18-06-2014, 08:38 AM
Don't even get me started on this, it's TOTAL crap and the answer is staring them in the face.
There are THREE (main) types of heat transfer
-Radiation
-Convection
-Conduction.
Painting it black improves it's transfer via Radiation - hence why when there is no airflow, it improves things massively.
However, when you're driving, even doing a miniscule 15mph, radiation plays such a little part in the heat transfer.. They proved this by putting a rad fan on about 4 feet back from it, very little actual airflow in reality compared to if they put it right up close to the intercooler - this then pisses all over the radiation only figure.
What's actually happening is forced convection when you have a bit of airflow over it, which having the surface painted will prevent from happening since the paint is acting as an insulator- this is the reason for the 3* rise which they palmed off as "within tolerance"...
When you're stopped in traffic, simply turning on your engine fan will instantly piss all over painting your intercooler black and leaving it unpainted is then an improvement...
There are THREE (main) types of heat transfer
-Radiation
-Convection
-Conduction.
Painting it black improves it's transfer via Radiation - hence why when there is no airflow, it improves things massively.
However, when you're driving, even doing a miniscule 15mph, radiation plays such a little part in the heat transfer.. They proved this by putting a rad fan on about 4 feet back from it, very little actual airflow in reality compared to if they put it right up close to the intercooler - this then pisses all over the radiation only figure.
What's actually happening is forced convection when you have a bit of airflow over it, which having the surface painted will prevent from happening since the paint is acting as an insulator- this is the reason for the 3* rise which they palmed off as "within tolerance"...
When you're stopped in traffic, simply turning on your engine fan will instantly piss all over painting your intercooler black and leaving it unpainted is then an improvement...