D40 intercooler upgrade

Hey guys just thought some might be interested in an intercooler upgrade we have just undertaken on a D40.

It is just the prototype as such at the moment but everything is there and bolts in beautifully. (Just fits though!!!) We have had it on the dyno and I will post up a graph soon. Just got to print it out and take a pic.

Core is a custom job and it works so well I was actually surprised. Even at full load run you can hold your hand on the cool side where as the hot side would near take skin off it gets so hot. We have used a cradle type bottom mount for strength and two brackets up top with studs on the top of the intercooler. Mounts very well and bolts in with no mods.

It also incorporates a hard pipe upgrade which does away with all the ugly factory 90 deg bends. I have used two 45's and a 30 in place of 3 90 degree bends.

Anyway hopefully I can figure out the pics. Just ask if ya got any questions.

Regards
Brian

make a kit i will buy it!

very nice!is the intercooler custom? you have the dimensions?

It will be in kit form soon. ( That is what we do at work) All bracketry laser cut and pipe work made from one piece and powdercoated.

Core dimensions are "as big as will comfortably fit" lol. I have the drawing at work and unfortunately can't remember exactly what it is but I will let ya know.

The intercooler is a custom built we have designed for the d40. Core design is one of pwr's new aero 2 cores. Extremely efficient cores as I said it was quite amazing on the dyno and I have seen a lot of different intercoolers come thru here. The leading edge of all the tubes are rounded which greatly increased airflow thru the core. Also has a unique fin design. It works anyway really well.

It was quite a stuff around to get the biggest core we could in there without effecting anything else and make it just bolt in.

At this stage I know it will fit manual without nudge bar, with nudge bar and with bullbar. Auto without nudge bar, and with bullbar. Just have to confirm auto with nudge bar but I am sure we will be able to sort that out.

Cheers
Brian

nicely done

have you done any power/torque comparisons between the oem setup and this yet?

We have mate but I been flat out so keep forgetting to bring the dyno graph home to photograph.

Doesn't make a mammoth difference obviously as we are really only just making it leaner to make use of the fuel it already has.

Fuel ratios got better by a couple of points which was good to see and mine was already a bit better with the exhaust so promising to see.
I have not made any other mods to fuel yet.

Made enough difference to make the kit worth making though especially if someone wants to start adding fuel.

I can't wait to see what happens once we put fuel ratios back to factory (ie chip) cause I think it will make some really good power then. And safely too which is a big thing. For someone wanting to flog the car a bit for example on the beach or even going up long hills etc a Navara fitted with this intercooler would start pulling away as it will keep the charge air temps down for so much longer than the factory setup.

As I mentioned it was amazing to be able to hold the cold side of the intercooler while the truck was doing a power run. Doesn't happen often.
Hot side would seriously have burned thru layers of skin very quickly. 20 psi of boost gets HOT!!!

I will try and get dyno pics soon for ya
We have to sort out what everything costs to get a kit price together also.
I feel the hard pipe upgrade is good too as it gets rid of a few bends.
Cheers
Brian

good news to hear i hope to see some install threads from some people on here once you get the ball rolling on production

i might have to see if i can convince another navara owner to buy my intercooler hard piping so i can get one of these kits except im the only one on island who would modify one of these lol

ha ha yeah you are nuts man! I have been watching all your progress on your truck. You have bigger balls than me modifying your car so heavily! Good stuff

I am not really here to flog anything but I think it is good info for those wanting to go down the path of trying to extract more from the d40. SAFELY!

Factory fuel ratios on my d40 from new (manual) were about 17:1 at 3700 rpm (peak power) where as with the intercooler and exhaust this jumps down to about 20:1.
At 2200 or peak torque for the factory setup fuel ratios are at a whopping 15:1 so very rich really.
With the intercooler and exhaust at 2200 fuel ratio is at just shy of 18:1.

So as you can see some good results there.

Also with the exhaust and intercooler torque figures at 1900 rpm go from 3300 newtons to about 4900 newtons.

We see quite a few d40's come thru work that have got chips on em and nothing else so it is a bit scary to think what there fuel ratios would be! They generally start to rattle really bad. Almost hydraulic locking on fuel ha ha.

Cheers
Brian

BTW I am going to try and retro fit a fuel cooler to my dual cab soon. I notice that some have em and some don't. Most king cabs seem to have em and early dual cabs did too but mine don't have one so I think this will be a cheap mod to do also

intercooler

any update wityh the dyno figures yet, also did your business get around to working out a price for the kit?
cheers

Sorry mate I am getting there.

Been flat out as we are a couple of staff down at the moment.
I have also been waiting on a 3" exhaust to get fitted to get dyno results on a full range of mods.

I finished the drawings for the mounting system today though so will get prices on laser cutting and bending soon.

Kit will include the pipe work (bent in one piece not welded) for ease of fitting up the cooler.


On a side note I have been keeping a close eye on fuel consumption lately (after all the mods) and seem to find it hard to use more than 9.5l/100 and this is all city suburban driving/short trips etc and giving it a fair bit of stick. Also included some dyno time which is full power runs and loading up for tests etc. I have had the roof racks on too.

I am doing a drive to Hervey Bay this weekend so should get an idea of hwy fuel consumption.

So sorry for the delays but we really make sure everything is right before letting a kit out. Will get there.

Regards

Brian

Hey Bob just read your sig line sounds like a nice rig have you got any pics???

would love to see this kit also done for the d22.

how much would just the core and all the water pump gear cost as a kit itself? would rather buy just that lot and also saves you from having to redo ALL the pipe work (plus i'm not fussed to do it myself )

cheers

Hey mate we will probably do a water to air kit for the new generation d22's with the 2.5 litre motor. Much easier engine bay to work with than the d40.

This kit (d40 one) is an air to air so I am not sure what you mean by water pump gear. You are generally better off in the long run to buy something engineered to suit an application than bits and pieces but I totally understand if you are trying to save a buck.

I am not sure on pricing for the core at the moment and am really not sure if it would actually fit the d22. But if ya want some dimensions to check I will get back to you.

Regards
Brian

oh, my bad.

i thought it was a water/air intercooler for some reason? odd

i've got one of the new gen 2.5l crd d22's so a nice and better intercooler would be a great upgrade.

dont worry about measuring it up then, i'll wait for you experts to come out with a nice kit for the d22

Shame you are in WA mate as we (when we get the time) will probably need a d22 to do the R&D and fitout on.

One of the boys at work had one for about 6 months and then got soft and sold it to buy a hairdressers car!! lol So we can't use it anymore.

Demand is something we need to look at for all our kits but it is hard as once you have product you create a market if ya know what I mean.

Anyway I will keep on with the tech as I get it.

one thing is for sure, there are plenty of d22 drivers out there and fairly sure a lot of us want some nice performance/reliability products like a 'decent' intercooler, haha.

Hi 4.8 GU ,
PM sent .
Cheers Nisnav40 .

Hey 4.8 GU,

Whaddaya mean Pity you live in WA? Gees mate, is there somewhere better? This is the state where you can 4WD in national parks and drive on empty beaches all up and down the coast.

Love WA!

DJ

ha ha yeah didn't mean it that way.
My now wife and I went over that way years ago and loved it. I remember I especially liked esperance the beaches are nice.

Hi 4.8GU ,
are you any closer to kit supply and final costings etc ?
Cheers Nisnav40 .

pm sent mate sorry for the big delay.

It looks like the kit will be around the $1300 mark and this includes the hardpipe upgrade.

Will update further once we have all the bits back from the laser cutters.