first small engine turbo vehicle. Did not know about the innercooler thing. Will research. I know in the V8 cars in the past, the K&N intakes were garbage compared to a true CAI.
An interesting fact came out when a Forte GT 1.6T owner complained that his Intake Air Temperature (IAT) was extremely high compared to his Ford Mustang with the 2.3L turbocharged engine...and he was correct. The IAT of his Ford was practically the same as ambient while the Forte reads about 30 degrees higher - and when stopped the IAT climbs until you start driving again. Why the difference? Because the difference is comparing apples to pineapples...
The IAT sensor on the Ford (and most cars) is in the Mass Air Flow (MAF) sensor LOCATED next to the filter box. It reads the air temperature of the outside air entering the filter.
The IAT sensor on our Kias is located in the Manifold Absolute Pressure (MAP) sensor LOCATED on/in the intake manifold. It reads the air temperature of the air the engine is ACTUALLY ingesting.
So why is it higher? 4 reasons:
1. Heat soak. The intake manifold (IM) is bolted to the cylinder head. The IM becomes heated and the air inside is heated up as well.
2. PCV heat. 30% of idle air is from the PCV system. The PCV air is superheated internal engine fumes.
3. Coolant heated throttle body. The throttle body is heated by engine coolant and this warms the incoming air as well.
4. The turbocharger heats the incoming air as does the act of compressing the air (no way to avoid this).
The Ford IAT readings are oblivious to the ACTUAL engine-ingested air.
Do you know about the 86-87 Buick Grand Nationals? They were extremely quick cars with a turbocharged 3.8L V6 engine and are listed as some of the fastest American cars made. What's interesting is no one remembers the 84-85 Buick Regals with the same turbocharged 3.8L V6...WHY? The 86-87 Buicks had an intercooler - the 84-85 Buicks didn't. Made a BIG difference!
The intercooler does a surprisingly good job of cooling the intake air. Without the intercooler modern turbocharged engines would NOT make the power they do.
My point is that
regardless of the temperature of the air BEFORE the turbocharger, the air from the filter is heated significantly more by the turbocharger and then is cooled by the intercooler to near ambient air temperature. Getting more air into the engine will increase performance.
