Rick,

Pretty cool idea, keep us updated with the progress .

 

water to air intercoolers are much more effective then an air intercooler. the idea is that running water over metal will have a much higher rate of heat transfer then air running over the same surface. so by running water over your intercooler you are cooling the intake air at a much faster rate then with a plain air intercooler.

however, there are some downfalls of this process. the first being is you need a water pump, resevior, radiator, hoses and such. this adds a lot of weight, and more moving parts makes it less reliable. the second is that if your not traveling at higher speeds, the water in the watercooler system will eventually get just as warm as the engine compartment which will actually cause the intake temps to be hotter then if just using a air intercooler. (for the same reason, a regular radiator will have fans in addition to the radiator to move the outside air through it). so if you add all that stuff you are going to greatly reduce intake temps but at a pretty high price. i know there are water intercoolers on the market. but again, i don't really know if the benefit is going to outweight the negatives.