Why bigger intercooler on redline?

[dixie]

I have an interceptor and it measures air intake temperature,so I suppose this is the temperature after the intercooler .When it's outside by example 20 degrees celcius and I hit full throttle the temperature goes up till about 25 degrees celcius.So it's only 5 degrees celcius more so I think a bigger intercooler is useless.What I don't understand is when I hit full throttle with my Porsche 996 turbo temperature raises with 30 degrees celcius more than outside temperature and in the redline only 5 degrees celcius?? Very strange..

[shabby]

The stock intercooler actually isnt that bad on our cars, i noticed the same increase in temps. However if you keep doing those runs back and forth or do some kind of autocross/road racing the stock intercooler will heatsoak due to its small capacity.

The intercooler on our cars is in the front and gets plenty of fresh air while im guessing in the 996 it doesnt get as much cool air and/or the intercooler is smaller/less efficient.

[saab9-3]

well from what i know there is a notable horsepower gain as well, does it increase horsepower due to getting more density of air?

[Bogie]

Originally Posted by saab9-3

well from what i know there is a notable horsepower gain as well, does it increase horsepower due to getting more density of air?

That's the point of the intercooler. The advertised stock HP values for the SKY take the stock intercooler into account. To the extent an aftermarket intercooler performs better than stock, the improvement should map into HP gains over stock.