After about 4 years of running the 997.2 intercoolers, I’ve finally decided to embark on a better intercooler solution that would surpass anything that is currently available on the market. There are many aftermarket choices available but very few if any have proven to surpass the performance of the OEM 997.2 for those looking for all around performance for moderate power (up to 650whp or so). This has been proven repeatedly in real world testing as reported by Earl who has tested them against many aftermarket options out there. The 997.2s ICs are excellent intercoolers for street as well as track use and are an excellent value. They do however have their limitations and I have seen IATs with them on very hot track days in excess of 170F on my car and 200F + on my friends VTG 997.1TT. While there is not really anything better for road course use, there are obviously much better choices for the high HP 0-60 and 1/4mile guys where low restriction is more important than thermal recovery and this type of use is what most of the large thick aftermarket ICs are aimed at.

With that said, Porsche Motorsport has chosen Secan as their intercooler of choice in their race cars. Unfortunately these intercoolers are out of reach for 99.9% of people as their cost is in the $15-20K range for the cores alone. After looking at all the options, I collaborated with Sean at SRM to come up with a solution that would be in the realm of “affordability” for a larger, albeit still very small, segment of enthusiasts. SRM, among turbos and fuel systems, makes a very nice set of their own intercoolers which in my opinion are the best of the aftermarket. My goals were simple. The intercoolers must utilize a genuine “aerospace” core, have proven manufacturer supplied data, be a direct drop in to both 996/997.1 shrouds with minimal to no modification, lightweight, and performance wise surpass anything in the market place. Rest assured that I do not like to compromise and as such wanted an intercooler solution that would rival or exceed the mighty Secans.

After speaking with numerous aerospace suppliers in the US and Europe, we were able to narrow the choice down to a core that would meet all of these requirement. By agreeing to purchase a batch of cores, the manufacturer in turn agreed to design aerospace cores to our specific size and performance specifications. Due to economies of scale, we are able to procure these at a much better cost that the $12K+ it would have taken in the past to purchase such cores. The manufacturer that will be supplying us the cores currently makes intercoolers and heat exchange devices for Boeing, Airbus, numerous military and aerospace applications, and also Formula 1. This is no mom and pop operation!

These aerospace cores are 37% larger than the benchmark OEM 997.2 ICs, and 60% larger than the OEM 996TT/GT2/997.1 ICs (for those wondering, the 997.2s are 17% larger than 996TTs).

The performance data for each aerospace core is as follows listed for both 600hp and 1200hp applications:

HP application:___________600whp (both cores)______________1200whp (both cores)

Charge Air Mass Flow______720 Kg/hr (per core)______________1420 Kg/hr (per core)

Charge Air Temp IN________180ºC (356ºF)__________________180ºC (356ºF)
Charge Air Temp OUT______35.6ºC (96ºF)___________________55.7ºC (132.2F)

Charge Air Press Drop______75.9 mbar (1.1 psi)______________233.3 mbar (3.43 psi)
@1.8bar (26.4 psi)
operating press

Ram Air Velocity___________10 m/s (22.4 mph)______________10 m/s (22.4 mph)
(speed of cooling air
through exterior of core)
(corresponds to vehicle
speed of 150mph)

Ram Air Temp IN___________30ºC (86ºF)____________________30ºC (86ºF)
Ram Air Temp OUT_________60.5ºC (140.9ºF)________________82.5ºC (180.5ºF)

Ram Air Press Drop_________20.7 mbar (0.3 psi)______________20.7 mbar (0.3 psi)


As can be seen by the numbers above, the efficiency of the aerospace cores is quite astounding. Keep in mind that this data is for continuous duty replicating wide open full throttle operation where the core is fully heat soaked and thermally stable, not just a 20 or 30 second datalog snapshot of a highway pull.

Looking at the 600whp application column on the left, note the huge temperature drop of the boosted air entering and exiting the intercooler (356F vs. 96F). Keep in mind that the ECU starts pulling timing right around the 35C (95F) point. Also note the minuscule drop of 1.1 psi of boosted air through the core. This shows how free flowing this aerospace core is even at 1.8bar of boost. In comparison, the 997.2 core has almost 3x the resistance of 3 psi of pressure drop through the core at similar air flow but lower boost.

Even when using these cores in a 1200whp application, the performance is amazing but we see the intercooler outlet temps higher at 132.2F while the pressure drop through the core is now 3.43 psi. Again, keep in mind that these are fully heat soaked continuous wide open throttle #s.

While we do not have exact weight figures, we anticipate the completed IC with end tanks to weigh around 10lbs each which will only be only slightly more than the 997.2s and substantially less than other larger aftermarket offerings. The reason they are so light is because the cores are made of much better/thinner materials that one will find on normal commonly used consumer cores such as Bell or others.

We should have these cores in hand middle to latter part of January. Once they arrive, SRM will be welding on specially designed aluminum end tanks with full 2.5” inlets and outlets designed for hoses with T-clamps or worm clamps. Projected price will be $6950 including all 4 hoses and clamps. Hoses will be available for both the 996TT/GT2 and 997TT/GT2 platforms. While not cheap, these will satisfy the niche market of those looking for the best intercooler you can buy for the 996/997 platform. I suspect these will really shine on the 997TT platform which has to deal with the hot running VTGs. No shortcuts, no compromise..

I will be posting pictures as work progresses and will be testing them in the spring at the start of track season.

Cheers!

A little teaser for those interested in these

wow, tall order you have placed here... Im interested to see where these end up. Given how affordable the .2s are, these are going to have to blow their doors off to be able to achieve a price point close to what the straight line coolers are going for.

This is an amazing, albeit expensive, project. Its definitely something I'll be keeping my eye on. Thanks for your hardwork in bringing something this "cool" to the community!

Wow, the specs are amazing and so far looking beautiful too. Definitely interested in this topic and seeing such high end parts being developed for our platform!!

How do you spell SECAN?

nicely done John! they seem great so far(with data to match), looking forward to updates
something else to budget for...lol
Cheers,
Rob

Nice work on taking this on. I'm curious to see the core design if you have any pictures?

I will post pictures once we have these in hand.

Excellent "project"! ...but too expensive for my budget... I especially like the data given out. Just facts, no BS.

It's already a proven fact that even smaller aerospace intercoolers (like the Marsons used and independently tested by GTR Nick) widely surpass the performance of the 997.2s. Like I said, the .2s are a great bargain but they do have their limitations. And I'm not a fan of limitations...

I have seen the hard work and dedication going into this. I love how SRM is one stop all in house. Nice work! If anyone sets demand on IC's it's John!

No question these are not cheap Pete but cost has been brought down from the $15K+ to less than half. Considering that people spend thousands of dollars on shiny whees, carbon fibre accents, LED taillight, etc, the cost of these ICs is actually "reasonable" and provides a lot of bang for the buck especially for those that seriously track their cars and want nothing but the best. You can spend $30-40K on turbos and a built engine but if you can't cool charge air effectively, you're leaving a lot on the table. Again, I believe these will be a huge benefit on high strung hot running VGT set ups seen on 997s. I know in Europe you don't often track your car in the high +100F ambient temps that we see here stateside. These kind of conditions kill the performance of the .2s in extended session.

Thanks for the kind words Sam. Hope 2016 is treating you well so far! Sean is a great guy and has a real passion for taking things to the next level. We've been talking about making this happen for quite a while now and it's finally off and running. These will set the bar for sure..

Very Nice project, thanks...

I thought I read somewhere that ecu starts pulling timing at 55C are you sure about 35C above, my car cruises around 28-29 i believe....