intercooler spray bars

[ct96mitsug]

i know a lot of you have seen these. the "n-tercooler" spray kits, DEI CRYO2 spray kits, that either spray co2 or nos on the intercooler. they both claim that by doing this, you can drop intake charges pretty far and thus giving horsepower. but these kits are kind of expensive for what they are. now i dont know much about nos but i have been working with co2 for a long time now in various fields from paintball to welding. i know that co2 can get VERY cold and even freeze things instantly. so if you think about it, it should work well, but at the same time i relized that co2 is a de-oxidizer meaning it removes the oxygen from the atmosphere (which is why they use co2 to put out fires, or remove oxygen when welding), so when u spray it on ur intercooler, the gas would be sucked in ur intake while driving, and if u remove the oxygen, which ur engine needs, u could loose power at the same time. so i guess it would be alright to spray it before a run to chill the intercooler, and not worry about the engine breathing the gas. so i thought about doing this to my car, but i dont want to spend $400+ on something like that. so i was thinking about rigging up something myself. i have a few co2 bottles laying around that i could clean up and use (5lb, and a 10lb), i could have the "spray bar" itself made in my shop for free, and i could get a used solenoid on ebay for like 40 bucks. throw some hose from a hardware store, plumb it, wire it to a switch, and i have a "n-tercooler kit" for under $100!!! what do u guys think? waste of my time or go for it? and also if anyone knows anything about the nos kits that work in the same way, i would appreciate some helpfull facts. thanks

[6G72Galant]

I think that sounds like a pretty good idea. It only makes sense that the more cooler the air, the more power that can be generated. So i think having an Intercooler that uses Nitrous sounds like a pretty decent concept. I mean shit, they use water to air Intercoolers. So why not Nitrous?

Zex has been making a NItrous kit that acts as an Air Filter, and injects nitrous too.

[seth98esT]

Would be good for hot track days to prevent heatsoak. But beyond that it wouldnt help much. If you live in a hot area and plan on going to AutoXs, Drag, or even road course events in the summer then it would help prevent heatsoak. Not sure how well it would lower intake charges, the co2 would definitely cool the intercooler, but how long that cool would last after hot pressurized exhaust air pushes through the intercooler.

[Sleepervr-4]

If you are heatsoaking your intercooler the answer is simple.....you need a bigger core. Why people get those sprayers is a mystery to me. what happens when you run out of liquid. I rather run meth injection than put one of those intercooler sprayers. Just my opinion. btw nos refill = pricy / meth refill = $3 tops (windshield washer fluid) but if you said you can make the system yourself for $100 dollars than what the hell try it and let us know how it goes. Good luck

[ct96mitsug]

well normally when raw liquid co2 is sprayed on something, it could very well stay cold for a long time. think of a block of dry ice. if u leave it in the sun, ive seen them smoke there for hours. does this mean the intercooler will stay cold for hours? definatly not. ur right that when the hot air passes through it, it would obviously warm right back up. but aluminum (like most metals) will stay cold for a while when left cold for a long time then subject to warmth. there were times where i would bring sheets of aluminum that were outside in the freezing cold inside to the heat and they would stay cold for a while. an intercooler that was heavily sprayed would prob. stay stay chilled for a least 10 minutes, i would have to say. and a fully filled 10lb bottle would be able to spray it tons of time depending on the size of the intercooler. but again, your right that it would warm up. perfect for drags or to prevent heatsoak. if ur racing somewhere very warm, this would be a pretty good idea. but like i said before, for me to tackle this project that cheap and it wouldnt take that long to do, im most likely going to do it. (plus it adds more of a show look to it.

[ct96mitsug]

to seepervr-4:
i can get the bottle filled for 10 bucks, i get a discount at the welding supply store.
and also, im limited on the size of the core on my intercooler because of room in my body kit. i dont want to be cutting it up.

[peanotation]

running that zex filter to spray nitrous into your turbo is asking for trouble. if anything, you spray it into the charge pipes right before the throttle body.

so when u spray it on ur intercooler, the gas would be sucked in ur intake while driving,

lmao what? you're spraying it ON the intercooler....not into it. like seth said, it wouldn't be much help, unles you can spray pure co2 onto the intercooler for the frosted effect.......but then IMO you're much better off spraying it onto the charge pipes right before the throttle body.

why not just run meth injection? tried and proven and gauranteed to work; nothing else is more effective next to nitrous....which is a totally different animal with turbo apps

[Stewi]

Like seth already said, it would help with heat soak between runs. On the tuning end tho, you need to be careful. If you decided to spray that Co2 on the intercooler lets ssay for about 10 seconds, and then you stage the car and run down the 1/4, it may stay cold, long enough to cause more dense air to enter the engine, therefore more air, which could lean you out. there is no way to actually dial it in because its not consistant. Meth is a much better option if you cant get a larger intercooler. Not only does meth cool the charge, but it has a higher octane rating than premium pump gas.

[ct96mitsug]

first off, i would run meth, but i dont know to much about it, and im almost out of money, and i got some big bills comin up next month. second when i wrote that the co2 would be sucked up in the intake-it does. i dont mean that it will be sucked up in the intercooler, but when ur driving and u spray alot, the turbo sucks alot of air and all the surounding air would be co2. ive seen it dyno tested and it was proven to reduce power when injected.

[peanotation]

so do you believe in those "sabatoge" co2 kits, that blow co2 out the sides of the car to displace all the ambient o2 so the person you're racing stalls or has a slow take-off cause of no ambient o2?

and there isn't tons of rushing air from teh car moving on a dyno...the same rushing air that would create too much disturbance for the co2 to really get in the path of the turbo's inlet

[ct96mitsug]

well u are right. but when me and my friend dynoed his prelude, he tried the co2 spray bar and the o2 reading dropeed a bit. im not saying these kits work or dont work. im going to try it anyway because i can do it so cheap, and i like the way the bar and solenoid look on an intercooler. if it turns out to be crap, ill let you all know so u dont have to try it. who knows-might end up workin. actually today i priced evrything out and it would only cost me $64.82 for the whole kit!!!

[peanotation]

it's going to help you no matter what, and especially for that cheap it's worth it.