Texstang
Well-Known Member
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- #1
I’ve been doing some datalogging examining the effects of an intercooler on charge temperatures during daily driving. Using my OBDLink MX and Torque Pro, I’ve datalogged several days of driving in Houston this summer.
Some things to note about the datalogs:
- The most relevant fields I’ve logged include:
o Ambient air temperature
o Intake temperature (post-filter), some call this IAT1
o Manifold charge temperature (post-intercooler)
o Vehicle speed
o Engine speed
o Boost/vacuum
o Learned octane ratio (some call this octane adjust ratio)
o Coolant temperature
o Air conditioner state (0 = off, 0.5 = on). I’ve determined that it’s triggered by simply having the A/C set to “on” and doesn’t actually track whether the compressor is running.
o Grille shutter position (1 = fully open, 0 = fully closed). From what I’ve seen, it almost seems as if the grille shutters have intermediate positions, but I’ll let someone more knowledgeable chime in as to whether this is true.
o Throttle position
I plan on continuing the datalogging, and will add some additional fields (Air/fuel, timing/advance, knock, and others).
- Performance-wise, my car was stock during this most of this period, however I made the following changes:
o 07/04/2017 - I added the Mishimoto intercooler/charge pipe combo
o 08/15/2017 - I removed the bottom section of the grille shutters covering the intercooler area.
- I’ve included a link to the full Excel workbook on Google Drive below, formatted to show some of these recorded parameters. In the Graph tab, you can select the date and the chart will show the relevant data. I recommend that you only select one date at a time. Please note, every field references the left Y-axis except for the grill shutter position, which references the right Y-axis. I’ve included some screenshots below of some interesting observations from the graph.
I recommend that you download the file:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwgwArOLvSLcMzg2emQ0LXlXRVE
Observations:
I wanted to analyze the IAT and charge temp in everyday driving, specifically looking at the effects of adding the aftermarket intercooler and the effect of the grille shutters. Keep in mind, it’s quite difficult to observe these variables in a controlled manner since ambient temperatures, traffic, and driving style/speed (to some degree) all varied day-to-day. I have a decent sample size, so it’s possible to make some general observations. I don’t have an engineering/automotive background, so my findings below might be explained differently by someone with more expertise than me.
The stock intercooler, as many people have seen firsthand, suffers from heat soak easily. In the dates before I installed the aftermarket intercooler, even normal non-spirited driving saw the difference between the manifold charge temperature and the intake temperature increase steadily as I drove. I saw temperatures up to 40 degrees hotter than the ambient temperature, while IATs remained 10-20 degrees. The stock intercooler’s inefficiency also made itself known while stopped or at low speeds. Another thing I noticed was that even at highway speeds, when the grille shutters closed, this difference once again grew steadily. It’s difficult to say whether the effect was entirely from the shutters, or whether it is due to the fact that I was at mild boost speeding up to highway speed, but the example below from 06/29 shows all of these observations:
At the beginning of the trip, you can see the shutters close as I speed up to ~60-65mph. Although I made mild boost reaching those speeds, I can’t help but attribute some of the temperature increase to the fact that the shutters were limiting airflow through the intercooler.
In this log from 07/05 after I installed the Mishimoto intercooler, the long period during which the shutters were closed at highway speeds seems to confirm my first observation about the impact of the shutters. Although the heat soak appears to have been decreased relative to the first graph, the biggest difference I noticed with the Mishimoto unit was that the manifold charge temps dropped much quicker once I began accelerating. Keep in mind, however, that it was hotter on this day, so it’s difficult to observe the effects of each variable in a controlled fashion.
Here’s another graph from 07/16, during which I was on a road trip. There’s a lot of data, but you can see that the shutters were closed the majority of the time.
I only have one datalog following my partial removal of the shutters, and I didn’t sustain highway speeds over a long period, but feel free to make your own observations. I’ll add more if anyone is interested.
Questions:
- Has anyone had similar observations with shutter removal?
- On the topic of shutter removal, since I only removed the lower half of the unit, what are your thoughts on having the top piece still in place? Would the blockage of the top half still have any impact on the air flow to the intercooler? (possibly diverting air downward to the intercooler or creating resistance/turbulence for air flowing to the intercooler?)
- One thing I noticed was the fact that my intake temperatures were quite high at times to begin with. I’m thinking of modifying the GT grill to remove the honeycomb insert on the intake side and datalogging to see the effect. I’ve also thought about getting the Velossatech Big Mouth. Does anyone have any thoughts or experiences with intake temps affected by either of these ideas?
- I noticed that while coasting, even at highway speeds, my intercooler efficiency seemed to diminish. I assume that this is due to the lower volume of air passing through the intake system. Can anyone confirm this or shed some light on the topic?
Thanks
Some things to note about the datalogs:
- The most relevant fields I’ve logged include:
o Ambient air temperature
o Intake temperature (post-filter), some call this IAT1
o Manifold charge temperature (post-intercooler)
o Vehicle speed
o Engine speed
o Boost/vacuum
o Learned octane ratio (some call this octane adjust ratio)
o Coolant temperature
o Air conditioner state (0 = off, 0.5 = on). I’ve determined that it’s triggered by simply having the A/C set to “on” and doesn’t actually track whether the compressor is running.
o Grille shutter position (1 = fully open, 0 = fully closed). From what I’ve seen, it almost seems as if the grille shutters have intermediate positions, but I’ll let someone more knowledgeable chime in as to whether this is true.
o Throttle position
I plan on continuing the datalogging, and will add some additional fields (Air/fuel, timing/advance, knock, and others).
- Performance-wise, my car was stock during this most of this period, however I made the following changes:
o 07/04/2017 - I added the Mishimoto intercooler/charge pipe combo
o 08/15/2017 - I removed the bottom section of the grille shutters covering the intercooler area.
- I’ve included a link to the full Excel workbook on Google Drive below, formatted to show some of these recorded parameters. In the Graph tab, you can select the date and the chart will show the relevant data. I recommend that you only select one date at a time. Please note, every field references the left Y-axis except for the grill shutter position, which references the right Y-axis. I’ve included some screenshots below of some interesting observations from the graph.
I recommend that you download the file:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwgwArOLvSLcMzg2emQ0LXlXRVE
Observations:
I wanted to analyze the IAT and charge temp in everyday driving, specifically looking at the effects of adding the aftermarket intercooler and the effect of the grille shutters. Keep in mind, it’s quite difficult to observe these variables in a controlled manner since ambient temperatures, traffic, and driving style/speed (to some degree) all varied day-to-day. I have a decent sample size, so it’s possible to make some general observations. I don’t have an engineering/automotive background, so my findings below might be explained differently by someone with more expertise than me.
The stock intercooler, as many people have seen firsthand, suffers from heat soak easily. In the dates before I installed the aftermarket intercooler, even normal non-spirited driving saw the difference between the manifold charge temperature and the intake temperature increase steadily as I drove. I saw temperatures up to 40 degrees hotter than the ambient temperature, while IATs remained 10-20 degrees. The stock intercooler’s inefficiency also made itself known while stopped or at low speeds. Another thing I noticed was that even at highway speeds, when the grille shutters closed, this difference once again grew steadily. It’s difficult to say whether the effect was entirely from the shutters, or whether it is due to the fact that I was at mild boost speeding up to highway speed, but the example below from 06/29 shows all of these observations:
At the beginning of the trip, you can see the shutters close as I speed up to ~60-65mph. Although I made mild boost reaching those speeds, I can’t help but attribute some of the temperature increase to the fact that the shutters were limiting airflow through the intercooler.
In this log from 07/05 after I installed the Mishimoto intercooler, the long period during which the shutters were closed at highway speeds seems to confirm my first observation about the impact of the shutters. Although the heat soak appears to have been decreased relative to the first graph, the biggest difference I noticed with the Mishimoto unit was that the manifold charge temps dropped much quicker once I began accelerating. Keep in mind, however, that it was hotter on this day, so it’s difficult to observe the effects of each variable in a controlled fashion.
Here’s another graph from 07/16, during which I was on a road trip. There’s a lot of data, but you can see that the shutters were closed the majority of the time.
I only have one datalog following my partial removal of the shutters, and I didn’t sustain highway speeds over a long period, but feel free to make your own observations. I’ll add more if anyone is interested.
Questions:
- Has anyone had similar observations with shutter removal?
- On the topic of shutter removal, since I only removed the lower half of the unit, what are your thoughts on having the top piece still in place? Would the blockage of the top half still have any impact on the air flow to the intercooler? (possibly diverting air downward to the intercooler or creating resistance/turbulence for air flowing to the intercooler?)
- One thing I noticed was the fact that my intake temperatures were quite high at times to begin with. I’m thinking of modifying the GT grill to remove the honeycomb insert on the intake side and datalogging to see the effect. I’ve also thought about getting the Velossatech Big Mouth. Does anyone have any thoughts or experiences with intake temps affected by either of these ideas?
- I noticed that while coasting, even at highway speeds, my intercooler efficiency seemed to diminish. I assume that this is due to the lower volume of air passing through the intake system. Can anyone confirm this or shed some light on the topic?
Thanks
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