Here in Georgia, the summer temps can get quite unbearable. With such poor airflow to the intercooler, it is tuff to keep it from heat soaking while on the track, even with a 3 way shroud installed. On a hot day, my intake temps would steady out at about 175 degrees F. Now I could certainly go with a water/air intercooler, but that adds complexity, weight up high, and large $'s. So I decided to look into water injection systems.
Now my goal was not to make more power or to be able to use lower octane fuel. It was simply to try and control intake temps... with the added benefit of constantly steam cleaning my cylinders and pistons...
There are quite a few systems to choose from on the market. I decided to go with the AEM 30-3300 system because it has a boost reference manifold pressure sensor built into it. I already had a boost pressure hose installed post intercooler connected to my boost referenced fuel pressure regulator. So I could simply tee into that line for this system. The other nice thing about this system is the ease of changing when the injection begins, and at what point you want it at full spray. So for example, with the dials on the controller you can tell it to start spraying at 2 psi and then be at full spray at 15psi, and it will linearly ramp up the volume between the 2 numbers you choose.
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The kit came with 3 different injectors: 250cc/min, 500 cc/min, and a 1000 cc/min. Based on my horsepower, I went with the 500. Also, these injectors come with a built in check valve.
Internet research will provide you plenty of varying opinions on the best location of where to install the injector.
I decided, to meet my goals, to install it before the throttle body, just after the MAF sensor. This will assist in not only cooling the intake air, but also cooling the supercharger itself, which will greatly assist in preventing heat soak.
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I then installed the controller, the tank, the inline filter, and the pump in the trunk for easy access. I fab'd some basic stand-offs to mount the tank to the firewall and velcro'd the controller to the carpet.
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So by just injecting water, I assumed that I would lose a little power, since I was slowing the flame front during combustion. This was confirmed on the dyno. So, with some very small tweaks to the ignition timing, I was back to where I began (power-wise) before injecting. I also trimmed back a little fuel to get to my target 12:1 at WOT. I have no concern about detonation (with the ignition adjustment) since I am never into boost while driving on the street, and always have the water tank full when I go to the track.
Result? I was able to reduce my max intake temps by 25 degrees F, and more importantly the intercooler does not heat soak. Intake temps simply rise and fall with load. I am sure I could get even better performance with 50/50 water-meth mix, but am very pleased with the results, for such little cost.
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Now my goal was not to make more power or to be able to use lower octane fuel. It was simply to try and control intake temps... with the added benefit of constantly steam cleaning my cylinders and pistons...
There are quite a few systems to choose from on the market. I decided to go with the AEM 30-3300 system because it has a boost reference manifold pressure sensor built into it. I already had a boost pressure hose installed post intercooler connected to my boost referenced fuel pressure regulator. So I could simply tee into that line for this system. The other nice thing about this system is the ease of changing when the injection begins, and at what point you want it at full spray. So for example, with the dials on the controller you can tell it to start spraying at 2 psi and then be at full spray at 15psi, and it will linearly ramp up the volume between the 2 numbers you choose.
The kit came with 3 different injectors: 250cc/min, 500 cc/min, and a 1000 cc/min. Based on my horsepower, I went with the 500. Also, these injectors come with a built in check valve.
Internet research will provide you plenty of varying opinions on the best location of where to install the injector.
I decided, to meet my goals, to install it before the throttle body, just after the MAF sensor. This will assist in not only cooling the intake air, but also cooling the supercharger itself, which will greatly assist in preventing heat soak.
I then installed the controller, the tank, the inline filter, and the pump in the trunk for easy access. I fab'd some basic stand-offs to mount the tank to the firewall and velcro'd the controller to the carpet.
So by just injecting water, I assumed that I would lose a little power, since I was slowing the flame front during combustion. This was confirmed on the dyno. So, with some very small tweaks to the ignition timing, I was back to where I began (power-wise) before injecting. I also trimmed back a little fuel to get to my target 12:1 at WOT. I have no concern about detonation (with the ignition adjustment) since I am never into boost while driving on the street, and always have the water tank full when I go to the track.
Result? I was able to reduce my max intake temps by 25 degrees F, and more importantly the intercooler does not heat soak. Intake temps simply rise and fall with load. I am sure I could get even better performance with 50/50 water-meth mix, but am very pleased with the results, for such little cost.
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opcorn:
