Upgrading the intercooler on my stage 3 tuned Maruti S-Cross

I wanted to go with the entry level core as it is rated 310 HP and my car would be doing only 200 HP. But, my tuner Wolf suggested to get a bigger core (475 HP).

BHPian Dr.Naren recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I was running Stage 3 Wolf moto remap with stock intercooler in my S-Cross 1.6 for more than 2 years. Intercooler is a must for any stage 3 build. IC upgrade plan always got postponed due to multiple reasons.

Few of my friends were running Chinese intercoolers in their S-Cross 1.6. There was decent drop in IAT. But, I didn't like the performance when I drove those cars. My car with stock IC had better low end and throttle response. I believe the Chinese IC had more pressure drop.

I came across Garrett intercoolers by Stellar Turbo. It looked like a good option. Garrett sells only the cores, end tanks are fabricated later by Stellar. Stellar Turbo is official importer of Garrett performance parts. The Stage 3 turbo for my car was also bought from them. Mr. Binoy from Stellar Turbo is always very helpful. I had discussed with him regarding various options from Garrett.

Garrett has multiple intercooler cores with rating of 310 to 1260 HP.

I wanted to go with the entry level core as it is rated 310 HP and my car would be doing only 200 HP. But, my tuner Wolf suggested to get a bigger core (475 HP). The explanation given was that my turbo is making 2 bars of boost and IAT shoots very quickly which the smaller core wouldn't be able to handle efficiently. Wolf also said the results weren't really impressive with the smaller core in T-Jet and my car would be doing lot more boost than that. Hence, I decided to go with 475 HP core. The drawback is it would be a tight fit while the smaller core would have be much easier to install or even make it a drop in replacement with custom fabrication of end tanks.

Garrett core is bar and plate design while the OE is tube and fin type. Advantages of bar and plate intercoolers are they take long time to get heat-soaked, but they also take longer time to cool once heat soaked. Tube and fin cores will heat up very fast and also cool down quickly.

I had driven to Kochi for audio upgrade. Wolf Moto had 475 HP rated core in stock. I decided to get it installed at Red Fox.

Stock (Visteon) vs Garrett

OE: 1.9 kg

Garrett: 5 kg

Garrett core weighs heavier thanks to the higher fin density. Stellar Turbo had also improved the welding of end tanks and the design is slightly different compared to their previous version for smoother flow.

Few more pics

Installed

They made custom mounts for the new IC. Stainless steel plumbing was done post end tanks, I think they could have done a better job, not really happy with the 270-degree bends. The front member was slightly trimmed to accommodate the new intercooler. I was OK with this as the member isn't really strong to protect passengers in any crash and it is meant to protect only the radiator from minor hits.

The turbo outlet hose was compressed / pinched like this. I wasn't really OK with it. But, they assured me it would work fine and requested me to test it. They also didn't use silicone hoses at end tanks. I wasn't really confident about the installation, expected it to give up anytime.

I went for a logging session with Rajiv. Peak MAF had increased by 15 g/s ans Peak IAT was lower by 15-20 degrees. The car was pulling better and I could also notice better low end and throttle response.

Snapshot from our logging session.

I drove without any issues back to Manipal (~500 km). But, the bad installation had to show up and it did. I was doing back to back redline pulls and the car lost power. I could hear a loud boost leak sound and there was lot of smoke from exhaust. It was evident that one of the hoses got burst.

Thankfully, I was in Mangalore and I could drive the car with minimal throttle input without much smoke. I took the car to Wagen Tunen.

Culprit

The clamp which was welded at SS pipe was broken. This might have lead to vibrations of the pipe which in turn ruptured the rubber hose at end tank. Wagen Tunen welded back the clamp and installed a hose at end tank for temporary fix.

I did back to back high speed runs and it held up well. But, I also observed that performance drops after back to back full throttle runs. The compressed turbo outlet hose was the culprit because the turbo had to work harder to maintain the requested boost. I was feeling terrible with all the issues due to bad installation at Red Fox. Red Fox offered to fix everything if I go back to Kochi. But, I wasn't comfortable going back all the way to Kochi as I wasn't really sure if they would fix it properly.

I wasn't able to fully exploit the potential of Garettt intercooler with all these plumbing issues. I even thought of removing the entire setup and go with the smaller core. I discussed the same with Rajiv and he suggested to get the plumbing fixed first by installing silicone hoses.

Continue reading about Dr.Naren's S-Cross upgrade for more insights, information and BHPian comments.