Intercooler vs Radiator – Definition and Differences 

Learning about the structure and components of your car will help you upkeep better maintenance and help to retain mistakes at the bay, saving you the risks and costs. The intercooler and radiator are two main components of your car’s engine that are often subjected to misinterpretations and misconceptions. Intercooler vs. radiator – what is the difference? What are the functions?

Let us discuss them in detail as you follow.

Both the intercooler and radiator are designed as heat exchanging components and placed in the car’s engine system. Although they share the primary objective, their functions differ from each other. Despite that, both intercoolers and radiators ensure smooth and efficient engine operation by performing their assigned tasks in their respective manner. 

To understand the differences between the two vital components, we must be well educated on what they are and what they do. 

A radiator helps reduce the coolant’s temperature to prevent your engine from overheating. An intercooler helps to reduce the temperature of compressed air from the turbocharger or supercharger to ensure optimal combustion levels in the engine. We’ll discuss them in detail as we move further. 

What is an Intercooler? 

Intercoolers function by using forced induction. This apparatus is only present in vehicles with a forced induction system. Better engine combustion ensures system efficiency and directly influences the overall operation. An intercooler’s primary job is to ensure better combustion in the engine system. How does it do that? 

The supercharger or the turbocharger compresses air before it enters the car’s engine. Intercooler comes into action between this interactions. The compressed air from the supercharger/ turbocharger enters the intercooler before entering the engine. The hot air from the turbo/ supercharger is high in temperature, less in density, and poor in oxygen.

The intercooler reduces the temperature in the hot air and radiates it away. When the temperature of the air drops, it becomes denser and oxygen-rich, making it an ideal medium for combustion. Then the air from the intercooler travels to the engine cylinders, and improved combustion takes place, putting the system at peak efficiency. 

There are two types of intercoolers which are air-to-air and liquid-to-air, respectively.

An air-to-air intercooler uses air as the heat exchange medium. The compressed air from the turbo/ supercharger moves into the intercooler and to its fins. The metal fins then absorb the heat of the hot air and make it go cool. Absorbed heat from the compressed air will radiate away.

Cooler air after the absorption will move into the engine manifold for combustion. On the other hand, a liquid-to-air intercooler uses water as the heat exchange medium. The liquid-to-air intercooler is also known as a water-to-air intercooler. It comes in small size compared to the air-to-air intercooler. The principle of the functionality remains the same here as well.

The difference is that this type of intercooler uses water instead of air to remove heat from the compressed air. Water is pumped into the intercooler, and it soundly absorbs off heat from the hot air before transporting it to the engine manifold. Then the hot water from the intercooler goes into the radiator for cooling before returning. 

Regardless of the type, an intercooler reduces the temperature of compressed air to improve combustion in the engine cylinders. 

What is A Radiator? 

A radiator is located at the front of the car. A radiator’s primary function is ensuring the engine operates at an optimal temperature. It prevents the engine from getting overheated during operation. 

The cooling system will pump coolant into the engine when the temperature rises. The coolant then absorbs the heat and takes it from the block to the radiator. This is where the radiator jumps into action. 

The radiator will function by reducing the coolant temperature using its metal fins. Air current flows in the radiator’s metal fins due to the rapid air outside as the car moves. The air current in the fins will radiate the heat into the atmosphere outside and cool down the coolant. 

Intercooler vs. Radiator 

Although a radiator and an intercooler share the same objective, cooling down the engine system, they are designed from different perspectives. Now that we know what an intercooler and radiator are, let us analyze their differences. 

• The intercooler cools down the compressed air from the turbo/ supercharger; meanwhile, the radiator cools down the coolant or water that is heated with the engine’s cylinder’s heat. Even though both perform the same function of cooling down, the mediums they cool down differ from each other.
• The heat dissipation method is also not the same in both components. Intercoolers can be either air-to-air or water-to-air (aka liquid-to-air). Radiators are water-to-air (aka liquid-to-air).
• A radiator is cheaper; meanwhile, an intercooler I expensive when it comes to cost.
• A radiator can exist in a vehicle alone, but an intercooler never comes alone. It only comes with the company of a radiator. 
• Intercoolers are found in only vehicles with a forced induction system. On the contrary, radiators can be present in any vehicle system with an internal combustion engine. 
• Just like the functions, the primary aim/ objective of the components is also different. A radiator aims to maintain the engine at an optimal temperature and maintain it cool. An intercooler aims to transition the hot compressed air into oxygen-rich, denser air to enhance combustion in the engine cylinders. 
• Vehicles with turbo engines contain radiator and intercooler together. While vehicles with no turbo engines only contain a radiator. 
• Intercoolers require regular maintenance for better operation. Radiators do not need such supervision as they are located at the front of the vehicle. 

Nevertheless, the key difference in both components is rather simple. An intercooler helps to increase power by cooling down compressed air, while a radiator helps to keep the engine from overheating.

The intercooler is associated with the job done by the engine system, while a radiator is associated with up keeping the engine system at an optimal level. Thus, both components play a major role in maintaining the system’s operation smoothly and efficiently.

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