ok i been doing a bit of research and have that front mount intercoolers are great but arent really needed until you are pushing atleast 400+ hp so im thinking of just upgrading my top mount to a good aftermarket one so what do you guys reakon is a good brand.

 

I've been toying around of upgrading the top mount vs just going v mount or fmic, off the top of my head people don't seem to complain about the ARC or HKS top mount (no idea how much hp they support) but heat soak will always be there right?

 

Whoever told you that... smack them.

 

yeah i know heat soak is going to be a problem but can it really be any more of a problem then the factory one. Just had a thort where is the heat coming from is it the bottom coz couldn't you just insulate it underneath so that less heat is transfering from the motor to the intercooler

 

but doesn't the factory intercooler suck overall due to it's flawed design? (sounds weird to be hating on it since I own one n all haha)

 

Fmic/vmic>tmic

 

the end tank and the TB inlet piece are a major pieces of junk. fix those, then worry about the heat soak.


cut vents in the hood around the intercooler and that will alleviate A lot of heat. also, the intercooler undertray is garbage, get rid of it.

 

there are a bunch of upgrades, although i dunno how well any of em work. except the cartech one.

cartech had a fairly involved air to water IC kit.

arc and hks both had larger top mount kits, ebay items

the common thing to do in japan nowadays is to take 2 stock IC's and weld em together.

the SAFE amount of power you can get out of these depends on how much better it is than stock

 

I'm doing a custom water to air conversion for a TII top mount, but that isn't going to help you.

If you upgrade the turbo, you'll want a front mount. If you are pushing the boost past 10 PSI on the stock turbo, you will need a front mount.

 

I worked well for the first 15 minutes until the cooler itself heatsoaked and the intercooler liquid/coolent heated up to an equilibrium in normal street driving. It was about as useless as the top mount after that.

 

cool looks like i have a bit more thinking to do

 

Buy an ebay fmic setup and be done with it.

 

I know of someone who makes consistent 500hp with a Stock TII topmount modified as an air-water intercooler.

 

So how do you this air-water intercooler thing coz it sounds interesting. The reason i wanna stay top mount is because i like the top mount intercooler idea and i am not a big fan of the front mount intercooler set up as it looks easy to wipe out on a gutter or a speed bump ect, and not to mention the amount of airflow to the radiator that it restricts.

 

Just add water injection if you want to stick with the stock turbo and top mount IC.

 

To the thread creator, how much power/ boost are you trying to push on the stock turbo and ic?

 

BDC has done this. search for some of his posts.

there was a subject like this not too long ago.

 

i have a ARC TMIC not much of a difference from the stock once but its thicker and a bit longer

 

Atleast 300+ im aim for but this will be over along period thou so it wont be happening for a while

 

A koyo rad with an fmic are fine together. The koyo rad will be a necessity with 300hp, so the fmic falls into place perfectly.

Just go with fmic. With the 300hp you plan on that's when it gets heat soaked. Plus, I have seen dyno slips where the fmic adds ALOT more power over the tmic. So at a point you do start losing power. 300hp is also my goal, and I have a greddy fmic ready to go in with a koyo rad already installed.

 

If you'd like a typical, turn-key setup, use one of the older, front-mount intercooler kits and be done with it. If not, there are other options, but they require you to have a level of knowledge and perseverence well beyond the normal enthusiast.

B

 

so did we come a conclusion here ?

 

There are reasons to stick with a TMIC. You don't have an intercooler blocking your rad and A/C condensor for one. There's tradeoffs to every decision.

Why don't you find an ARC or HKS and try it yourself? FMIC's are cool and everything but they can be a pain.

 

V-mount ftw

although there are not to many people who make bolt on kits for the fc.

 

There was someone at the last 7Stock that was preparing to see a V-Mount bolt in kit for the FC. Perhaps someone knowing specifics can post it?