Intercooler without SC or Turbo
 

Is there any advantage, or does it make any sense, to pass the air going to the intake thru an intercooler first if you're not using a supercharger or turbo?

My thoughts - I have purchased the replacement 'pods' for the fog lights/turn signals that now have a hole where the fog lights would be. These are by APR for running a hose to a backing plate to cool the front brakes. I was thinking that, instead of running a hose to the brakes, I could run a hose into an intercooler where the air temp could get reduced, then out of the intercooler and into an air box.

My concerns - Are intercoolers 'restrictive' by nature such that they require something like a supercharger or a turbo to push air thru them with force? Would the 'ram air' effect that would be achieved with these air ducts be enough to overcome any resistance the intercooler presents?

Anyone have any thoughts on this, or know if this has been attempted?

An intercooler is designed to cool an air that is at a higher temperature than ambient. Such as the air that is compressed by a turbo or super charger (when you compress air the temperature rises, and you want to get it as close as possible to ambient before injecting it into the motor).

You cannot cool the air you are sucking in colder than the ambient air you are already sucking in. So you are simply adding a more complicated path for the engine to "suck" through. This requires more effort for the engine and thus reduces horsepower. Not to mention the OEM airbox has proven time and time again to be an extremely efficient design. (as in it makes great horsepower at every RPM, and most intakes lose power at part of the power band)

tldr; this will not work. It is a complete waste of time, money, and effort. There is literally 0 "science" points behind the idea. Sorry =(

Don't be sorry!

This is exactly why I posed the question. To get honest, sane feedback and answers from people much smarter than me. LoL.

Thanks.

(I had a feeling it was a bad idea, or else people would already be doing it.)