When I first installed my Greddy smic I was seeing intake temps of 5 C above outside temperature, on the highway. Will installing a midpipe and tuning cruise AFR's to 16.5 cause the intake temps to increase (15-20 C above ambient) or is the IC getting oil fouled by blow-by?

 

What were your outside temps when you first installed your Greddy SMIC? As the outside temp increases, the effectiveness of the SMIC is going to decrease (i.e. if it was 40F outside, your SMIC is not going to be as effective at 90F).

 

5 C differential at outside temps of 5 C to 25 C (40 -77 F)

 

Since both of those have no affect on air flow through the IC or turbos, they can't have any affect on air temp. Think logically about what you are doing.

 

If there is more heat generated from the exhaust can the higher temperature air circulate through the engine bay and be sucked into the intake when driving on the highway?

 

No direct effect.

 

You should insure that you have a decent duct for that intercooler. When it is very cold outside it doesn't make too much of a difference. But once the weather starts to warm up you want to insure that you have as much outside are hitting your core as possible.

I hit 70+ Celcius on a hard run against a well modified EVO because my ducting was crap (I'm using the GReddy/Trust SMIC). Also, if you increase the boost pressure to beyond the turbo's efficiency range than it will make the IC's job much harder... If you're running stock twins I would keep them at or below 13psi for more effective cooling. If you want to crank up the boost, but keep the SMIC than go with A/I to keep the intake temps in check.

Good ducting will = good IAT with this SMIC.

 

I've decided to bring this topic back up after a year because I have recently installed the Trust SMIC and noticed that the intake temperatures that my PFC shows are much higher than I had anticipated.

I installed this SMIC with the provided "ducting"... which was just one sheet of metal to cover the top of the IC. There are very large gaps that air could escape through the sides and bottom of the core face.

My question: Are there any aftermarket or easy/cheap DIY solutions to improve the ducting to the Trust/Greddy SMIC?

 

Get A/I.

 

Good suggestion, and an option that I am considering later on this year.

In addition to AI (which will help when under boost pressure), I would really like to investigate any available options for upgrading the (lack of) ducting to the Trust/Greddy unit. Proper ducting is critical for resisting heat soak and minimizing the time it takes to recover from heat soak once it occurs. Since there are many of us with this IC (or similar), I thought that some manufacturer/parts developer may have come up with something already.

 

You might check with Pettit and see if they'll sell their Coolcharge II duct separately. If they will, that will be your best shot.

 

AI is a good solution but out of curiosity I would like to find out how much improving the ducting on top of the actual trust ducting will help. Are you sure the provided ducting was by trust? Just covering the top seems kind of lame.

PFS ducts are aplenty arent they?

 

The provided ducting you described isn't a duct at all. Some SMICs reused the stock IC duct. Some had their own. Follow Mahjik's suggestion and check if Pettit is still selling theirs or try and fab your own. Theorie had a thread where he made his own iirc.

 

Agreed. If you can't get one from them then take the stock duct and cut it down by an inch or two (I'd also cut off the top part where it meets the aluminum guard). That is what I had to end up doing with mine when I couldn't find a duct in England.

Yes, it is. On both counts, lol.

 

Take some cardboard, form it in the shape of a duct that fits, then coat the cardboard with rosin and fiberglass , let it harden, sand it. Play with it a little until you get good fitment. Put some weather stripping against the side that seals to the intercooler, then paint it nice and pretty. Done