hose to connect it all together, so nothing has to be fabricated).

But that seems lame.

My idea for prototype involves modifying a Frozenboost intercooler by removing intake side, and building a new end that points directly towards blower. Tig welding fabricated end back onto IC.

Blower would be reoriented to point downward, toward TB, but downward. A simple job of removing two blower bolts, and rotating it.

If it works out, and produces favorable results, I would have batches of IC built with the new design.

Probably would sell as either a complete IC kit (IC, heat exchanger, pump, reservoir, hoses, clamps) or as just the IC for those that wanted to piece the rest together.

It will be tricky to get an angle for the IC intake pipe that works for both kw & tts. If that doesn't work out, there would need to be two very similar, but different IC needed, which would drive up costs.

 

I absolutely back this and would potentially run it if a beta version were created.

 

Just need a car to prototype it with...

 

This would be nice to see, I thought of doing something like this years ago but nobody was interested.

 

Yes. I thought about this and came up with my idea, only to later stumble across a couple of threads discussing the exact same idea, using the exact same parts as a starting point.

They say great minds think alike, and apparently, so do ours!

 

I feel like this could be done using the below with a setup similar to the old comptech/Vortech

 

Yes, it could. But it would need to be two elbows, forming a 180.

If you look at the rotrex data sheets, the available orientations that two tbat are suitable are straight down, and pointing down at about a 45 degree angle.

If you try the 45 degree angle, with an elbow to the intercooler (which would be cocked at about an opposing 45), the problem is the intercooler is too big (too tall), and the elbow won't line up to rotrex.

When you add the elbow, you add height. There just isn't enough room between height of rotrex and height of tb.

The 90 degree elbow also adds unwanted restriction.

I believe it could work pointing rotrex straight down, and using a pair of 90's and section of pipe to form a 180. In this config its ok if rotrex and ic are not at the same height, as you can add some vertical pipe to one end to compensate.

This of course adds even more restriction.

It looks like there is enough room to do the 45 degree mounted rotrex if thr ic is modified so that its intake pipe points at 90 from where it is now (on the example frozenboost ic, which is the same one I am considering). Instead of pipe pointing straight down, it points off to the side.

Cut off end tank, fab a new one that points the right way, tig weld it back on. Refine prototype, then have a batch of same unit made with the needed orientation built in.

Of course, its probably not going to be exactly 90, and the exact location that ic intake pipe needs to be located would need to be carefully measured and tested. That is why I need a car to prototype this with.

Yes, its still a 90 at ic intake, but its part of the end tank, so its a funnel shaped 90. The air gets a lot of room to stretch out as it makes the 90, not trying to do a 90 inside a 3" pipe. Restriction greatly minimized.

If you look at how Vortech ic sits on our cars, at an angle, and ic intake comes.out at about a 45, it would be sorta like that. Except ic intake would be at about a 90, and blower pointing down at a 45.

But maybe I'm wrong, and there is enough height to just use a single 90 with rotrex and ic at 45 to each other. That would be awesome, as no need to modify anything. A single 90 isn't ideal, but is still waaaay less than all the twists and turns and length of the a2a ic piping. Again, a car to prototype this on would tell us immediately.