Wta

[b_doornenbal]

I have a boost it viper, and there has been a couple times where the coolant hose for the WTA has moved and slightly pinched off, the difference is huge ! I can tell right away the sled runs totally different. WTA all the way makes the sled much better !

 

[pipes]

pardon my ignorance but how does a WTA make a difference? Unless like Vertical Extreme states, an independent closed loop, which in my opinion would add more weight,. Wouldn't the engine coolant running thought the ex-changer limit temperature exchange to engine temp as opposed to cooler ambient air?

Not trying to be a dick here, but just asking a legitimate question. I didn't do well in thermodynamics.

 

[samsquatch47]

pardon my ignorance but how does a WTA make a difference? Unless like Vertical Extreme states, an independent closed loop, which in my opinion would add more weight,. Wouldn't the engine coolant running thought the ex-changer limit temperature exchange to engine temp as opposed to cooler ambient air?

Not trying to be a dick here, but just asking a legitimate question. I didn't do well in thermodynamics.

You're right Ron engine coolant WTA's don't work as good on sleds. The independent closed loop systems don't add a bunch of weight though. They usually consist of a very small tunnel heat exchanger, (similar to the one stock on a Nytro), a small lightweight electric inline pump, hoses to the intercooler and the small WTA intercooler itself.
The advantage is huge because the snow thrown up off the track cools the system coolant and charge air way way more then ambient air blowing over a normal intercooler. Especially in really long steep hard pulls when the sled is WOT for a long time yet the sleds ground speed isn't very high.
Plus snow is snow and is consistently cold lol. The air on a hot spring ride though not so much. We've all rode on those gorgeous +15 spring days. Awesome but not for your charge temps on an air to intercooler.
Hope that helps clear it up.
Cheers buddy!
Dustin

 

[BDF#900]

pardon my ignorance but how does a WTA make a difference? Unless like Vertical Extreme states, an independent closed loop, which in my opinion would add more weight,. Wouldn't the engine coolant running thought the ex-changer limit temperature exchange to engine temp as opposed to cooler ambient air?

Not trying to be a dick here, but just asking a legitimate question. I didn't do well in thermodynamics.

poached this right off EVO's site, answers your question with some #s

The stock Air to Air intercooler from Arctic Cat is fairly effecient, but because of the way it is installed, and the varying conditions that these sleds are used in, we decided that a liquid to air intercooler would be the ultimate for intake temperature stabilization. We looked at many options for this kit. The obvious choice was to make a liquid to air with a dedicated cooling loop. With a tank, pump, and additional fluid, it was going to add over 20lbs to the sled. This was a non starter for us. Rather than use a dedicated loop, we looked at using the engine coolant coming off the rear heat exchanger. We determined this coolant is always the same temperature - 120 Deg F and that the flow was adequate. The coolant is run through another heat exchanger which reduces the temperature to 105 degrees prior to entering the intercooler. Unlike the air to air which would start out with a 60 Deg F intake temp (with our intercooler fan) and spike to well over 200 Deg F in a long climb, (without the fan, temps would be in the 230 deg F range) the water to air would start at 105 Deg F and stabilize at 135-140 Deg F. We increased the outlet of the intercooler to 58mm and supply a larger silicone upper charge tube for additional flow. We are extremely pleased with the performance of this cooler. The whole kit weighs about 4lbs more than stock, but if running our intercooler fan, you will eliminate the fan which will save 3 lbs.
I had a fan kit so only gained a pound, seems like a good return on the dollar.

 

[samsquatch47]

I've seen how Boost-it does it on his Polaris' and I don't think he's added 20 pounds. It's a plastic inline 12Volt pump, silicone heater hose and a tiny tunnel cooler. Plus the intercooler itself is way smaller because it doesn't have to be so big to dissipate the heat. The ice cold coolant does a great job. I don't believe you need a tank if you route and plumb the lines properly. You just need an inline high fill/bleed point.

 

[BDF#900]

Agreed don't think it would have to be 20lb(especially when an air to air cooler is already in place), but that was also taken from an ad, not given as a statement of fact. Could see it being close though as 4 litres of water/coolant would be just about 9 lbs. Posted it to show the claimed benefits of WTA. Also know Boost-it claims much lower charge temps with a dedicated loop. But Boost-it doesn't have a WTA for the 1100 Cat so a moot point in my situation.

 

[pipes]

You're right Ron engine coolant WTA's don't work as good on sleds. The independent closed loop systems don't add a bunch of weight though. They usually consist of a very small tunnel heat exchanger, (similar to the one stock on a Nytro), a small lightweight electric inline pump, hoses to the intercooler and the small WTA intercooler itself.
The advantage is huge because the snow thrown up off the track cools the system coolant and charge air way way more then ambient air blowing over a normal intercooler. Especially in really long steep hard pulls when the sled is WOT for a long time yet the sleds ground speed isn't very high.
Plus snow is snow and is consistently cold lol. The air on a hot spring ride though not so much. We've all rode on those gorgeous +15 spring days. Awesome but not for your charge temps on an air to intercooler.
Hope that helps clear it up.
Cheers buddy!
Dustin

poached this right off EVO's site, answers your question with some #s

The stock Air to Air intercooler from Arctic Cat is fairly effecient, but because of the way it is installed, and the varying conditions that these sleds are used in, we decided that a liquid to air intercooler would be the ultimate for intake temperature stabilization. We looked at many options for this kit. The obvious choice was to make a liquid to air with a dedicated cooling loop. With a tank, pump, and additional fluid, it was going to add over 20lbs to the sled. This was a non starter for us. Rather than use a dedicated loop, we looked at using the engine coolant coming off the rear heat exchanger. We determined this coolant is always the same temperature - 120 Deg F and that the flow was adequate. The coolant is run through another heat exchanger which reduces the temperature to 105 degrees prior to entering the intercooler. Unlike the air to air which would start out with a 60 Deg F intake temp (with our intercooler fan) and spike to well over 200 Deg F in a long climb, (without the fan, temps would be in the 230 deg F range) the water to air would start at 105 Deg F and stabilize at 135-140 Deg F. We increased the outlet of the intercooler to 58mm and supply a larger silicone upper charge tube for additional flow. We are extremely pleased with the performance of this cooler. The whole kit weighs about 4lbs more than stock, but if running our intercooler fan, you will eliminate the fan which will save 3 lbs.
I had a fan kit so only gained a pound, seems like a good return on the dollar.

thanks guys. really cleared things up for me. Think I may have to look into an independent loop WTA for my kitty. Also got to get those clutch temperatures down. She's a bit hard on the belts.

 

[BDF#900]

Going to run this setup for the winter, but have a plan for a closed loop in the spring. Small cooler in the rear of the tunnel, running boards with coolant lines built in, and a small electric pump. Shouldn't add whole bunch of weight, should gain "subzero" charge temps according to the closed loop peeps!

 

[Clode]

Going to run this setup for the winter, but have a plan for a closed loop in the spring. Small cooler in the rear of the tunnel, running boards with coolant lines built in, and a small electric pump. Shouldn't add whole bunch of weight, should gain "subzero" charge temps according to the closed loop peeps!

I did the same thing to my Nytro this summer, I bought a generic WTA cooler and modified to fit....now I need snow to try it

 

[Pro-Am Chris]

If someone can explain to me how to post pics on here I will post a couple pics of my one off Boost-It M8000 WTA Turbo setup.

 

[Clode]

If someone can explain to me how to post pics on here I will post a couple pics of my one off Boost-It M8000 WTA Turbo setup.

hit the reply button, click on the little picture square with a tree in it at the top of reply box, it will open up and ask you where you want to get the pic from, select a pic, upload, double click the pic once in your post and size it....if the pic is to large a file you have to resize it before uploading

 

[Pro-Am Chris]

Neil and TJ do some amazing work at Boost-It!!

 

[Pro-Am Chris]

hit the reply button, click on the little picture square with a tree in it at the top of reply box, it will open up and ask you where you want to get the pic from, select a pic, upload, double click the pic once in your post and size it....if the pic is to large a file you have to resize it before uploading

I was always hitting reply to thread and it would not work, it worked hitting the reply on your post. Thx Clode.

 

[Bnorth]

Going to run this setup for the winter, but have a plan for a closed loop in the spring. Small cooler in the rear of the tunnel, running boards with coolant lines built in, and a small electric pump. Shouldn't add whole bunch of weight, should gain "subzero" charge temps according to the closed loop peeps!

Good call. 140F is a lot better than 200+F but still pretty warm.

 

[BDF#900]

That Boost-It setup is real nice and clean looking.
I tried adding an air to air to my 1200 two stroke turbo, it just added a bit of lag and no real noticeable performance increase.
Was going to try a WTA but abandoned that money pit for the four stroke and haven't looked back. Would have tried a WTA for sure if I would have kept the sled around, at that time Brad Story was running one and had said it was a big improvement.