Aluminium Radiators & Engineering Pty Ltd
Unit 11 / 60 Kremzow Rd
Brendale QLD Australia

Ph +61 07 32054620 Email info@are.com.au

'SHAKER'  Top Mount Intercoolers

Sorry - There is no PERFECT Intercooler -
they all have their drawbacks !
The trick is to pick the best for your application and pocket !


  
ARE Shaker  Top Mounts cannot match front mounts for outright cooling - in most cases - in a direct comparison. They can not be physically as big & unless the vehicle has bull bar, mesh, driving lights, winch etc., do not get the same volume of ambient air per core fin area. If the vehicle is equipped as above, then cooling efficiency will be very similar & in some cases top mounts can be better.

ARE Shaker  Top Mounts do not place any extra stress on the engine cooling system (radiator) like a front mount or even the radiator of an air/water system. This is very important for vehicles like the Toyota Troopie & Tray Backs that struggle in summer with a Turbo fitted. No point in having a powerful engine that has to be driven at half throttle or it overheats !
  
ARE Shaker   Top Mounts do definitely provide less 'turbo' lag, they are more responsive to throttle control. The longer the piping & sharper bends of a front mount, the more noticeable lag is.
  
ARE Shaker   Top Mounts are less prone to front end damage & in certain circumstances, blocking with mud, insects & grass seed. They are usually easier to remove to clean.
  
ARE Shaker   Top Mounts provide better cooling above 50 kph over air/water intercooling. Note - this is a generalization & each vehicle has to be treated  on it's own merits. Up to 35 kph, air water is always superior, 40 to 50kph, they are line ball, above 60 kph top mounts are better & this increases with speed. I have to say that up too 25kph, air/water intercooling is far, far superior.
  
ARE Shaker   Top Mounts are near half the price of our air/water kits & appear to be cheaper in price to others quality front mounts.
  
ARE Shaker   Top Mounts when fitted with one of our modified plennums (exchange), are in a performance league of their own when the boost is raised 5 & more psi over oe factory specifications. Most factory plennums - well, they should really be called intake manifolds, as most are just an agricultural log of the smallest internal volume with bosses molded internally into some runners too give plenty of meat for studs & bolts. Having said this, it is heaps more detrimental to oversize a diesel intake ( & intercooling piping) than for a petrol engine - far more critical.

  


 

Apology 
Our fiberglass Shaker Scoops will be available very soon, the first one will cost near $2000 & we have to get some money back in the bank after the
expense of our development programme. They will come in two sizes. All this testing time & making components too test burns up the $$$$ at a great rate. 

 

 
This is when we were getting
serious with top mounts. Terry
was off around Australia &
liked the idea of more power,
but also wanted better economy & also realized the much more stable temps increase engine life by a small margin.

 

Terry had the time (just retired)
so he did the scoop himself. This was the best after market available then.
His gains, especially towing, made him a happy man. Sealing the scoop too the intercooler reliably is what got me thinking about our 'shaker' system. It seals 100% for life, giving the best consistent performance possible.
Peter uses his 'troopy' to tow 2 tons of mowing gear & 2.5 tons of fishing gear. As he mostly drives the same roads, He knows the power & economy gains our ic. gave him.
The louvers are extremely important to even the air flow across & through the face of the core for maximum cooling. Otherwise, most of the air flows through down the back of the core, little through the front, leaving the charge air hotter !
The 'shaker scoop' offers the
'look' for those of us old enough
to remember the
Ford Falcon Phase 3,
but, most importantly, forces
every bit of available air through
the intercooler - at low speed too! For a highly modified engine, they can't dissipate as much heat as a large front mount or air-water ic.
My trusty old test stead. Owned it for 8 years & this is the 5th different intercooler we've made for it
Hand made alloy scoop is one of a few tested. we now know what works the best & will be making two sizes available in fiberglass, from the same F1 race boat builder.

                        
 

 

The Theory behind Our 'SHAKER' Ic's
 

I don't know how I can stress  enough how unique & accurate our in house computer program is for sizing intercoolers, we have been developing  and refining this program over ten years now. It gives us an extremely detailed knowledge of intercooling.

From the 11 years of R&D & real world testing, our computer programme tells us very closely how an intercooler should work, which shortens our development time. Unfortunately, there as some aspects that it can't tell us, the main one being the ambient air flow through the ic. All models of vehicles vary & then people add on their own accessories, some of which can have a substantial bearing on the final result. In this case, we have to take an educated guess until we get known data.

M A B C D E F G H I J K N
ARE Toy 3.0L 3800 rpm 12 psi 366 cfm 25°c 100°c 80°c 4.1  kw   233  btu  52.2 kph  0.024 sec no scoop
  Toy 3.0L 4100 rpm 12 psi 385 cfm 25°c 110°c 36°c 16.8 kw 957 btu 56.3 kph 0.022 sec With scoop
                         
                         
                         

Code & Details for above chart.
 

A

 engine capacity B Engine revs computer modeling worked at, I believe maximum sustainable !
C Maximum boost pressure out of turbo used D cfm - cubic feet per minute of charge air forced into engine
E ambient temperature - outside air temp for this calculation - only small effect. E Temperature of charge air out of turbo. Least known of any data, but important
G Temp. of air out of intercooler  - more effecient - more power - more economy H Amount of heat intercooler pulls out of charge air measured in kilowatt/minute
I Amount of heat ic. pulls out of charge air measured in British Thermal Units J Speed of the charge air traveling through the intercooler core
K Time it takes a molecule of air to travel through the core - bloody quick ! M Intercooler manufacturer
N Any notes    


 

 
                    
This is the same flow bench I have used for 15 years. It's had quite a few switches & worn out a few motors, but Woody -Fataz Engines-keeps it in tip top shape.        
            
         
 

  

The 'Actual'  in Our 'SHAKER' Ic's

If you want High Performance for more power & lower economy -  here it is.

                            
It's nearly there. Intercooler on, waiting for the scoop & louvers. Surprisingly, this achieved 43.9% efficiency ! I hand formed this scoop out of 2mm alloy sheet. Notice how it rolls outwards for a bigger opening at the top. The higher off the bonnet, the more air & more cooling. Production fiberglass scoops will be available very soon. They will come in two widths. We had to make a mount system for our sensor too fit in close under the core for an accurate reading. It's not allot of air, so we can't afford any spillage & the converted sensor is not cheap, so no damage This is to see how much air is actually flowing over the bonnet & at the scoop mouth. A bloody lot! This is as much too show the rear & side profile of the scoop as much as our logger cables & sensor position.
                   

                        

 
This is our logger in the truck after I'd been for a run. Messy, but it has high capabilities & lets me spend time analysing & comparing results - gains or sometimes loses.   ARE intercooler without a scoop or louvers Relying on air flowing up out of engine bay for it's cooling! As in above picture.*A This is a higher efficiency than we achieved with our best $4000 air/water setup, BUT, Please note his is at 60 kph. It's horses for courses. *B This is a run - on a closed track - from 0 to 130kph, back to 0, turn around & gass it up & over a hill too 140 to 0kph. This is air speed through the core as above middle picture. This is the exact same run repeated as left side graph, but measuring air speed at the scoop mouth.You can see that the ic restriction stops a mammoth amount of air flow!  *C
     43.9% Efficient @ 60 kph  83.3% Efficient @ 60kph    
  *A If you check the graphs in the air/water page, a 100 series Landcruiser not intercooled, had an efficiency of 1.7% in the cast cross over pipe. Our ic. just with a hole in the bonnet has an efficiency of 44%. Only one patch of red where the intercooler turned into an 'interheater'. A very small pressure drop, measured in tenths of one psi. This intercooler is actually a little over size for current boost.
  *B Note the air speed through the core, it pretty much mirrors the car road speed. Also how after the initial heat soak form setting the logger & moving off, the ic out temp. is on a downhill curve until I stopped the car, turned around & gassed it back up the hill. I just noticed it does 0 to 90kph up a steep hill in 13 secs.
  *C This is why I struggle being polite about Australian companies that are using Chinese Intercoolers (have a look at their pictures closely or ask them - & I have to say Ebay is the easiest place too spot them) in their 'kit' ! We have spent endless hours testing to achieve the optimum fin pitch ratio & pay extra money to the (Australian) factory to make our cores too our specs. It's a fine line between having an open fin pitch & letting plenty of ambient air through but not having enough fin contact for good heat dissipation, too a close fin pitch which will dissipate allot of heat, but not let the air through & becomes a heat soak !  


 

           
          Our logger was in Sydney receiving another speed probe, this dual digital thermometer is accurate but can't store data.



 

 

 

 

© Aluminium Radiators and Engineering Pty Ltd (ARE Cooling)
 While every effort is made to ensure details and information is correct at time of publishing Sunday, 05 August 2012
please contact ARE by phone, fax or email to confirm prices before order
.