[tbird88tbo]

hey everybody. im looking into a supercharger setup for my 98 stang with 99 4v. Let me make my question simple, which is better, air to air cooler or air to water cooler. I can already see some pro and cons for both.

Air to water uses less piping on the discharge side which makes for a better install and also seems like there would be less loss of boost and better flow (i am only speculating). On the other hand you have to relocate your battery, at a tank with pump, you still have something to mount infront of the radiator (heat exchancer), and it cost more.

Air to air on the other hand is cheaper, but you have all that extra plumbing you have to route.

Here are the bottom line questions. Which cools better? Also, are there any major disadvantages of either?

[Matt Cramer]

It depends on what your application is. For a drag car, you can use an ice reservoir and get more cooling from an air to water setup. And on the street if you only use boost for short bursts it can cool back down and use its extra mass to help. However, these do have a bit more plumbing since they need that extra heat exchanger.

Air to air can get more cooling if you're in boost for long periods of time, and is simpler to plumb up. And there's not that much of a restriction (loss of boost) if you route the piping well.

We've used both approaches on our in house project cars. One of them is a mid engined MR2 that can't really get the air flow an air to air needs in its engine compartment, so an air to water cooler was the natural choice. We have two front engined project cars that both use air to air coolers instead.

[Trick Tuners]

Air to air is usually the best choice. Like mentioned, if you only drag you can use air to water and fill the tank with ice. heat soak can be a problem with air to water, and there is more boost drop. If you have a PD blower you have to run air to water because thats the only way to cram the IC under the blower.