hello to mb fans
I'd like to see the opinions from experienced superturbodiesel owners : which intercooler is much more suitable for superturbodiesel MB? W/A or A/A?
thank you for replies and respect

I am not experienced with super turbos (sorry), but ... 99% of Finnish super turbos seem to be air-to-air.
There are no moving parts or water required, so it's simple and reliable. Everybody seems to copy what others have done.

Water-to-air installation requires no modifications to the fans or body of the car or removing the air conditioning.
My fully equipped Mercedes 300 TDT 4matic has not too much space in the engine department and a water-to air
cooler is easier to install in small space than air-to-air. I purchased all the water-to-air parts but never installed them.

A water-to-air is more powerful than air-to-air. On the other hand, there is a (small) risk that water will end up inside the engine.
This also includes condensing water which may appear in small quantities.

Its completely up to the situation. If you're willing to hack the body and sacrifice A/C then A-A is the overall better choice.
If space is limited then A-W is much better. 5/8" rubber heater hoses are far easier to route up front than 3" aluminum tubes.

I prefer A-W for the space and packaging. I used the A/C condenser as the radiator and combined the two cooling systems into a hot/cold combo system. I tried A-A on my 240 and it was far more trouble than its worth.
http://mercedesforum.com/forum/diesel-p ... 00d-46098/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks for replies.
But what you think about this mod of WA IR for OM617?
Wouldn't it be too close to hot parts of the engine, will it work properly?
picture is taken from http://www.superturbodiesel.com probably, i don't remember exactly.

It looks good to me. It is not too close to the hot parts, considering the cooling efficiency.
The water should just be circulated fast enough into the dedicated radiator.

However, large thermal differences across a part that is not monolithic but has welded or epoxy
junctions may cause leaking.

Where ever you put the cooler you should be sure that is well made and will not leak.
Water in the engine may bend the connecting rods.

A standard solution is this type of a cooling element which fits on the top of a OM603a:



Ususally the cooling element is placed farther away from the engine, where the original air filter
and an air mass sensor are located.

Those coolers are not good. They have a very short airflow path across the core and a long water flow path. That means for that integrated intercooler one end of cylinders will get cool air while the opposite end cylinders will get hot air and the separate cooler on that 87 would get warm air.
Long flow coolers like mine are much more efficient, the air has much longer in contact with surfaces that are cooler.
The airflow angles are also fewer. The 87 shown above would require four 90* bends, while a straight one would require only two, take up less space, get the air much cooler and weigh less.