Intercooler theory- why dual ic are in parallel

[jericoJo]

Since I am working on building a custom intercooler, I am thinking DUAL core. If you going to do something go all out. Most dual intercooler setup I see are in parallel to each other. I think on a syty it would be easier to do a dual core in series, 1 ic would be infront the radiator and the other where the stock cac cooler is.This way the air flow in a circle, from the turbo to the bottom ic then to the top to the intake.
One main concern is pressure drop, in series it would be more pressure dorp.
Any comments on this?

jo - brain farthing out loud with 2 intercooler in hand.

 

[myclone]

Thats the way mines set up.. Seems to work ok so far.. IAT are ~20 over ambient air temp and might get to ~45 right at the end of a WOT blast on the freeway. Seems to cool real quick too..

Dunno, I dont have any air to air data to compare mine with other than the KB kit equiped truck I tinkered with. My IATs were lower than that one across the board. By quite a bit I might add but our trucks are WAY diff in set up.

 

[JoeLutz]

Series is more restrictive than parallel, because all the air has to travel through both coolers. However you may get a cooler charge that way, since you will be effectively cooling the air twice. Parallel will be less restrictive and therefore less pressure drop, but less heat may be exchanged since the air charge will not be exposed to as much 'cooling area'.
Don't forget that the piping will affect the pressure drop also. If I was building a 2 part setup, if both cores had a large cooling surface area, I would run parallel. If they both had very large inlet and exits with simple, straight piping to connect the two and smaller surface area, I would run series.