Ok guys, results are in.
This is nowhere near a true test of the part: for that you would log real numbers on a real car, real chassis dyno, real operating temps monitored by real sensors, etc. This was just a quick proof of concept test.
I had two sections of 2 inch aluminum tube with a 1/2" hole drilled in each. Then I took small pieces of scotchbrite (tough abrasive, like a rough sponge) and inserted them so that I could see them through the drilled holes. The scotchbrite provided a background for the laser thermometer to read on, and it allowed air and heat to pass through because it's very light and fibrous.
Then, I attached the test pieces in between. This allowed me to read the temperature before and after each piece of tubing. The total length of the "pre-intercooler" was 9 inches ( 6" of fins, 1.5" on each end for coupling purposes), so I included a 9" long piece of regular 2 inch tubing as a control subject.
The industrial heat gun worked well as a hot air source, there was quite a bit of hot airflow coming out of the end of the experiment tubing. Nothing like the airspeed and pressure of a turbo compressor, but you understand. The outside temperature was a nice 75 degrees, and I tested inlet temps from 150 to 360F. I took temperatures in intervals between the min and max temps, and tried to be as consistent as possible. I gathered 15 inlet and outlet samples for each test. Here are the results.
The regular 9" piece of tubing was good for about a 100 degree drop between the two test points (average of 108.6). I'm not saying that's how a real intake on a real car would behave, but it sets up some base numbers for the next test. The 100 degree drop seemed pretty consistent throughout the temperature range.
The extruded-fin tube showed a larger drop. The average temperature drop was 136.8F, or a 28.2 degree improvement over the average drop of the regular tubing.
Now, something of interest: for the lower temps tested, the two tubes seemed to perform about the same (about a 100 degree difference in inlet and outlet temps). However, once the inlet temp started climbing above 240, the extruded-fin tube began outperforming the regular tube. For the control tube, a sample inlet temp of 360 reflected an outlet temperature of 255 (105 degree drop). The extruded tubing showed a drop from 360 to 190, or a 170 degree drop, a 65 degree improvement! At this point, I kept the heatgun turned on, and the post-tube temperatures refused to go above 200F.
Yes, I realize a 75 degree ambient temperature is a very cool environment(if you have well-sealed tinware on your ACVW, you should actually have close to ambient engine bay temps
), and you would really have to have an inefficient compressor to pump out 360F boost. So, make of this crude data what you will.
I took measurements of this thing, and the 6 inches of fins have as much external surface area as 37 inches of 2 inch tubing. Like the ad says, this component is not meant to replace or even mimic a real intercooler. It is meant to shave off a bit of heat so your intercooler doesn't have to work as hard. Or if you have no intercooler, it might be better than nothing. Whether it's worth 40 bucks is up to you.
