Dual pass he vs triple pass

Looking for info and peoples experiences with dual pass heat exchangers vs triple pass. Upgrading my he on my 2010 shelby gt500 and wasnt sure which way to go. I see the vmp triple pass for around $850 and i see the afco and shelby dual passes for around $799. I dont really track the car but i do enjoy getting on it while on hway and empty roads. Im living in las vegas so summer heat here is bad. Will be upgrading the supercharger in the near future. Just trying to get my supporting mods before hand. Looking to get near 700 to the rear. Thanks for your help and time folks.


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Sorry guys. I know its been asked a million times. I guess im looking for more info about which is better in high heat areas like i live in. Las vegas. Summer temps can average around 110* Will the dual pass be enough. Obviously either way i go will be a huge improvement over the stock he. Thanks again.


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jason shampy said:

Sorry guys. I know its been asked a million times. I guess im looking for more info about which is better in high heat areas like i live in. Las vegas. Summer temps can average around 110* Will the dual pass be enough. Obviously either way i go will be a huge improvement over the stock he. Thanks again.


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I went with the triple Shelby on both of my cars. I’ve been speaking to Jason over at Department of Boost and he brings up some interesting concepts. He recently had a group buy on both of his larger units with up to $120 off each.

Intercooler System Tech | Department of Boost

Out of those two, I'd say triple pass. It has more capacity and the inlet and outlet are on opposite sides. It will require relocation of the pump, but VMP supplies the bracket. In the grand scheme of things, bigger is better and the DoB Titanic is the largest heat exchanger available. It is not a fanned unit if you think that's a benefit. Wait times can be extreme.

william7635 said:

I went with the triple Shelby on both of my cars. I’ve been speaking to Jason over at Department of Boost and he brings up some interesting concepts. He recently had a group buy on both of his larger units with up to $120 off each.

Intercooler System Tech | Department of Boost

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What made you go w the shelby triple? I was looking at the dob super single but wasnt sure if the shelby dual w the fans was a better choice. Do the fans make a big difference having them?


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Catmonkey said:

Out of those two, I'd say triple pass. It has more capacity and the inlet and outlet are on opposite sides. It will require relocation of the pump, but VMP supplies the bracket. In the grand scheme of things, bigger is better and the DoB Titanic is the largest heat exchanger available. It is not a fanned unit if you think that's a benefit. Wait times can be extreme.

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I guess thats where im stuck. Are the fans worth getting? Otherwise, as ive read, the bigger the core the better so dob would be best.


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Don't dismiss the idea of upgrading the pump as well while you are in there. Get a brushless design with a larger GPS rating. Brushless will last you longer and is less prone to fail. For the extra $50 I would go tripple pass. I have the VMP with dual Spal fans and a Davies Craig brushless pump that is almost double the stock gph. In your climate in stop and go traffic, I would think it would be a really good idea.

HKusp said:

Don't dismiss the idea of upgrading the pump as well while you are in there. Get a brushless design with a larger GPS rating. Brushless will last you longer and is less prone to fail. For the extra $50 I would go tripple pass. I have the VMP with dual Spal fans and a Davies Craig brushless pump that is almost double the stock gph. In your climate in stop and go traffic, I would think it would be a really good idea.

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Oh im upgrading that also. Just cant decide between which heat exchanger to go with. My end goal is around 700hp. And i dont really track the car so do i really need the triple pass? Little things like this is where im stuck.


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jason shampy said:

What made you go w the shelby triple? I was looking at the dob super single but wasnt sure if the shelby dual w the fans was a better choice. Do the fans make a big difference having them?


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I always thought I’d do more with the car and wanted to build it with the extremes in mind. I haven’t done anything with the car. (I’m in LA and looking to move to LV). I sit in traffic if I’m driving the car. But more lately, it’s a local cruise without traffic. Water temperatures still rise in traffic, but once I get going they drop quickly - can’t say the fans are a benefit at that moment.

If you’re not tracking the car, the cooling times between runs doesn’t seem to weigh as heavily. If it’s highly spirited driving, then the fans don’t do a heck of a lot at speeds above 25mph.

As noted in DOB, the amount of capacity with their fanless units can be double the others. If you increase the water pump, intercooler and fittings for a higher throughput, the cooling rates as other have pointed out make sense and support the heat exchanger upgrade.

If I did it again, I’d review the intercooler upgrades then the heat exchanger and adjust from there.

jason shampy said:

Oh im upgrading that also. Just cant decide between which heat exchanger to go with. My end goal is around 700hp. And i dont really track the car so do i really need the triple pass? Little things like this is where im stuck.


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If you are trying to upgrade your cooling with the best results for your money spent, $50 in savings is it really savings if it isn't as good? I am not sure how much better the triple pass is, but I am sure there has been some comparisons made. If it is better, you being in 110 degree heat more than most of us, I would think you would want the best bang for your buck.

The entire intercooler system is below par. It was designed for 9 psi and while marginal at that level, it's inadequate at double boost levels. Just changing the heat exchanger will do little to benefit cooling. I have a thread in the how-to section on improving what Ford gave us, because there are some real restrictions in the manifold and reservoir inlet and outlet are also much smaller than they should be. For real improvements you need to increase the size of the piping throughout the system and put something like the EMP behind it.

Without reading all the responses here, I will say I have friends with triple pass VMP’s and 3r’s and still see WAY higher Iat’s than my overdriven little 2.3 and afco HE.
Talking to other people who have used every HE on the market have also stated they saw bill temp difference from core to core.

the best upgrade is gonna be the IC brick itself and larger lines. Otherwise maintaining other sources of heat as well.

I think it’s all personal preference.

I’d rather have the largest single pass I can find with fans. The triple, and to a lesser extent the double pass, seem kinda gimmicky.

I know it’s been said that fans ultimately hurt but I had them on my old HE and it made me feel better lol.

Short answer, anything you get is better than stock. There are multiple threads of reviews and you should see IAT2 30-35* above ambient with either one. Any other mod will not have a direct effect on IAT2 alone, at least I haven't seen any.

That being said, best solution by far is killer chiller (no one tell Willi lol). Many people tried and are trying to squeeze every thing they can from the conventional system but physics is physics. Not to take away anything from them, its still a valid way and may be in fact better for some people.

I ran an Afco dual pass without fans for 5 years and for the past 4 years, have run a VMP triple pass with fans. Have no IAT2 datalogs to be able to promote the triple pass with fans over the dual pass. I found a great deal in our Market Forum for the VMP which to be honest, is the main reason I made the switch. Also went to a 13/14' IC pump at the same time.

From empirical info from this site, the majority appear to believe that the triple pass has improved cooling capability over the dual pass.

I have never been a huge heat exchanger fan proponent, but readily admit that they can/should be useful in city/stop and go traffic in hotter climates. House of Boost certainly has strong opinions on it. On the flip side, Revan Racing did a ton of good track research on fan use and reported excellent results.

Regardless, like Catmonkey has inferred, upgrading the cooling ability through heat exchangers and even pumps is kinda like putting a band aid on a gunshot wound. For drag strip use, high volume trunk mounted ice filled tank does an excellent job. Chiller Killer eliminates the heat problem completely, but folks just don't want to potentially compromise that nice flow of cold air coming through the dash vents!

I recently conducted a real-world test on my 2008 GT500, where I recorded downstream temps during normal driving with fans installed and fans removed from my original Shelby/C&R dual pass heat exchanger. The basis of my heat exchanger test and threshold was to see if I had full programmed timing advance at the hit or was my car already heat soaked at the hit and pulling timing due to high IAT2 temps. The outside air temp during back-to-back testing was right at 80*F, and my radiator cooling fan was commanded ON during both tests by running the air conditioner. I saw a 5-10*F decrease in IAT2s while cruising at highway speed with fans installed and running (full timing at the hit), with the ability to recover after a WOT run. With the fans removed, once the intercooler fluid heat soaked, there was no cooling down IAT2s below 130*F (timing being pulled at the hit), even on the highway at 70mph. In earlier GT500s, the lower grill opening for the heat exchanger is only 23” long x 5” tall, and there is simply not enough airflow through that opening on a hot day to cool the IC fluid without assistance from fans.

My conclusions with a Shelby/C&R heat exchanger:
1. Heat exchanger fans do work in conditions other than just in stop and go traffic and in the staging lanes by pulling air through the heat exchanger.
2. Fans do not impede airflow through the heat exchanger (at least up to 70mph) as some would have you believe.
3. The radiator cooling fan is not adequate to also draw enough air through the heat exchanger to cool downstream temps.
4. My heat exchanger fans are currently installed and will remain installed because they benefit my application.

Real good info Steve.

Appreciate all the feedback folks. Def helped.


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