Alradco Intercooler Testing!

jdgleason

Active member
Joined
May 18, 2011
Messages
7,993
Reaction score
0
Location
Fort Collins, CO
So, I've always seen mixed reviews on intercoolers, so I figured it was time that we got some solid data on one. Peter from Alradco was all about helping make it happen, so we came up with a game plan to get some good solid info on this intercooler doing what most of us do with our trucks :D

Started off with a raw intercooler from Alradco (no coating or polish) and Nathannial and I went to the track the first evening I could! Obviously we were at Bandimere, and Density Altitude was 8700' or so that night. I made 3 passes, and datalogged each pass. Each pass, I pegged the EGT sensor, so it's tough to say how toasty things got lol. I tried to stay consistent and my best pass was 12.3 at 111.67. Anyway, here are the slips and the Intercooler after we swapped it!


To recap - Peaks were:
EGT: 1760+ :lookaround:
Boost: 69 Psi
12.3 @ 111.67

88DE3E79-E59B-45F4-AB6A-14D1B52BBFB3_zps9zwvr3jj.jpg


0E590FEB-7694-485D-98F1-92FC4278F955_zpsil5a5hhh.jpg


And here's a video of one of my stock intercooler passes. Pay attention to smoke output.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeVq8y_xuP0

Swapping the Intercooler was smooth... really no hiccups aside from 1.) I forgot a 10mm socket somehow, and 2.) The brackets for my lightbar were in the way a little bit. Everything lined up perfect.


On to the good stuff! Now with the intercooler I made 2 more passes and datalogged each. I was shocked at the results.

The truck picked up almost 2 tenths and almost 2 mph! Running the MPH through the calculator shows the truck picked up 33 horsepower :eek:

e8ac27cf-3664-46bc-ac08-324e8179ae77_zpsaa57d3cb.jpg


04D7A229-2E12-4BA8-937A-BCD0BBBE0D84_zpsxd449gu4.png


DF6718F9-7CD9-48FB-8A4F-2E2C36C90D90_zpst3dogail.png


Looking at the datalogs for these 2 runs, peak EGT's were 1691* and 1680* and boost was 71 psi. Looks like a drop of 160+* EGT's and 2 psi more boost with the intercooler!

Additionally, smoke output was lower... you can see in the video how much quicker it clears up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzpoWs-fl6I




On the drive home, EGT's hung right around 50* cooler than I would normally see through the same stretches. I confirmed that over the next several days of driving, EGT's seemed to stay 50* lower than with the stocker.

On top of that, my truck looks much better with an Intercooler behind the grill!

8_746968665339449_778191101985436554_n_zpsbabcb9b4.jpg
 

jdgleason

Active member
Joined
May 18, 2011
Messages
7,993
Reaction score
0
Location
Fort Collins, CO
Next up, I figured I'd throw it on the dyno to see if we could get some more concrete data.

The dyno - Mustang 500 Loaded.

Pretty Simple. Back to back pulls, and compare.

My truck was up first. I still had the Alradco cooler in it, so first numbers were with the IC. The truck made 755/1451 with a peak EGT of 1626*. Boost was 59 PSI. I had to try twice for this pull - I developed a boost leak that I couldn't hear inside the truck until the boot exploded... I was wondering why I couldn't get up on the chargers :p Please excuse the smoke show.

F871424C-3F12-41BF-B57B-72A5F05CE468_zpsr9hsywan.jpg


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxMRXjSNdLE

This was a pull with no boost leak...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLTpuTgkxZU

We swapped the stock intercooler back in and made a couple more pulls. The best numbers were 728/1389 with a peak EGT of 1733* and 57 PSI. So, according to the dyno, we lost 27hp going back to the stock intercooler! And also lost 2 psi and gained 107* EGT.

Pretty consistent with what the track said! Here is a graph with the 2 runs overlayed on it.

GleasonBothOverlay_zps4136b019.jpg


We also decided that Justin's truck could benefit from some intercooler testing! For a refresher, Justin's truck is a 2010 with Intake, Exhaust, Gearhead tunes, my old Dirty Diesel CAC pipe and an Elite 71mm atmosphere.

Stock Intercooler made 639/1248 with a peak EGT of 1492* and 45psi. We swapped the intercooler and the truck made 647/1240 with a peak of 1447 and 48 psi. So, we gained 8 hp, lost 55* and made 3psi more boost on a truck with stock fuel. Pretty impressive!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cN0CqKGoAI4
 

RSK

Active member
Joined
Dec 7, 2013
Messages
2,558
Reaction score
2
Location
Connecticut
Lol i did my for sho on the 6.4 until the big turbos go on, about to push snow with it for the first time around 11pm when this snow stops..
 

B585Ford

New member
Joined
Mar 17, 2012
Messages
2,730
Reaction score
0
Location
WV
JD, thanks for the taking the time to do this!!! This is first hard data I have ever seen on ICs with track times, dyno #s, boost, etc. Your attention to detail adds to the validity of the results.
 

Six_Sloww

New member
Joined
Dec 5, 2013
Messages
2,574
Reaction score
0
Location
Southeast MI
Awesome, I was sold just on the apparent quality and made in the USA.. Awesome to see it all backed up with numbers.
 

madman1234509

New member
Joined
Nov 20, 2011
Messages
2,669
Reaction score
0
Location
mayfield, ny
I'm really glad someone took the time to get hard evidence on a product, this is quality work JD!! Thank you for doing all of this! So just what we kind of expected, higher hp trucks are obviously going to benefit a little more from the swap. Awesome numbers. And it all makes sense. About a 100hp loss with about 10lbs of boost pressure loss. One thing I'd really like to see are temperature decrease comparisons. If you could put a gauge on the hot side and gauge on the cold side and do WOT runs. It's kind of just adding to the already significant data you have, and may not be worth your time, because we know its doing something. It'd be interesting to know how hot the air is and how much it's cooling it down before it enters the motor. Any possibility you could do that as well?
 

jdgleason

Active member
Joined
May 18, 2011
Messages
7,993
Reaction score
0
Location
Fort Collins, CO
JD, thanks for the taking the time to do this!!! This is first hard data I have ever seen on ICs with track times, dyno #s, boost, etc. Your attention to detail adds to the validity of the results.


Thanks Brett! And thanks everyone!
I'm really glad someone took the time to get hard evidence on a product, this is quality work JD!! Thank you for doing all of this! So just what we kind of expected, higher hp trucks are obviously going to benefit a little more from the swap. Awesome numbers. And it all makes sense. About a 100hp loss with about 10lbs of boost pressure loss. One thing I'd really like to see are temperature decrease comparisons. If you could put a gauge on the hot side and gauge on the cold side and do WOT runs. It's kind of just adding to the already significant data you have, and may not be worth your time, because we know its doing something. It'd be interesting to know how hot the air is and how much it's cooling it down before it enters the motor. Any possibility you could do that as well?


I was trying to come up with an easy way to do this and be able to datalog the results, but didn't spend a lot of time brainstorming. I wanted a better test than just using an infrared thermometer or something. So yes, I plan to do something like that, just haven't decided how to do it well with what I've got to work with.
 

swinky

New member
Joined
Apr 25, 2013
Messages
8,350
Reaction score
0
Location
Eastern, Nc
Awesome thanks jd. Hopefully I'll be doing some similar testing on the 6blow.

Thanks for the info!
 

389sixpack

Moderator
Joined
May 18, 2011
Messages
259
Reaction score
0
Location
New Jersey
JD, sure wish you had put a thermocouple at intake and outlet so accurate data logged temp differential could be seen. Good though
 

Jonnydime

Active member
Joined
Jun 26, 2012
Messages
2,319
Reaction score
8
6.4's have a temp sensor in the intake manifold already so all you would need is one in the hot pipe off the High Pressure Turbo.
 

bigrpowr

<How I Fly
Administrator
Joined
May 22, 2011
Messages
15,240
Reaction score
1
what was the difference in DA from the stock to alradco passes ?
 

alradco

New member
Joined
Jul 26, 2012
Messages
953
Reaction score
0
Damn JD, hell of a job of testing and posting data! I can send you some modules and sensors if you want to log air temp going in and coming out of the intercooler.

Also, did you see much of an increase in coolant temps? We worked hard to come up with a design that not only performs well but doesn't hurt the cooling system of the truck. Thanks for the data and feedback!

For those interested, we will be having a BIG Black Friday sale on these. Details will be up tomorrow.

Peter
 

bigrpowr

<How I Fly
Administrator
Joined
May 22, 2011
Messages
15,240
Reaction score
1
Damn JD, hell of a job of testing and posting data! I can send you some modules and sensors if you want to log air temp going in and coming out of the intercooler.

Also, did you see much of an increase in coolant temps? We worked hard to come up with a design that not only performs well but doesn't hurt the cooling system of the truck. Thanks for the data and feedback!

For those interested, we will be having a BIG Black Friday sale on these. Details will be up tomorrow.

Peter

Im pretty sure the 6.4 cooling system efficient enough not to be affected. that being said , anytime you mention big and black in the same sentence you get my attention .
 

GSchretter

New member
Joined
Jun 12, 2013
Messages
24
Reaction score
0
Location
Dallas TX
Man I wish you guys were in Dallas as I would let you guys borrow my aFE so we could compare all three on each truck. Thanks for taking the time and posting this.

It makes me feel better after spend $1500 for mine. Lol..
 

Latest posts

Members online

No members online now.
Top