What's the differences?

Is one more effective than the other?

What sort of uses are they better for?

 

IF you can give the water adequate cooling, size for size, a chargecoolers better.

But if you cant make the rad big enough, of the intercooler is bigger, the intercoolers better.

Chargecoolers good for placing in places you cant get decent airflow to an intercooler. Can place the chargecooler anywhere, even inside the car.

Chargecoolers also good for filling with ice and getting mega low temps for the strip.

Intercoolers far less complex.

 

To be totally honest - the way i've always found stuff:

Air to Air - for the road/circuit etc.

Air to Water - for the drag strip where as Stavros has said - you can fill it with Ice/IPA/Liquid Nitrogen (don't ask...) etc.


You can use Air to Water on road/circuit stuff - but you'll need to make sure its well up to the job and there is a lot of stuff involved - there are some big power cars out there that can't get their charge temps back down after a straight line blast where an Air to Air would be a lot cooler...