Can an intercooler be used on a non forced induction setup? Meaning, will it work with a throttle body or carb alone?

 

What would you cool it with when the air you're taking in is already at ambient temperature?

 

Thats what i'm asking, I dont know how they work.

 

Compressing a gas (air, in this case) raises its temperature. An intercooler comes after a compressor (turbocharger, supercharger) to remove some of the heat that was added to the gas as it was compressed. The lowering of the temperature increases its density even more than it was with the pressure increase, meaning more air mass can be stuffed into the cylinder during the intake stroke; and more air mass means more air/fuel mixture can be ignited and burned, thereby making more power.

Since the air of a NA engine is not compressed until it gets into the cylinder, there wouldn't be any way to cool it using ambient air as the heat exchanging fluid before it gets to the cylinder. However, picking up the air to be injested by the engine from the coolest possible source (cool air inlet) accomplishes the same purpose - cooler air is more dense, more mass into the cylinder, more power.