New Intercooler

[Frenchy]

The direct quote is " increases cooling capability 80 percent over the stock Ford Ranger setup". If they are saying they managed to increase thermal efficiency of that system by 80%, I would really like to see that data. That is a substantial increase in cooling capacity.

I'm a bit perplexed at the demand for aftermarket intercoolers for these trucks. To my knowledge, no one has effectively demonstrated a need. Because this is a truck, Ford could not skimp on the charge cooler. In towing situations these engines can be exposed to long periods of sustained boost. If the charge cooler was inadequate, these engines would eventually start suffering from temp creep and would end up overheating. 3 years in and I haven't seen any reports of this.

Not to say that improvements can't be made, but with these $600+ units are you actually getting? Better 1/4 mile times, quicker 0-60, better towing performance, better passing performance? At some point all this theory has to manifest into some tangible performance benefit, and you would sale a lot more product if you could clearly demonstrate this benefit. Mishimoto is the only company I've seen post some actual coherent data, and it was honestly underwhelming.

With you mentioning about finding a justification for street use on the aftermarket intercooler there are a few good reasons. For starters the Ford intercooler is prone to heatsoke like most factory intercoolers. The tubes are also a bit restrictive as it is not a true bar and plate design(even though it will take a beating). The aftermarket will use bar and plate for better efficiency with flow and cooling wich is how they can get the better performance.

Now you wonder where it can be useful on the street? Well the big area I see it being very beneficial is when towing. Why? Well if you havent towed(without monitoring temps at least) then you may not have noticed how much these truck are in boost under load. With the turbocharger under load it will create heat and the intercooler is supposed to dissipate that heat. Well if it doesn't do it effectively then your intake temps start to get a bit higher then you would most likely want and therefore you wont have as much fuel efficiency(as notted is a drawback with the tiny tank we have). If you manage to keep the temperature undertook in a more effective manner(more efficient intercooler) then your intake temps wont be as hot under load and you end up being more efficient and helping the overall longevity and fuel mileage under those conditions.

Needless to say Ford still did a good job none the less but that doesn't mean you cant make improvements.

Now just give it some time and Livernois will have thier data posted as I myself am looking forward too it

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[BassRanger]

.... For starters the Ford intercooler is prone to heatsoke like most factory intercoolers. .....

How are you defining "heat soak" and where have you seen reports of 5th gen rangers suffering from it?

 

[Frenchy]

How are you defining "heat soak" and where have you seen reports of 5th gen rangers suffering from it?

Heat soak where any particular object(like an intercooler) holds more heat then it should for a period of time. Also if you want data just look at both Mishimoto and Mountune. Both have good data showing this. I belive Mountune jas a better graph for it if I remember correctly.

 

[Dgc333]

How are you defining "heat soak" and where have you seen reports of 5th gen rangers suffering from it?

Heat soak is when the heat generated by the turbo is heating up the intercooler faster than the ambient air flowing across the intercooler can remove it. What you wind up with is the temperature of the air going in and out of the intercooler is very close to the same. Ideally no matter how hard you are pushing the engine/turbo the air temp coming out of the intercooler will be within a few degrees of the ambient temperature.

All intercoolers will have a limit where they will heat soak. The factory has to make a compromise between effectiveness, cost and turbo lag (increasing the size of the intercooler will increase turbo lag).

 

[Racket]

I've got the Mishi IC pipes and an Unleashed tune. Towed as large as a loaded 6*12 500+ miles and only caution I got from Torrie was to watch my temps. Ran with the factory temp gauge on and never got above halfway.

 

[BassRanger]

Heat soak where any particular object(like an intercooler) holds more heat then it should for a period of time. Also if you want data just look at both Mishimoto and Mountune. Both have good data showing this. I belive Mountune jas a better graph for it if I remember correctly.

I've never heard heat soak defined that way, which is why I asked. It's such a ambiguous term.
Mountune's data makes absolutely no sense. They have got a graph comparing road speed to charge temperature, and a graph comparing intercooler efficiency and road speed. I don't know how one is to extract any meaningful data from either of these graphs. Are they claiming 10% increase in efficiency over the stock cooler, but only over 85mph? If that's the case, what use is it going to be anyone on public roads? Perhaps knowing their testing methodology could bring some clarity to their data.

Mishimoto's data, on the other hand, is pretty useful. It's just not that impressive considering a $700+ price tag. 5 back to back WOT pulls with no cool down is more extreme than pretty much anything you'll ever see on the street with the exception of heavy towing. They only yielded a 7* reduction in charge temps and a 14hp/14ft-lbs gain with nearly 10hp/10ft-lbs being attributed to the charge pipes. Is $750 worth 4hp/tq and a possible 7* reduction in charge temps?

Heat soak is when the heat generated by the turbo is heating up the intercooler faster than the ambient air flowing across the intercooler can remove it. ...

Yes, but my question is where have we seen any reports of this happening on our trucks? These trucks have been on the road over 3 years, if heat soak were an issue certainly we'd have multiple threads about it by now, wouldn't you think?

Not trying to dissuade anyone from buying an aftermarket IC, but these things are not cheap. I think one should know what tangible performance benefit one is getting for dropping that kind of money. Just my opinion but for a basic tune/bolt-on daily driven truck these intercoolers seem like a solution looking for a problem. Maybe for a max effort, aftermarket turbo, etc build it makes sense.

I was all set to buy an aftermarket IC before I even got the truck, because I tow a 5300# car hauler, usually in the heat of summer. Then I actually got the truck, hooked up my trailer, logged my real life IAT's and saw my charge temps were well within reason. Ford did a excellent job with the charge cooler on this truck. Of course the aftermarket can always build something bigger and better, but is the price paid worth the amount of performance returned? Ultimately it's up the individual to decide.

 

[Frenchy]

I've never heard heat soak defined that way, which is why I asked. It's such a ambiguous term.
Mountune's data makes absolutely no sense. They have got a graph comparing road speed to charge temperature, and a graph comparing intercooler efficiency and road speed. I don't know how one is to extract any meaningful data from either of these graphs. Are they claiming 10% increase in efficiency over the stock cooler, but only over 85mph? If that's the case, what use is it going to be anyone on public roads? Perhaps knowing their testing methodology could bring some clarity to their data.

Mishimoto's data, on the other hand, is pretty useful. It's just not that impressive considering a $700+ price tag. 5 back to back WOT pulls with no cool down is more extreme than pretty much anything you'll ever see on the street with the exception of heavy towing. They only yielded a 7* reduction in charge temps and a 14hp/14ft-lbs gain with nearly 10hp/10ft-lbs being attributed to the charge pipes. Is $750 worth 4hp/tq and a possible 7* reduction in charge temps?




Yes, but my question is where have we seen any reports of this happening on our trucks? These trucks have been on the road over 3 years, if heat soak were an issue certainly we'd have multiple threads about it by now, wouldn't you think?

Not trying to dissuade anyone from buying an aftermarket IC, but these things are not cheap. I think one should know what tangible performance benefit one is getting for dropping that kind of money. Just my opinion but for a basic tune/bolt-on daily driven truck these intercoolers seem like a solution looking for a problem. Maybe for a max effort, aftermarket turbo, etc build it makes sense.

I was all set to buy an aftermarket IC before I even got the truck, because I tow a 5300# car hauler, usually in the heat of summer. Then I actually got the truck, hooked up my trailer, logged my real life IAT's and saw my charge temps were well within reason. Ford did a excellent job with the charge cooler on this truck. Of course the aftermarket can always build something bigger and better, but is the price paid worth the amount of performance returned? Ultimately it's up the individual to decide.

Think about it this way. For most of us(yes I am included too) we have a tune installed on the truck. With a tune comes more boost and more power. The more you compress air the more it heats up. The intercoolers job is to simply cool it back down. On a stock truck that isnt as much of a problem but on a tuned truck it can become a different story especially when towing. How is it a problem? Well if the intercooler cant keep the heat down the truck has to cool the engine down somehow and sometimes that means less boost and sometimes dumping extra fuel just to cool it down(yes thats actually a thing bit only in extreme cases). With a more efficient intercooler you run less risk of this happening and you technically get to have your max available power for a longer period of time, depending on conditions of course.

 

[Racket]

Think about it this way. For most of us(yes I am included too) we have a tune installed on the truck. With a tune comes more boost and more power. The more you compress air the more it heats up. The intercoolers job is to simply cool it back down. On a stock truck that isnt as much of a problem but on a tuned truck it can become a different story especially when towing. How is it a problem? Well if the intercooler cant keep the heat down the truck has to cool the engine down somehow and sometimes that means less boost and sometimes dumping extra fuel just to cool it down(yes thats actually a thing bit only in extreme cases). With a more efficient intercooler you run less risk of this happening and you technically get to have your max available power for a longer period of time, depending on conditions of course.

No extra boost on my tune.

 

[Frenchy]

No extra boost on my tune.

What tune are you running? And if there is no extra boost then how is extra powing being applied? Obviously fuel mapping has been adjusted but on a turbocharged vehicle I have a hard time believing that boost wasnt increased.

 

[Racket]

What tune are you running? And if there is no extra boost then how is extra powing being applied? Obviously fuel mapping has been adjusted but on a turbocharged vehicle I have a hard time believing that boost wasnt increased.

Unleashed. Torrie doesn't mess with boost levels (he claims). Truck is quick.

 

[Frenchy]

Unleashed. Torrie doesn't mess with boost levels (he claims). Truck is quick.

I'm curious for sure. If only you were monitoring boost both before and after to really see. Mind you I do understand you dont want to increase the boost too much with a stock intercooler.

 

[Racket]

I'm curious for sure. If only you were monitoring boost both before and after to really see. Mind you I do understand you dont want to increase the boost too much with a stock intercooler.

I've booked up the SCT box and monitored boost levels and have logged peaks of 22-23 lbs. I think the factory is 20 but it may just be how the SCT measures. I confess I haven't taken the tune off and logged boost except when I did the initial logging to send to Torrie.

 

[Frenchy]

I've booked up the SCT box and monitored boost levels and have logged peaks of 22-23 lbs. I think the factory is 20 but it may just be how the SCT measures. I confess I haven't taken the tune off and logged boost except when I did the initial logging to send to Torrie.

If you dont mind finding out the actual peak boost with and without the tune that would be great. It would be good information for those still deciding what tune to go with.

 

[Racket]

If you dont mind finding out the actual peak boost with and without the tune that would be great. It would be good information for those still deciding what tune to go with.

The only way to get more boost is to mess with the wastegate and I'm not 100% sure it's electronic. Or go with an entirely new turbo and I'm not doing that. I speculated the GFB DV+ might have some affect on how the SCT sees 'boost' but I really don't feel like removing it for the sake of testing. I'll be doing some FORSCAN mods in the future and will have to take the tune off first. Maybe I'll do the A/B comparison then.

 

[Frenchy]

The only way to get more boost is to mess with the wastegate and I'm not 100% sure it's electronic. Or go with an entirely new turbo and I'm not doing that. I speculated the GFB DV+ might have some affect on how the SCT sees 'boost' but I really don't feel like removing it for the sake of testing. I'll be doing some FORSCAN mods in the future and will have to take the tune off first. Maybe I'll do the A/B comparison then.

Fair enough but I can promise the wastegate is 100% electric. Simply look through the passenger fron wheel well and you will see it. It's interesting to say the least.

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