An engine that’s being fed boosted air via a turbocharger or supercharger can’t make good horsepower when it’s being filled with hot air. An air-to-air intercooler is the best way to cool down that incoming charge of air for a street car application. In this video, Erik from ProCharger explains the basics of how intercoolers work, how to select the right one for your application, and much more.

In the simplest of terms, an air-to-air intercooler is nothing more than a radiator that cools air, rather than a liquid. The intercooler itself is made of cores that are put together so the boosted air can flow through on its way to the engine. The air being forced through the intercooler is what cools the air that’s flowing to the engine. That chilled air is what your boosted engine needs to make maximum horsepower.

Now, there’s really no such thing as a “one size fits all” air-to-air intercooler. You want to get the largest and most efficient intercooler possible that will fit in your vehicle. While bigger will be better, you don’t want to select an intercooler that’s too thick, because it will actually have airflow issues. This video is super helpful because it covers this point, and several others right off the bat.

The team at ProCharger takes things a step further and shows you how well an intercooler works on its 2018 Mustang. The boost pressure going into and out of the intercooler is measured, along with the temperature at the supercharger, temperature out of the supercharger, and temperature out of the intercooler. Using this data, Erik is able to show you just how important it is to have an efficient air-to-air intercooler.

You can learn more about intercoolers and how to size the properly right here on ProCharger’s website.