Texrx

I would like to keep my car essentially stock in appearance at least but I understand that the stock intercooler is really poor.

So... is there anything that can be done to improve its performance? Does anyone offer a replacement that is better? All I seem to see are FMIC's, and I guess I could hide a moderate one in the front bumper but its seems like a lot of trouble for negligible improvement on a basically stock setup.

What are yalls thoughts?

SirCygnus

iTrader: (1)

the series 5 flows more.

the main restriction is the outlet of the intercooler and the inlet of the TB.

fix this and it will be better.

Texrx

Sorry meant to put in that I have the S5 I/C already. Is there anything that can be done to improve heat dissipation? Waht about the airflow through the hood scoop? Has anyone tried removing or modifying the shield on the underside?

Bamato

iTrader: (6)

A very basic water/meth injection system would be a good investment. Are you running stock boost levels?

Texrx

Well as of right now I have a manual boost controller in the car but no fcd so yeah stock boost. I also have no intention to exceed the stock turbo's boost level, probably not more than 10 psi at the very most. I want a dependable and at least fairly economical car that I could still drive from here to Denver or Pheonix to visit family without having to worry about it.

BoostedRotors

what sort of power are you looking to make? The stock top mount is good for a good bit of power

jerd_hambone

I'm not sure how the standing goes with Rotary Car Club these days, but there is a thread over there where someone modified the stock top mounts inlet area. I can't remember what sort of gains were had.

But adding heat protection to the IC and surround area would definitely help in day to day driving.

SirCygnus

iTrader: (1)

i have taken tons of temp readings for mine.

on an average summer day cruising, it would not get below 100 degree. this is not bad at all. when boosting and hitting 8 to 9 psi, it would hit 150 degree pretty fast.
sitting in traffic would hit 135 and stay there.

jerd_hambone

The thread I was talking about on RCC is here too. It just got brought back from the dead.

Texrx

Hmm I'll have to hunt up that thread Bunnybunny, I know Mica is an excellent insulator and it doesn't seem like it would be hard to replace the stock aluminum shield with it.
SirCygnus: I would be very interested in seeing all the numbers you got, are they posted somewhere here on the forum? Did you get pre and post turbocharger readings as well as the I/C?

Methanol injection is looking very good at the moment. Its not that pricey and would be really nice for the summer heat as well as the mountain passes but I'm not sure how or even if the stock ECU could handle it which could make it very pricey when all is said and done.

As far as power figures go, 250-300 is what I'm aiming for but I want to keep good economy and dependability as well. It would be nice to see 25 mpg or better with careful driving.

texFCturboII

iTrader: (17)

You should definitely read up on methanol injection first, as a combustible it will mess with the AFR's; and I dont think you would be able to run it with the ECU unless you use an S-AFC or the like at the least. Water injection though is a much more safe and cheaper alternative, seeing as methanol costs a lot more than water, and is flammable; while water is....water... my .02

And 25mpg.... man, good luck....

Texrx

Yeah that's what I'm worried about the stock ECU definitely wont be able to control the meth inj. and I don't know how it would react to the higher AFR. If it just cut the fuel injectors back to compensate it would probably be fine but that may be out of its scope too. Water is definitely an option or possibly a mix but meth is so much more effective. As far as 25 mpg goes we'll have to see there. I get 23 mpg avg out of my SBC 350 powered suburban and have peaked as high as 27 on a run to Dallas and back but that requires an extremely rigid (and pricey) maintenance schedule to maintain those numbers, not really cost effective in the long run. As far as getting an Rx to do that, there are just to many differences to make a call. I would guess that if I keep my foot out of the turbo it would be possible. 25 is also a target for peak, if I get 21-23 avg that would be acceptable. I.e. If I could pull a 25 mpg average for the run up US 287 to Denver where its all highway and I'm running steady til the tank's low enough to warrant a fill up that would be good enough. I could bump the boost up a bit for running around town or the mountains :> For daily driving duties I'm happy with stock performance but it would be nice to see the same punch at 10,000 feet ASL as I do at stock boost down here around 300-500ft ASL. Back to the Meth injection, I definitely need to read more on it. I understand methanol is not only less stable than gasoline but corrosive as well and that concerns me.

Texrx

I was reading Howard Coleman's thread here:
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...jection&page=6

I noticed he states that ethanol cools 251% better than gasoline and only 31% less than methanol. Ethanol isnt as easy to get as gas but it is cheaper and easier to get a hold of than methanol! I also suspect it is more stable than ethanol. I understand that it produces fewer BTU's than gas so it wont give the kick that meth will but it will cool the intake charge substantially and that will get you some punch and help with knock. A 10* decrease in temp would get me about 25 ponies on a 250 base hp setup!

Tex FC what kind of temp drop do you see with water? What are the details of your setup?

SirCygnus

iTrader: (1)

water does not drop in temp as i run water as well.

water is added to boost the efficiency of the turbo and a a detonation deterrent.

Texrx

Oh ok. Are you putting the water in before the turbo?

Also in my post above I said 10 degrees would get a 10% increase in hp.That was a typo, you only see about 1% increase in hp for a 10 degree temp drop, my apologies. So 2.5 ponies on 250hp. My apologies.