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intercooler is an intercooler?

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Marvelous3

Marvelous3

Who engineered this?
Joined
Nov 12, 2002
Location
Atlanta
Original plan was to npr intercooler the grey car because it's drop in and is a known good upgrade. But what makes these cheap $100 eBay intercoolers different from a treadstone or factory npr intercooler? Labor cost to make them or are there actual structural difference that make the eBay ones so much cheaper?
 
here's the "face", ebay on left, Garrett on the right
127093294.jpg



this is the side view of the garrett
127093305.jpg


this is the side view of the ebay cooler
127093308.jpg


of course this is all relative to goals and needs. if you're not going to be making a lot of power, a la the average tbricker, the ebay stuff works fine.
 
be aware that many of the newer ebay intercoolers have less in the way of internal fins
 
A new npr isn't that expensive but I was not sure what made one more expensive than the other per say. I figured it was the quality of the core.
 
tube/fin vs bar/plate. npr is a good intercooler, esp from a drop in and go perspective. again, it's all relative to the time you want to invest and where you're trying to go. IMO the cost of time to fit the ebay intercooler probably offsets the savings, but that math may not be the same for other folks
 
linuxman51 said:
tube/fin vs bar/plate. npr is a good intercooler, esp from a drop in and go perspective. again, it's all relative to the time you want to invest and where you're trying to go. IMO the cost of time to fit the ebay intercooler probably offsets the savings, but that math may not be the same for other folks
Click to expand...

Just a quick daily driver that fits together with minimal mods to make stuff fit hence the attraction to the npr.
 
The last CX Racing intercooler I bought off of eBay looked exactly the same inside as any aftermarket intercooler I've ever seen, and way better than factory crap. The fins weren't bashed in, welds were clean, and the price is great...

I'm a bit confused about those pics Linuxman, respect due, but pretty sure the first pic isn't a brand new intercooler lol.

Marvelous3, I'd go with the CX Racing route, for the price of an NPR you could get the piping and intercooler for the same price, all new stuff, and will support more than the power you are aiming at.
 
2turbotoys said:
The last CX Racing intercooler I bought off of eBay looked exactly the same inside as any aftermarket intercooler I've ever seen, and way better than factory crap. The fins weren't bashed in, welds were clean, and the price is great...

I'm a bit confused about those pics Linuxman, respect due, but pretty sure the first pic isn't a brand new intercooler lol.

Marvelous3, I'd go with the CX Racing route, for the price of an NPR you could get the piping and intercooler for the same price, all new stuff, and will support more than the power you are aiming at.
Click to expand...

If you're confused it's because you're lacking mental acuity. Of course it's not a new intercooler, new intercoolers don't have leaves in them either in case you missed that one as well. I don't recall stating the ebay intercooler was new, but age doesn't shrink the core.

If you are not sure what you are looking at on the differences there you could stop and ask.


for another point of reference (not that it matters to any of you guys), we swapped cores on one of those joe blow 12x3x18 "generic" ebay intercoolers on a turbo honda, and picked up around 100whp, same size garret core.
 
2turbotoys said:
The last CX Racing intercooler I bought off of eBay looked exactly the same inside as any aftermarket intercooler I've ever seen, and way better than factory crap. The fins weren't bashed in, welds were clean, and the price is great...

I'm a bit confused about those pics Linuxman, respect due, but pretty sure the first pic isn't a brand new intercooler lol.

Marvelous3, I'd go with the CX Racing route, for the price of an NPR you could get the piping and intercooler for the same price, all new stuff, and will support more than the power you are aiming at.
Click to expand...

The difference in the pictures are tube and fin vs bar and plate. Seeing it in pictures I can see why one is more expensive than the other.

The anecdotal story about the Honda is not an uncommon story. I've read that stuff in a bunch of places and now seeing them side by side I can see why you get a 20% increase. And for what, $200 extra? Seems to be a no brainer.
 
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