A lot of people put it on the front of the bumper....but I personnaly think its risky since you never know it you are gonna bump into someone or someone will reverse into you (like in a parking lot) and the slightest bump could cause big damage to the intercooler. Also, I wasn't really into cutting holes in the body.

So here it is, my FMIC with no holes in the body or anything. And it holds up really storng, doesn't even vibrate.

 

where did you run the IC piping to avoid cutting holes? I agree that you probably put it in a better spot cause its more protected and it wont be as noticable from outside, but some more pictures of the pipe routing would be appreciated!

 

You hit a high enough curb or run over something on the freeway, and it'll still get damaged.


-Ted

 

interesting idea, somehow this will incite an argument.....i'm not hoping for a mean argument, I just meant that this is different enough to cause a stir, I'd like to see the finished product....more pics!!

 

looks good.. does the undertray still fit?

 

Different enoug hto cause a stir?

Its not the first time someone mounted a core behind the re-bar....

Looks good!

 

Or, we can have the argument as to the negative effects of using ANY kind of FMIC...

They are nice for street or strip applications but they become great mechanisms for overheating on road courses. (assuming oil cooler and radiator are in thier stock locations)

 

that was my question....(not arguement) how will that effect the cooling of the oil cooler and radiator? i have a very small front mount and my temps are higher than id like them because those things aren't getting enough air. how do you make up for that?

 

1 ) Run the TMIC with either low boost (< 10 lbs) or water/alchohol injection.

2 ) Or do some crazy v-mount setup with a larger bumper opening (aftermarket bumper) and separate ducting to the IC such that it is not in front of the oil cooler (primarily) and the radiator (secondarilly). Rotarys need lots of fresh cooling air for both. This is why you see two separate oil coolers on the R1 and R2 3rd gen cars that have thier own bumper openings for fresh un obstructed cooling air. And they run something of a ducted v-mout setups stock. The 3rd gen guys i go to the track with run about 1/6th of a GTC nose opening ducted to a massive intercooler, and i dont think they would dream of plugging up the front opening with a big FMIC, they would overheat in one lap with the power they are running. Frurther, that is with the two oil coolers still having thier own fresh air! The FC is an exponetially worse situation in that we have an (albiet big) oil cooler using the same relativly small stock bumper opening as our radiator. Then people go and plug up the whole thing with a big heating obstruction (FMIC) and wonder why they cant get more than one lap in...

I myself dont run a lot of boost, thus stock TMIC works fine. As long as i have the car moving at a good clip my intake temps are good. because there is a good amount of air flowing through the TMIC. I also dont drag or street race, so i dont need maximum cooling in single runs from a dead standstill.

I do have issues when i come off the track with the TMIC heat soaking some. I cure this by opening the hood and letting the car idle for a few mins and spraying the TMIC with water when i get off the track and right before i go back out.

Again, it is all application, if what you need is maximum cooling for one hard pull and are running lots of boost and a huge turbo (drag racing) then a FMIC is great, because it also wont heat soak while you wait in line. But try 20-30 min track sessions with the same setup and you risk your motor big time.

It has been recently well proven that if you are running a good amount of boost the holy grail is water/alcohol injection. And it sure is a lot easier on our cars than some crazy radiator, oil, cooler relocation v-mount setup.

 

Wrong, its higher than my front bumper.

And running over something on the freeway....is most unlikely.

I'll get more pics in an hour or so.

 

This is how I've set up all my FMICs. No issues.

Fundamentally I don't understand why people remove the reinforcement bar. Turns the bumper into tissue during even the smallest bump...and let's face it, if the car is daily driven, you are going to bump something at some point...

 

Higher than your front bumper?
Uh, I don't think so...unless your pics really distort the dimensions.
You think the bottom lip of your front bumper is going to prevent something from kicking it in?

You drive on freeways with a lot of semi-trailer trucks drive on?
They leave shredded tires pieces all over the road when one of their tires blow.
Ever run one of those things?


-Ted

 

arent you blocking off about 1/4 of the top of the fmic ?

 

If you could post some more pics of how it is mounted, that would be excellent. I wasn't wanting to cut anything and needed some ideas. Do you still have PS and/or AC? It's a bit hard to tell in the pics.

Also, who did the piping? Was it custom done at a shop or could you use something universal?

 

If you run over anything large enough to damage the intercooler, you've probably done some pretty good damage to something else so I personally find the argument against it as a nonissue.

I'd personally rather take that very small risk than remove the main bumper itself and potentially risk my life in a wreck but that's just me. NEVER remove the bumper. Remember guitarjunkie? (RIP Dave) While there were many things that led to his death, 3 important things stood out. He didn't have a seatbelt. It was removed and never reinstalled. He was planning to. He removed the front bumper for weight savings and removed his airbag equipped steering wheel to use an aftermarket one. All of these are safety devices and while the seatbelt would have been the most beneficial, removing any saftey device is bad. He got in a head-on collision and the front end caved in. The front end of the other car wasn't nearly as bad as his although it was totalled.

Leave it like it is. Safety first!

 

Here's an engineering tip for ducting, maybe one of you can turn it into reality.

If you shape your ducts like this:


then you'll get hardly any restriction, even though the diameter is small for a foot or two. Note how it looks like 2 airplane wings. You must use gentle angles. I think 7 degrees or less on the backside is good, but I'm not sure. If you need a longer narrow section, just do this:


Or just stretch out the 1st image.

If you are forced to compromise, then do it Prius style like this:



NOT like this:



If you need to join 2 ducts, simply do this:


The above example shows the ducts running side by side, which is pretty pointless. But even if you have 2 ducts joining at an angle, I don't think it would matter too much.

Other arrangements: Just use a gentle angle on the backside and you should be good. The front side doesn't need to be so gentle, as you can see from the pics. For bends, the outer wall of the bend doesn't need to be very gentle, but the inner wall does. They key is to have flowing air fill the entire duct. If the flow seperates from the duct wall due to a sharp turn in the wall away from the flow, then you'll get high parasitic losses from vortices that fill in the gap (if the wall bends towards the flow, perhaps even at a harsh angle, then the flow usually won't seperate from the wall and there won't be a problem).

Maybe all this will help you find better spots to mount your intercoolers and what not.

 

the old school greddy and hks kits all go there, its a nice spot all the way round. and its kinda stealth too

 

Yea, you must know my car better than I do....Sorry....

Just look at the pic please...

 

Sorry guys, wont have the car until sunday when its finished up. I'll post pics then.

 

C'est tres bon!

 

looks fine to me. Extra protection, same airflow ( I assume).

 

Just wait until you see an armadillo on the road and you try to straddle it then it gets surprised and jumps into your intercooler. My friend lost his oil pan that way, so anything is possible!

 

More pictures of the intercooler please. especially up close and personal.

 

I am leaning towards this style for my kit, I would prefer to keep as much as the structural support of the bumper as possible, looks good so far...keep us posted.

 

He's in Quebec.

Not a lot of armadillo's up this way!

Racoons, possums, deer, dogs/cats though

And FWIW, I never straddle anything on the road unless I'm forced to. My car's far to low to gamble like that.