Heat Exchangers

I know they've been covered a lot, but I didn't find what I was looking for w/ the search button. Have most of you gotten an aftermarket HE after noticing your car was running hot or noticing a loss of power after back to back runs? Or is this pretty much a safety issue, wanting to keep the engine as cool as possible? I've been thinking about it more lately as the power increases, and I was just curious as to what power level you guys added your HE's and when you'd recommend it. Thanks guys.

i got mine right before i did the pulley swap

I've already got the pulley swap, so I guess I need to get an HE on it's way when I get my exhaust as well cause we'll have about the same power.

There are many who question the need for a larger HE. They may be right. I bought an AFCO dual pass Pro Series recently and have yet to install it. My primary reason for the purchase was that they look so nice in the lower bumper opening and my stock HE looks beat from years as a daily driver. A replacement won't hurt your performance and will probably help some after repeated boost runs. You may prefer to spend the $300 on something else if you are looking for a definate performance increase.

Just my .02
:coolman:

10thAnnvCobra said:

There are many who question the need for a larger HE. They may be right. I bought an AFCO dual pass Pro Series recently and have yet to install it. My primary reason for the purchase was that they look so nice in the lower bumper opening and my stock HE looks beat from years as a daily driver. A replacement won't hurt your performance and will probably help some after repeated boost runs. You may prefer to spend the $300 on something else if you are looking for a definate performance increase.

Just my .02
:coolman:

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+1
With just a pulley H/E are better for back to back pulls, but dailey driving, probably wont notice much improvement.

Ok, I'm getting a better idea of whether I need it or not. I probably won't be taking it to the track at all until I get to a point in life when I can afford to make this my weekend warrior. This car is pretty much just a way to get from point A to point B very, very fast, but surprisingly I'm not in it constantly, so I probably don't need one at this point.

I got one for a few reasons...I went with the LFP Dual Pass H/E because
1. It has a badass SVT stencil on it and makes my car look sick!
2. It is better than AFCO heat exchanger because it has 18 fin per inch cooling surface where AFCO has only 16
3. I was doing a pulley swap and wanted to keep my temps down with the increase of heat when increasing the boost from stock 8#s to about 13# which causes more heat...

I recommend doing it but I know a handful of Terminator owners that have a whipple or kenne bell and still are on the stock cooling

Jomo1994z71 said:

I got one for a few reasons...I went with the LFP Dual Pass H/E because
1. It has a badass SVT stencil on it and makes my car look sick!
2. It is better than AFCO heat exchanger because it has 18 fin per inch cooling surface where AFCO has only 16
3. I was doing a pulley swap and wanted to keep my temps down with the increase of heat when increasing the boost from stock 8#s to about 13# which causes more heat...

I recommend doing it but I know a handful of Terminator owners that have a whipple or kenne bell and still are on the stock cooling

Click to expand...

Because of my lack of track time, it's probably not necessary right now. I do love the SVT stencil on the LFP units though. I'll probably do it when money allows it because the heat generated by this thing is sick. I've had passengers tell me their legs get hot because of the heat coming through the firewall. A HE could only help that I guess.

03snakenvtn said:

Because of my lack of track time, it's probably not necessary right now. I do love the SVT stencil on the LFP units though. I'll probably do it when money allows it because the heat generated by this thing is sick. I've had passengers tell me their legs get hot because of the heat coming through the firewall. A HE could only help that I guess.

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It won't help the fire you get on your legs while driving or riding in the front seats...that's just the way terminators are :rockon:

03snakenvtn said:

Because of my lack of track time, it's probably not necessary right now. I do love the SVT stencil on the LFP units though. I'll probably do it when money allows it because the heat generated by this thing is sick. I've had passengers tell me their legs get hot because of the heat coming through the firewall. A HE could only help that I guess.

Click to expand...

Just to clarify a few things:

The intercooler cooling system is totally separate from the ENGINE cooling system.
A larger H/E can never lower engine coolant temps.
A car that may need intercooler-> cooling enhancements will exhibit higher than normal IAT2s after repeated boosted running. Higher than other cars with the same mods and run times.
Repeated boosted running ALWAYS raises the IAT2s no matter what H/E you are running.

IAT2 recovery times are also looked at and compared.

What used to be viewed as an essential mod for higher boost cars is now getting another look.

There are other IAT2 lowering mods available now that are showing a lot of promise.

I think engine cooling enhancements are a more worthy mod path.

I added mine when I did my upper pulley swap.

Jimmysidecarr said:

Just to clarify a few things:

The intercooler cooling system is totally separate from the ENGINE cooling system.
A larger H/E can never lower engine coolant temps.
A car that may need intercooler-> cooling enhancements will exhibit higher than normal IAT2s after repeated boosted running. Higher than other cars with the same mods and run times.
Repeated boosted running ALWAYS raises the IAT2s no matter what H/E you are running.

IAT2 recovery times are also looked at and compared.

What used to be viewed as an essential mod for higher boost cars is now getting another look.

There are other IAT2 lowering mods available now that are showing a lot of promise.

I think engine cooling enhancements are a more worthy mod path.

Click to expand...

Nice info, and the heat coming through doesn't bother me at all, I just floor it once and forget about anything else going on in my life.

I have seen no conclusive proof that a H/E does anything more than lower your bank account. The limited info out there shows it does nothing to lower iat2 when driving normal. It may lower iat2 a little quicker but for 300.00 I need some real numbers and back to back stock to aftermarket comparisons.

03snakenvtn said:

I know they've been covered a lot, but I didn't find what I was looking for w/ the search button. Have most of you gotten an aftermarket HE after noticing your car was running hot or noticing a loss of power after back to back runs? Or is this pretty much a safety issue, wanting to keep the engine as cool as possible? I've been thinking about it more lately as the power increases, and I was just curious as to what power level you guys added your HE's and when you'd recommend it. Thanks guys.

Click to expand...

I upgraded my heat exchanger, radiator, thermastat and did the head cooling modifcation right before putting on the pulley, basically as a conservative "cooling" precaution. IMO: Cheap insurance as you go up in HP.

BIGV said:

I have seen no conclusive proof that a H/E does anything more than lower your bank account. The limited info out there shows it does nothing to lower iat2 when driving normal. It may lower iat2 a little quicker but for 300.00 I need some real numbers and back to back stock to aftermarket comparisons.

Click to expand...

Have to agree here. Open Track racing would be the one arena where a larger, more efficient heat exchanger would most surely assist in combating elevated IAT2 temperatures. With drag racing, whether on the street of track, one would think that the top end could possibly be impacted here a bit, but it's all over so quick, (especially with these cars!!!), one wonders just how much cooling assistance is actually occuring.

There's a growing trend at the track to actually re-route the intercooler hoses and bypass the heat exchanger all together, just utilizing the ice from aftermarket intercooler coolant reservoirs to assist with intercooler cooling.

When folks first started increasing boost levels and getting custom computer tunes back in the fall of 02', a big push started for the aftermarket HE as a theoretical means to keeping IAT2 temps down, thus preventing the computer from pulling advance timing. Don't believe it's ever actually been proven if the theory is correct. :shrug:

BIGV said:

I have seen no conclusive proof that a H/E does anything more than lower your bank account. The limited info out there shows it does nothing to lower iat2 when driving normal. It may lower iat2 a little quicker but for 300.00 I need some real numbers and back to back stock to aftermarket comparisons.

Click to expand...

With that said, would it just be better to go with a killer chiller to keep everything cool if you know you're gonna be on the loud pedal more than usual? The concept on the kc is intriguing, I just haven't seen a whole lot of info on it, except for a few posts on this board.