As I ran to the store today I saw a young man stopped and blocking an entrance to our local Sonic. He was talking on his phone and looking under the front of his car where I could see his intercooler had fallen out and was scraping. Being helpful, like turbos and have a full toolkit in the car I stop to render aid!
He explained he had just mounted it and it was apparent he used 2 zip-ties to hold it badly and too low "so I could scoop more air...more power ya know!"
I also notice the inlet side is not hooked up to a filter as he explains that it is in the back seat.
As I pop the hood to try to get him home the first thing I notice is...NO TURBO! Nope, no supercharger...nothing! Just PVC and duct tape. I did spend a few minutes trying to explain how an intercooler worked, but his buddy put the same kind on his car and it was faster. Told him he should just remove the intercooler and drive home, but he was afraid it would blow up or something so we moved him out of the way and I fled. His buddy was on his way so all was good.
Bruce
If it was a C7 and he does track days, I'll allow it.
Sadly those types are all to common around here
Refer the lost lad to the GRM site.
Maybe GRM business cards are in order.
Did he have a roll cage he hadn't gotten around to bolting to the floor yet? Those are my favorites.
Freshly glued PVC is the thing for roll cages these days. The fumes mask the ignorance.
The_Jed
PowerDork
10/27/16 11:24 p.m.
If he'd been running a proper blow off valve his intercooler wouldn't have popped off.
I once walked up to an acquaintance who had his hand near the tailpipe of a running car. I asked what he was doing and he said "feel how cool this car runs! I need to get an intercooler for mine" Sure enough a few weeks later he was trying to mount an inter-fooler with zip ties and hose clamps
I had a buddy run ONE live wire from the battery to two spark plugs mounted at the exhaust tips on his cramit. He couldn't understand why he kept getting shocked when he touched his muffler tips. He also didn't understand how to shut them off. He brought it by my place. I laughed and went back inside.
Was this a Honda or older Acura? That seems to be a thing in certain segments of that enthusiast community.
tuna55
MegaDork
10/28/16 7:24 a.m.
oh that just hurts to think about
In my day, the civic guys installed fake plastic intercooler lookalikes and electronic blow off valve sound generators but at least they knew they weren't real. This is a whole different breed of animal here.
I'm sure the car (whatever it was) had an automatic transmission.
Automatic + turbo is a winning combination because boost doesn't fall off between shi... oh wait... right.
I bet you could sell that guy every single item from kalecoauto.com
So, my Miata has a Roadster Sport exhaust with a 3 inch open tip. 'Cause you know, I wants to look like I has BOOOOOST...
