SSAC IC VS BERK IC

3sgtepower · 11-05-2006, 05:48 PM

Hi, I own both a Berk IC and an SSAC IC, so I decided to do a small comparison of the two Intercoolers since they seem to be the most popular 2 A2A intercoolers on the market and the Greddy IC seems to have been obseleted by both of them.

The cores are virtually identical, I could not see much difference between the two. Bar and plate design.

The SSAC IC comes with ricer blue hoses for the metal pipes, the blue hoses had pretty loose fitting compared to the berk and if it wasnt for the good hose clamps it came with, probably would cause me to blow hoses around the metal piping left and right. The Berk kit comes with black hoses

It came with vastly higher quality tbar clamps than the berk's worm gear hose clamps. However, the Berk did not need the higher quality tbar hose clamps due to how well the IC hoses fit around the metal pipes.

The one other small difference I found between the two intercoolers, was that the 2 small metal pipes in the Intercooler kits, the Berk had slightly longer metal pipes for those 2 sections. The berk kit came with its own 7.5" spal fan and shroud as well as part of the package.

The Berk Intercooler is a $600 intercooler and the SSAC kit w/o a fan is $240 shipped on ebay. I added a 9" puller fan from ATS that pulls in about double the CFM of the 7.5" fan of the berk kit for $150 so in the end I think the SSAC IC could cool the charge better with the aid of the ATS puller, than the Berk and the 7.5" spal fan, for about $210 less.

But the decision is up to you for which1 is better setup.

hmong337 · 11-05-2006, 06:34 PM

Nice review! Thanks

MR2Board · 11-05-2006, 09:42 PM

Post images if you could please. Attach them to the thread since linked images have a tendency to disappear sometimes. Thanks for the review.

Enthalpy · 11-06-2006, 02:12 AM

Nice review, thank you for your time. I just wanted to mention a few additional things you might want to talk about.

When you talk about couplers, mention a few more things. Is it high-quality silicon, or the crappy-a$$ Greddy BS couplers. (Greddy putting out a sh!tty product? Shocking! *rolls eyes*) Did they use hump hoses anywhere?

You didn't mention chassis mounting or a shroud at all. Are they both identical in this way?

I doubt it's fair to compare an ebay price with a retailer-direct price. Were there other options?

Believe it or not, the T-bar clamps aren't prefered. The "constant torque" clamps, which do have a worm drive in them, are preferred by most people. They look like they have a stack of washers on the drive screw. No, they don't strip like their cheaper counterparts.

I don't work for either company, nor am I remotely affiliated with them.

3sgtepower · 11-06-2006, 10:14 PM

I did not really notice much difference between the materials used for the hoses.

Well I am a fan of the Tbar clamps over the worm gear clamps due to being about 2x the width and using a small bolt that a wrench can fit around and torque down more, than a wormgear clamp which Ive had break on me in the past while tightening, atleast the wormgear clamps the Berk uses had that style of the kind that break.

I didnt mention the chassis mounting since the cores were virtually identical. They both install the same in the same bolt holes as the other one.

The Berk comes with a 7.5" shroud for the 7.5" spal fan. I equipped my SSAC with a 9" shroud and 9" fan from ATS for $150. I like the ATS puller fan alot more due to it being larger and pulling in alot more air, its louder if you can call that a drawback. I can attatch it to the Berk IC if I wanted.

The only cheaper Berk IC's I saw were $450 when they first came out in a group buy.

MR2_SW20 · 11-10-2006, 03:33 PM

the ssac uses those stupid 1' long silicone hoses instead of actual piping. So it goes from the turbo to the pipe, the pipe bends down, then the rest of the piping to the intercooler is replaced with a 1'~ 90 degree bend to the i/c inlet. The outlet is the same with another silicone hose coming out connecting to a metal pipe that then goes to the throttle body. Sorry if this is confusing, pictures are much easier to understand. I've had my pipes blow off 3 times with the godspeed(ssac) intercooler, but all in all its better than stock.

3sgtepower · 11-16-2006, 10:26 PM

The lower quality ebay IC kits that are like $170-$200 come with only 2 hard pipes and 2 long 90' bend hoses. Im not even sure if the actual SSAC ebay member sells those IC's, might be a knock off ebay IC of the SSAC which is a knock off of the berk. My friend bought one of these, but sent it back when he found he did not get as many hard piping sections as my kit.

The kit I am comparing the Berk to is the higher quality of the 2 kits, the $240 SSAC kit I bought came with 4 hard pipes, instead of 2 hardpipes and 2 long 90 degree bend rubber hoses. I recommend spending the extra money and getting the kit with 4 hardpiping sections instead of buying the one with only 2 hardpiping sections, more hardpipes = less hose flex = more hp/less lag.

educatetheyouth · 12-13-2006, 04:03 AM

great info guys!! over at the other board, the vendors were bitching at each other for like four pages of posts over berk vs ssac , ssac vs berk , blah blah

Tyler H · 12-13-2006, 05:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by educatetheyouth

great info guys!! over at the other board, the vendors were bitching at each other for like four pages of posts over berk vs ssac , ssac vs berk , blah blah

And again...there's only so many ways to fit an IC into a 10" hole. All designs are going to look similar. Even if an imported design is a cheaper clone of a domestic one...that just means and given vendor needs to be contracting the manufacturing out and selling it closer to the market demand price.

Thanks for the review...get the pics up.

3sgtepower · 01-22-2007, 12:05 PM

One thing I forgot to mention about the Berk IC, is it comes with a shroud type fitting, that makes it so the air that goes up the air duct, only goes through the IC, whereas the SSAC IC doesnt have that shroud, so the air that goes through the air duct I supose sees the rest of the engine bay.

3sgtepower · 03-02-2007, 12:08 PM

11-05-2006, 05:48 PM	#1 (permalink)
3sgtepower Banned Seller Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 1,574 Thanks: 6 Thanked 38 Times in 34 Posts iTrader Rating: (2/75% )	SSAC IC VS BERK IC Hi, I own both a Berk IC and an SSAC IC, so I decided to do a small comparison of the two Intercoolers since they seem to be the most popular 2 A2A intercoolers on the market and the Greddy IC seems to have been obseleted by both of them. The cores are virtually identical, I could not see much difference between the two. Bar and plate design. The SSAC IC comes with ricer blue hoses for the metal pipes, the blue hoses had pretty loose fitting compared to the berk and if it wasnt for the good hose clamps it came with, probably would cause me to blow hoses around the metal piping left and right. The Berk kit comes with black hoses It came with vastly higher quality tbar clamps than the berk's worm gear hose clamps. However, the Berk did not need the higher quality tbar hose clamps due to how well the IC hoses fit around the metal pipes. The one other small difference I found between the two intercoolers, was that the 2 small metal pipes in the Intercooler kits, the Berk had slightly longer metal pipes for those 2 sections. The berk kit came with its own 7.5" spal fan and shroud as well as part of the package. The Berk Intercooler is a $600 intercooler and the SSAC kit w/o a fan is $240 shipped on ebay. I added a 9" puller fan from ATS that pulls in about double the CFM of the 7.5" fan of the berk kit for $150 so in the end I think the SSAC IC could cool the charge better with the aid of the ATS puller, than the Berk and the 7.5" spal fan, for about $210 less. But the decision is up to you for which1 is better setup.

11-05-2006, 09:42 PM	#3 (permalink)
MR2Board MR2.com Support Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 642 Thanks: 20 Thanked 91 Times in 47 Posts My Google Map iTrader Rating: (8/100% )	Post images if you could please. Attach them to the thread since linked images have a tendency to disappear sometimes. Thanks for the review. __________________ Please support our Sponsors! ATS Racing - Chico Raceworks - Hux Racing - KO Racing - Lithia Toyota - Modacar - Option Racing - Side 2 Side Racing - SV3Power Products - Wolfkatz Engineering Check out our sister sites! Beams-Redtop.com - Carpron.com - MR2SC.com - MR2Trader.com - RMMOC.com - TurboMR2.com - V6MR2.com Put your location on the MR2 Google Map!

03-02-2007, 12:08 PM	#11 (permalink)
3sgtepower Banned Seller Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 1,574 Thanks: 6 Thanked 38 Times in 34 Posts iTrader Rating: (2/75% )	ttt

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11-05-2006, 06:34 PM	#2 (permalink)
hmong337 Emperor Jspec Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 1,123 Thanks: 114 Thanked 56 Times in 55 Posts iTrader Rating: (2/100% )	Nice review! Thanks

11-06-2006, 02:12 AM	#4 (permalink)
Enthalpy EMS Harmonizer Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Denver, CO Posts: 1,226 Thanks: 8 Thanked 55 Times in 43 Posts My Google Map iTrader Rating: (2/100% )	Nice review, thank you for your time. I just wanted to mention a few additional things you might want to talk about. When you talk about couplers, mention a few more things. Is it high-quality silicon, or the crappy-a$$ Greddy BS couplers. (Greddy putting out a sh!tty product? Shocking! rolls eyes) Did they use hump hoses anywhere? You didn't mention chassis mounting or a shroud at all. Are they both identical in this way? I doubt it's fair to compare an ebay price with a retailer-direct price. Were there other options? Believe it or not, the T-bar clamps aren't prefered. The "constant torque" clamps, which do have a worm drive in them, are preferred by most people. They look like they have a stack of washers on the drive screw. No, they don't strip like their cheaper counterparts. I don't work for either company, nor am I remotely affiliated with them.

11-06-2006, 10:14 PM	#5 (permalink)
3sgtepower Banned Seller Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 1,574 Thanks: 6 Thanked 38 Times in 34 Posts iTrader Rating: (2/75% )	I did not really notice much difference between the materials used for the hoses. Well I am a fan of the Tbar clamps over the worm gear clamps due to being about 2x the width and using a small bolt that a wrench can fit around and torque down more, than a wormgear clamp which Ive had break on me in the past while tightening, atleast the wormgear clamps the Berk uses had that style of the kind that break. I didnt mention the chassis mounting since the cores were virtually identical. They both install the same in the same bolt holes as the other one. The Berk comes with a 7.5" shroud for the 7.5" spal fan. I equipped my SSAC with a 9" shroud and 9" fan from ATS for $150. I like the ATS puller fan alot more due to it being larger and pulling in alot more air, its louder if you can call that a drawback. I can attatch it to the Berk IC if I wanted. The only cheaper Berk IC's I saw were $450 when they first came out in a group buy.

11-10-2006, 03:33 PM	#6 (permalink)
MR2_SW20 Some Skills Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Nebraska Posts: 121 Thanks: 2 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	the ssac uses those stupid 1' long silicone hoses instead of actual piping. So it goes from the turbo to the pipe, the pipe bends down, then the rest of the piping to the intercooler is replaced with a 1'~ 90 degree bend to the i/c inlet. The outlet is the same with another silicone hose coming out connecting to a metal pipe that then goes to the throttle body. Sorry if this is confusing, pictures are much easier to understand. I've had my pipes blow off 3 times with the godspeed(ssac) intercooler, but all in all its better than stock.

11-16-2006, 10:26 PM	#7 (permalink)
3sgtepower Banned Seller Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 1,574 Thanks: 6 Thanked 38 Times in 34 Posts iTrader Rating: (2/75% )	The lower quality ebay IC kits that are like $170-$200 come with only 2 hard pipes and 2 long 90' bend hoses. Im not even sure if the actual SSAC ebay member sells those IC's, might be a knock off ebay IC of the SSAC which is a knock off of the berk. My friend bought one of these, but sent it back when he found he did not get as many hard piping sections as my kit. The kit I am comparing the Berk to is the higher quality of the 2 kits, the $240 SSAC kit I bought came with 4 hard pipes, instead of 2 hardpipes and 2 long 90 degree bend rubber hoses. I recommend spending the extra money and getting the kit with 4 hardpiping sections instead of buying the one with only 2 hardpiping sections, more hardpipes = less hose flex = more hp/less lag.

12-13-2006, 04:03 AM	#8 (permalink)
educatetheyouth No Skills Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 1 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	great info guys!! over at the other board, the vendors were bitching at each other for like four pages of posts over berk vs ssac , ssac vs berk , blah blah

01-22-2007, 12:05 PM	#10 (permalink)
3sgtepower Banned Seller Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 1,574 Thanks: 6 Thanked 38 Times in 34 Posts iTrader Rating: (2/75% )	One thing I forgot to mention about the Berk IC, is it comes with a shroud type fitting, that makes it so the air that goes up the air duct, only goes through the IC, whereas the SSAC IC doesnt have that shroud, so the air that goes through the air duct I supose sees the rest of the engine bay.