A fresh new development in the Process West 4x4 Enhancement range is the Terra-Tuff Front Mount Intercooler system for the N70 Hilux. Designed not only with market leading performance in mind, OEM level durability is also part of the Terra-Tuff arsenal, offering manufacturer style design and fitment, followed through with industry leading testing and validation.

This means that when you fit a Process West Terra-Tuff Intercooler system to your N70 you have made a choice to have not only the best charge air cooling, resulting in significant power and torque gains, but you have also chosen a product that will last the life of your vehicle no matter what you throw at it. That’s the Process West Terra-Tuff way!

N70 TERRATUFF Design Philosphy and Parts

Heart of the Process West Terra-Tuff Intercooler system is a durable front mounted Bar and Plate intercooler core. All Terra-Tuff intercoolers use Bar and Plate construction due to not only its effective cooling and heat-sink capability, but also because it is the most durable and impact resistant of all intercooler types. Measuring in at 550mm x 265mm x 65mm the N70 Terra-Tuff core also offers a massive increase in cooling surface area as well as overall thickness.

The traditional bug-bear of intercooler upgrades – piping integrity – has also been addressed with the Terra-Tuff system. Specifically moulded silicone hoses of four ply construction are utilised throughout, and when combined with high-durability constant tension hose-clamps, tying to the mandrel bent aluminium pipe-work, the result is of factory quality and dependability.

A final (and important) part of the Terra-Tuff design is the use of isometric rubber mounts for the intercooler core. This means that in extreme conditions – such as demanding off road use – that the intercooler itself can flex its mounts with the rest of the vehicle and relieve strain on the mountings and pipe-work. The long term effect of this is no cracked mounting brackets and reduced likelihood of ever failing a hose connection.

As you can see by now the Process West Terra-Tuff intercooling solution is a serious product for long-term serious application.

N70 TERRATUFF Testing

There is no point in putting a vehicle on the dyno to try and show the effects of intercooling on performance. While there might be a little torque or power gain, the job of the Terra-Tuff intercooler upgrade is to work in real-world conditions without the assistance of a climate controlled dyno room and the cooler itself fed with artificial airflow from a fan. This might convince some to buy intercooler upgrades, but it doesn’t really tell you how, or even if, they work.

Instead the Process West engineers took a different approach to validate the Terra-Tuff design. Real world simulation rather than a dyno run was decided on, and with that in mind the team put together a test rig for our development N70 to show the precise and measured result of fitting a Process West Terra-Tuff intercooler upgrade. The schedule for this testing is laid out below –

• N70 Hilux is loaded with 650kg of concrete blocks in the tray
• A standardised 4km uphill run with an elevation of 310m (nearly 8% avg grade)
• Hold 80km/h road speed using Cruise Control (with only a small traffic speed variance)
• Use our racetrack developed AIM datalogging system to measure all of the pertinent data points to ensure the data for complete cooling effectiveness is generated.

This test procedure was carried out back to back with both factory and Process West Terra-Tuff intercoolers on the same day in the same ambient conditions.

Looking at the datalogging shows that the factory intercooler peaked at 44C (with a faster rise to temperature) than the Process West Terra-Tuff intercooler system which peaked at just 23C. That’s a massive 48% improvement over stock cooling with Process West Terra-Tuff. The gains this shows are three-fold with not only hikes in Torque and Power you can feel through the seat of the pants, but there is also the flow on effect of reduced EGT figures to help the engine live a longer and happier life.

Summary

We believe that the comprehensive design, development, and professional testing schedule of the Process West Terra-Tuff Intercooler system sets it apart from other offerings on the market. Properly measured data has allowed design of the most efficient product, and real-world testing on the Process West development vehicle has also ensured a highly durable product. Whether it’s serious off-road use or towing your van around Australia, Process West Terra-Tuff is the answer.