ppl commonly mistake and intercooler as a kind of intake..no air enters the system at all through the intercooler..same with i/c sprayers...no nitrous is introduced to the system. they work like radiators/heat exchangers. and yes you can effect the lag by introducing more/bigger piping or larger intercoolers....obviously in order to hit your boost mark you have to pressurize the system and with more area to pressurize it will take longer..sometimes its noticeable and sometimes its not.