Anyone have an intercooler on their 617..?? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Old300D · #39 07-29-2004, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by gsxr
Depends how much you want/need working AC. Here in Boise, we get temps of 100-105F in summer, and no AC would really be a drag. Now in Montana or North Dakota, no problem (especially if the AC is already broken!). I don't think there will be any advantage to the "oversized" intercooler unless your target power gain is well above 20%. If you want 40-50% or more, then yeah, the bigger cooler is probably needed, but so is a custom aftermarket turbocharger, etc etc... is it really worth the effort & cost? Not to mention the probability of bottom end failures increase exponentially as the power output rises (IMO).

I agree with your intercooler assessment, however bottom failures are not likely with increased power output.

The only reason failures would occur exponentially would be if you were increasing power by increasing rpm. By increasing power through additional boost you are merely increasing torque without spinning the engine faster. Since the engine is designed to handle high compression already, it has strong rods and pistons - if you don't increase your exhaust temperature much (here comes the intercooler), the additional torque is handled reliably.

If you want a good resource on turbocharging, read "Maximum Boost" by Corky Bell. He explains the concepts and practice very clearly. I've doubled the power output of my L28ET (Nissan turbo engine-gasser) and been running it for years now.