Kotsios

I am in the search for an intercooler for my C200K. I believe all three M271 engines, C180K, C200K, and C230K although they have different boost levels (I don’t know the numbers) have the same intercooler.

I want to know what (aftermarket) intercoolers you have and what your experiences are.

Knowing that a bigger intercooler does not necessarily implies a more efficient one, I am wondering what is the biggest (size-wise) intercooler that can be fitted without requiring any cutting or other modifications?

Is any of you using BellIntercooler?

Thanx

Buellwinkle

The largest intercooler I've had the pleasure of installing and de-installing on my C230 is the Renntech. Ask Kineda, I believe he has one for sale, cheap.

jo17jC230

yes Kineda was selling one... not sure if its still for sale though... here's the link: http://www.csportcoupe.com/forums/sh...&threadid=1887

bajaiman

One question for Buell.....Why made you took off your intercooler?? .. I notice that intercooler upgrade is not popular for W203 owners...why is that??. The reason I'm asking is that I wanna Powerchip and intercooler...but the intercooler cost quite a bit and I wanna know whether its worth upgrading the intercooler. I wanna do intercooler upgrade first before I get the chip so that the chip can be properly adjusted after the addition of intercooler.

levelr123g

I also still have my renntech ic for sale. I took it off because I got rid of the c230K and bought a c320. pm me.

Kotsios

buellwinkle,

searching through old threads I saw that you have tested, and probably own a RaceTec intercooler.

I would vastly appreciate it if you can give me some info. Specifically, I would like to know:
1. where it get it from and how much does it cost;
2. efficiency and dimensions (does it fit perfectly?);
3. do you think it would be good for cars that run 7-10psi? Also the climate where Iive it pretty similar
to that of California and Florida.
4. what are/were you experiences with that IC?

Thanx in advance.

PS: Will an IC designed for the M111 engine (C sport sedan or coupe) fit a M271 engine?

Buellwinkle

Both the M271 and M111 have the same IC dimensions although they look slightly different. The Renntech (made by Spearco in L.A.) is the largest and is difficult to install and requires drilling. The Racetec was about halfway in size between the Renntech and Factory IC, had smoother round bends, external welds and less seams (smoother inside) easier to install as it used existing mount points. It was put together by a company that assembles CART race cars, very nice. The Racetec was free to me as a tester but I returned it anyway as it wasn't producing the desired results and neither was the Spearco. I don't know if the results would be better on the M271 engine but I'm running about the same amount of boost as an M271 because of a pulley kit. Don't know if you would have better results using a pulley kit on an M271, maybe?

Whatever you do, it's all a big science project. Find a good dyno shop, do 3 back to back runs about 1 minute apart and measure intake airflow temp (IAT) with an OBDII scanner and compare the the differences. Indoors with a fan in front of it, you'll get much higher temps than in real world driving so the results will be as good as it gets.

bajaiman

Thanks for info Buell ... I think I'll put the lid on my intercooler upgrade

levelr123g

hmm i didnt find my renntech ic hard to install. rather straightforward.

Buellwinkle

More difficult in that it's big and heavy to manage while you have to scribe holes to drill the mounts and then drill through fairly thick metal upsidedown while on your back (since I don't have a lift). Also it's a tight fit and I didn't get instructions with it so I didn't even know which end was up and where the tabs went to. So for me it was more of a pain than the Racetec. Of course getting the bumper off/on for the first time is a challenge in itself.

II6

Hello. I want to build an special bigger Intercooler.



Have somebody the size and a picture of the biggest Intercooler (maybe Renntech) which fit without problems under the AMG Front for my M111 Supercharged C-Class W203 Sedan?

Thanks and Greats,
Josef

shivi1345

Renntech and RaceTec don't make either IC anymore, right? (I did some looking)

.....think an ////AMG upgrade would just be the best thing to do? (if its possible lol)

OverDrive

I have a stock c32 Heat Exchanger (Bumper intercooler) for sale if you want it, not sure if it fits

shivi1345

ANYBODY KNOW?????

lol

C230 Sport Coup

$100 Ebay intercooler mod

shivi1345

^ thats for the M111


So it seems that the Renntech one actually lost power, and I can't find any recent info about RaceTec. I saw some people have made custom set-ups, but I can't really do that lol

Does anyone kno if I could use a C32 IC?......would it make a difference??

thanks

Buellwinkle

No, the C32/SLK32 use a air/water intecooler, the C230 uses an air to air intercooler, totally different. If you have access to the CNC equipment and have mad fabrication skills, it would be beneficial to have an air/water intercooler because they have little to no pressure loss, the s/c feeds small exchanger on top of the instake compared the complex air plumbing for an air/air. Also you will need a storage tank for the water and a pump and heat exchanger for the water to mount by the bumper where you air to air intercooler is now. It would be a cool lab experiment, but probably out of most people's skill range. If you were that good, you would toss the s/c and put in a turbo

As for a bigger air to air intercooler, the larger you make the path for the compressed air to go to, the more pressure you will lose but the cooler the charge would be. The problem is the HP loss from the pressure loss is far greater than any benefit you get from cooling. What I found when using a larger IC (Renntech and Racetech) was that when I increase the pressure on my M111 motor from 6 PSI to 10 PSI with a pulley, the pressure loss was greater. So with a stock motor, adding a IC made little to no difference, adding it on one with a pulley lost about 1/2 to 1 PSI depending on the design and the difference on the dyno was about 12HP or so less at peak and reduced down to only about a 5HP loss after 3 runs because the IC got hot being indoors in a dyno with no airflow over it. Don't know what would happen in your M271 motor, since it's stock, but it is 11PSI from the factory. Personally, the best gain you can expect from better cooling is maybe 5 HP in an autocross situation, not out on the street. But, you can probably find a way to reduce the air path, maybe by making a smaller IC and having a top mount like a Subie WRX with a hood scoop. It will not cool as well, but it's about pressure loss, which you may have less of this way with shorter pipes and smaller IC and actually gain HP in normal driving. Does that make sense? I know it's confusing but don't confuse what people do with turbo cars compared to us, because we can't compensate for pressure loss with a tweak of a chip or a wastegate adjustment like they can, our boost is what it is, can't be changed (pulleys have failed with this motor because you are already at the limit for this S/C compared to the M111 which were running way below it's limits).

shivi1345

ahhh ic ic. ya my only experience with IC's has been on WRX's and EVO's......both have turbos

So for better performance I would actually want a SMALLER IC, to increase the pressure; and the pressure lost from a bigger IC out weighs the cooling benefits of the bigger IC.

I am no way near skilled enough to move the IC from a front mount to top mount so the best thing to do would be.....1)nothing or 2) repace the IC piping with smaller diameter piping to increase the pressure.

Right?

Buellwinkle

Or get a nice used C32, 349HP, fly like the wind You may be amazed at resale values on cars lately.

shivi1345

yeah.....but that means the resale on my car is down too

Buellwinkle

Not as bad as my 401k resale valuie.

HKSC230

take out your stock IC measure Width Length Height = dimensions take a picture of the end tanks from there you can get anybrand u want HKS, GREDDY, ARC, etc. got more Questions email me patr1cksy@yahoo.com subject KOMPRESSOR