Benefits of an uprated intercooler on a Td5?

[Alyn]

Are there any benefits, performance or otherwise (engine longevity, economy etc.) of fitting one at 70000 miles on a Disco Td5 Auto.

O.K. if you are going stage 2 remap its a must;

So far I have removed the EGR, and may have a stage 1 remap soon.

(In the long term one of the IRB trick turbos would be very nice, but probably not this year)

I commute 300 mostly motorway miles a week and tow a large single axle caravan 7 or 8 times a year.

I'm thinking that under load, especially towing, a cooler charge of air would be more beneficial, or maybe I'm looking for an excuse to spend money......

Any views

Alyn

[thebiglad]

Are there any benefits, performance or otherwise (engine longevity, economy etc.) of fitting one at 70000 miles on a Disco Td5 Auto.

O.K. if you are going stage 2 remap its a must;

So far I have removed the EGR, and may have a stage 1 remap soon.

(In the long term one of the IRB trick turbos would be very nice, but probably not this year)

I commute 300 mostly motorway miles a week and tow a large single axle caravan 7 or 8 times a year.

I'm thinking that under load, especially towing, a cooler charge of air would be more beneficial, or maybe I'm looking for an excuse to spend money......

Any views

Alyn


Hi Alyn, I've just read your post and it seems to me that you believe that the intercooler has something to do with cooling the engine - it doesn't !!


In fact it could be argued that as it produces more cool dense air into the engine, permitting more fuel to go in and therefore produce more power, you might increase the engine temps.


IF you are concerned about engine temps when towing then maybe you ought to considor a replacement oil cooler, full cooling system checkover, replacement thermostat etc.

[Alyn]

Thanks for the reply;

I'm not worried about engine cooling.

I understand the temperature/charge density/fueling/EGT relationships, etc., having owned, and tuned, a number of SAAB turbos and Turbos (but not Td's) over the years.

I have also tuned and run a 300 Tdi Disco for 18 months, so I'm familiar with the stages of tune on all of these engines and the logical progression of replacement and upgrading.

I'm new to the Td5 and what I'm curious to know is - does an uprated intercooler give any benefit, performance or otherwise, to a standard or stage 1 tuned Td5 engine? Specifically a 70k miler, where the standard intercooler may (or may not) be performing below par.

I stated my usage as a guide to the operating conditions the engine routinely experiences, rather than flagging up any worries, sorry if I hadn't made that clear.

Alyn

[shunty]

Not an answer, I'm afraid, but a statement of interest.
I too have a td5 auto with 100k miles and do roughly the same sort of travel/towing as mentioned and I've just had the stage 1 remap (IRB) done. It has definitely made the car smoother to drive (and even the better half thinks so too) and was worth it. It doesn't appear to have had any significant affect on the mpg - I was hoping there'd be an improvement - but perhaps it's still early days.
Anyhow - I've been looking into ways of helping to fuel the credit crunch and stage 2 is on the list of options. I'd really like to get a feel for the improvements it would make. I've also looked at the 'td5 booster' from Bell Autos - it's a heck of a lot cheaper but I'm not sure it would be wise without the larger intercooler, especially when towing.

Any opinions... (related to this preferably :-) )

[All the usual egr/map/maf/injector loom etc stuff checked/done]