A European Informational Website
learn more
An intercooler, or charge air cooler, is a device used on turbocharged and supercharged internal combustion engines to improve their volumetric efficiency by increasing the amount of charge in the engine by lowering charge air temperature, thereby increasing power and reliability. It is also known as a charge air cooler, especially on larger engines that may otherwise easily self-destruct with high intake-air temperatures. The inter in the name refers to its location compared to the compressors. In aircraft engines, coolers were typically installed between multiple stages of supercharging. Modern automobile designs are technically actually aftercoolers because they appear most often at the very end of the chain; this term, however, is no longer used. The thicker and larger the intercooler, the more turbo lag it produces. A larger intercooler typically contains a larger volume of air which increases the times needed to put the intake tract under pressure.