Stock TMIC w/ BOV and Piping
 

Anybody ever used a stock TMIC and replaced the soft pipes and small section on the hot side of the IC? Im starting to lean more towards the sleeper look on my T2 and would sorta like to keep the stock Cooler. Do you think the TMIC would flow enough for maybe 275whp? up to around 300whp?

So far its just an idea Im toying with. If it wont flow at least around those numbers and still have a little left, Ill just go with an ebay setup

I run the TMIC with a T66 at 17 psi. I replaced the inlet section with 2.5" piping to match the turbo outlet. The top mount is terrible at intercooling with a big turbo, because it doesnt have enough mass to soak up the heat from the incoming charge. Even with very low ambient temps... As soon as you are off the gas the temps drop right back down though.

I was running 20% methanol by volume, so thats how I was getting away with the bad intercooling.

BDC is running the top mount on a 60-1 at 25 psi, again only works because of methanol injection.

The advantage of TMIC is that you don't end up obstructing airflow to rad and oil cooler, which in my opinion can make front mount even worse.

Well I wasnt looking for crazy power, just BNR Stage 3 at maybe 10-12psi. But after talking about it with other people and thinking about it, I guess Ill just bite the bullet and go with a FMIC even though I really didnt want to. Alot of heat coming off that engine to the IC right above it.

Running only 10-12 psi, i would say don't waste your time with an FMIC. That is, unless you plan on upgrading turbos later. FMIC will suck if you want to do track days/etc, whereas a properly tuned (aftermarket EMS) car with a top mount will do fine.

Well as of now all I have planned is like I said, Stage 3 BNR turbo, Rtek 1.8 with 4x 720cc, exhaust and some other little bolt ons. I guess what Ill do is just mod like I planned and see how the TMIC holds up, if it looks like its going to do satisfactory then I might let it stay until down the road when I plan my larger build. But thats not for another year or 2

I'm going for the sleeper thing too.

I picked up a HKS stock mount for my t2. Had only heard of it in jap catalogs, never seen one before. So picked it up as a alternative over the ARC.
I'm going w/ a stage 2 and 9.4:1 compression 13BT streetported, balanced and clearanced w/ some goodies. Wolf 3d v500 to controll it.
I'm aiming for 300rwhp but think I'll end up with a little more which is fine.

The thing about the top mount is, it works, but in stop and go or after you shut off your car. It heatsoaks like a bitch. So it's fine when you're constantly moving.
Of course the turbo can be completely oversized to its abilities too.
I have been considering water injection, or water/meth alky or something to top it off.

Yeah that is all that worries me, not so much the flow anymore, cause Id go ARC or HKS. But the temp issue is what worries me. I do alot of stop and go. Id have more piece of mind with a FMIC I guess.

v mount ftw!!! however i like the stock t2 hood :(

why would i do away with the t2 hood? best hood on any car

With those rotors, you better have race gas or meth. That's a risky setup.

check out the TMIC's they have for sale at www.rhdjapan.com they have both the ARC and HKS TMIC's for sale used last time i checked. good price, and will be able to push more boost while moving, but again it will have the same heatsoak problem when you stop. Anybody ever stick an electric fan ontop of a TMIC to help with heatsoak when the car isnt moving?

yeah thats where i was going to buy one if i did fo tmic. i might just go tmic for now, when i get my exhaust and bnr stage 3. get an arc or hks tmic and run low boost, maybe 8-10psi. then later when i want more power go fmic and up the boost i bit

There is not enough room to fit a fan to the stock tmic. That HKS top mount sits higher than stock, so there is room under it. You should be able to fit a fan under it and use it as a puller type. I am not sure about the ARC intercoolers though, I have never fit one to see what type of room there is.

could be an interesting project for some of these top-mount guys. no gay pun intended....

I don't think you fully understand how fully programmable EFI works...

Are you sure about that? The stock TMIC sits hard under the hood, so I don't see how you're going to be able to sit any IC high enough to fit a fan under there.

a friend of mine said that if you used a cooling mist kit you could use the top mount and get 300 hp cuz thats what going to do

NZ- I thought the same thing, and you are right the stock intercooler is very snug under the hood. Hwever, when I had an HKS tmic kit I test fit it to see what kind of clearance I would have. In all there is about 2.25 inches of space under the intercooler. This is due to the shape of the TB inlet section of the intercooler which is curved underneath the core and inserts into a new TB elbow supplied in the kit. I had to sell mine as I ran short on cash before I could use it. There may be some modification needed to get it to clear the hood. If someone could find small thin fan I am sure it could be done.

Hey guys... Word to the wise, don't waste your time with a TMIC--especially paying nearly as much as an (ebay) FMIC. A FMIC is one of the best performance mods you can do, both for the added power and the safety benefit of a much cooler intake charge.

And on the street your temps will be just fine--even with hard driving and multiple WOT runs.

Oh yeah, if you're going for the sleeper look, just paint your FMIC flat-black... That's what I did and it looks GREAT (if you know what it is) and it blends in perfectly with my flat-black FC.

This is really not true, even in our relatively cold climate, during summer days, FMIC cars run hotter even just cruising on the highway. Sure, doing a pull or two is fine, but real hard driving gets the temps up fast. Charge temp is only part of the equation, oil temps and coolant temps need to stay low or else you will negate the benefits of a cooler charge. FMIC in my opinion is not a viable solution (on an rx-7) for a track/hard driven street car(unless some measures are taken to get more engine cooling air). It seems to work fine for drag racing, and light street use. Horizontal mount/V-mount is really the optimal solution for track-oriented vehicles.