# Radiator on Air Intake? **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Created:** [February 3, 2021, 3:19am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/radiator-on-air-intake/174720 "2021-02-03T03:19:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![YoshiMoshi3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8dc957/32.png) [@YoshiMoshi3](https://community.cartalk.com/u/YoshiMoshi3)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 3:19am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/radiator-on-air-intake/174720/1 "2021-02-03T03:19:04Z")
![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/1/8/1814d5f018f1b6318e5796a128acdfbfda692015.jpeg) I’ve Never seen something like this. It’s a radiator on the air intake of the engine. What purpose does it serve? The colder air is more dense, so it combusts faster? What is the ideal temperature of the air going through the intake? I can see you could go overkill and possible have the air go through a chiller. I’ve just never heard of a radiator on the intake before, not sure of it’s purpose. You can add in this radiator on any car? How much measurable benefit would I see (if any)? ---
**Author:** ![Barkydog](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/barkydog/32/2470_2.png) [@Barkydog](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Barkydog)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 3:29am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/radiator-on-air-intake/174720/2 "2021-02-03T03:29:23Z")
Looks odd to me, faster warm up? Where are the connetions to the real radiator? ---
**Author:** ![It\_s-Me](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/it_s-me/32/12660_2.png) [@It\_s-Me](https://community.cartalk.com/u/It_s-Me)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 4:41am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/radiator-on-air-intake/174720/3 "2021-02-03T04:41:01Z")
It’s called an intercooler, It’s to cool the compressed air from the Turbo. Air heats up when it gets compressed, that’s why it goes through an intercooler, to cool it back down. > **[Intercooler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercooler)** > > An intercooler is a mechanical device used to cool a gas after compression. Compressing a gas increases its internal energy which in turn raises its temperature and decreases its density. An intercooler typically takes the form of a heat exchanger that removes waste heat in a gas compressor. Intercoolers have a variety of applications, and can be found, for instance, in air compressors, air conditioners, refrigeration, gas turbines, and automotive engines. They are widely known as an air-to-ai Au... ---
**Author:** ![eddo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/eddo/32/2594_2.png) [@eddo](https://community.cartalk.com/u/eddo)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 4:01pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/radiator-on-air-intake/174720/4 "2021-02-03T16:01:19Z")
> [@Barkydog](#): > > Where are the connetions to the real radiator? no connections to the real radiator, except in the case that one is mounted in front of the other, then the same air will pass over the fins of both (not internally of the intercooler.) ---
**Author:** ![BikeGuy88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c37758/32.png) [@BikeGuy88](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BikeGuy88)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 4:08pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/radiator-on-air-intake/174720/5 "2021-02-03T16:08:11Z")
As @It_s_Me said, it’s an intercooler, and a pretty standard component on turbocharged and supercharged systems. These are becoming pretty standard components, since most new cars nowadays use some combination of turbocharging and supercharging to achieve better performance and fuel efficiency (by achieving the same amount of power with a smaller/more efficient engine). My 2018 Volvo XC60, for instance, has both a turbocharger and a supercharger (and an intercooler) as standard equipment. ---
**Author:** ![Cavell](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/cavell/32/43396_2.png) [@Cavell](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Cavell)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 5:04pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/radiator-on-air-intake/174720/6 "2021-02-03T17:04:33Z")
You could not tell it was turbo intercooler? ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 5:27pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/radiator-on-air-intake/174720/7 "2021-02-03T17:27:08Z")
Apparently not. I’m sure half the folks out there would have no idea what that was. ---
**Author:** ![eddo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/eddo/32/2594_2.png) [@eddo](https://community.cartalk.com/u/eddo)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 5:32pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/radiator-on-air-intake/174720/8 "2021-02-03T17:32:39Z")
> [@Cavell](#): > > You could not tell it was turbo intercooler? do you really think they would have asked if they knew??? ---
**Author:** ![FoDaddy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/fodaddy/32/717_2.png) [@FoDaddy](https://community.cartalk.com/u/FoDaddy)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 5:40pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/radiator-on-air-intake/174720/9 "2021-02-03T17:40:28Z")
> [@YoshiMoshi3](#): > > I’ve Never seen something like this. Then I’m guessing you haven’t seen many engines in general then > [@YoshiMoshi3](#): > > It’s a radiator on the air intake of the engine. It’s an intercooler, most turbo/supercharged engines have them. > [@YoshiMoshi3](#): > > What purpose does it serve? The colder air is more dense, so it combusts faster? cools the incoming compressed air so that it’s cooler. > [@YoshiMoshi3](#): > > I can see you could go overkill and possible have the air go through a chiller. There have been experiments over the years that use the car’s HVAC system to cool the air further, some vehicles (newer BMW M cars for example) has a system that sprays the intercooler with water to get an evaporation cooling effect, which allows for more aggressive ECU tuning. > [@YoshiMoshi3](#): > > ou can add in this radiator on any car? How much measurable benefit would I see (if any)? They are only practical in vehicles with forced induction as the air is being effectively heated by the turbo/supercharger. The air gets hotter due to being compressed. On N/A engines, this doesn’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![Cavell](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/cavell/32/43396_2.png) [@Cavell](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Cavell)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 5:58pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/radiator-on-air-intake/174720/10 "2021-02-03T17:58:35Z")
It was a test ---
**Author:** ![PvtPublic](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/pvtpublic/32/13089_2.png) [@PvtPublic](https://community.cartalk.com/u/PvtPublic)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 8:37pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/radiator-on-air-intake/174720/11 "2021-02-03T20:37:31Z")
> [@BikeGuy88](#): > > especially critical on turbochargers, which route heated exhaust gas back into the intake… WHAT ❓ Not on any turbos I know of. ---
**Author:** ![thegreendrag0n](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/thegreendrag0n/32/9265_2.png) [@thegreendrag0n](https://community.cartalk.com/u/thegreendrag0n)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 10:58pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/radiator-on-air-intake/174720/12 "2021-02-03T22:58:55Z")
even on Comprex supercharger, where intake and exhaust are seemingly connected… they are NOT mixing > **[Pressure wave supercharger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pressure_wave_supercharger)** > > A pressure wave supercharger (also known as a wave rotor) is a type of supercharger technology that harnesses the pressure waves produced by an internal combustion engine exhaust gas pulses to compress the intake air. Its automotive use is not widespread; the most widely used example is the Comprex, developed by Brown Boveri. Valmet Tractors of Finland were one of the first to use the device when they fitted it to the 411CX engine which powered their 1203 model of 1980. Although it pr The process... ---
**Author:** ![BikeGuy88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c37758/32.png) [@BikeGuy88](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BikeGuy88)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 11:22pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/radiator-on-air-intake/174720/13 "2021-02-03T23:22:10Z")
Sorry, yeah, I misspoke. I was pretty spaced out this morning, haha. ---
**Author:** ![rsss69cam\_162177](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/rsss69cam_162177/32/21024_2.png) [@rsss69cam\_162177](https://community.cartalk.com/u/rsss69cam_162177)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 1:52am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/radiator-on-air-intake/174720/14 "2021-07-28T01:52:28Z")
rednecks call them “racing radiators” 🤣