cobaltfd3sracr

well i wanna do an intercooler upgrade once i get my fd in okinawa but i dont know wether to go fmic or repalce the stock one with a knight sports intercooler and advice on what gains i get from a fmic or replacing the stock one

RotaryRocket93

iTrader: (7)

Basically a Frontmount intercooler is going to obviously get the most airflow but at the same time it blocks the airflow from your radiator which causes your temps to run a little higher. A stock mount isnt going to drop your intake temps as much as a FMIC will but it will reduce your pressure drop if you get a good one. Im not a genius by any means but i know that the FMIC will take some effort to install. The fmic looks bad *** thats not a lie, thats what i would get if thats what i was going for but sense im just doing street driving and nothing to serious im going with a stock mount. The Pettit coolcharge III intercooler. It gives pretty good intake temps and minimizes on the Pressure drop. Not to many people have it but its similar to the M2 Large which alot of people have and have had good success with.

cobaltfd3sracr

well im going to be using it for track but i dont want to draw attention with the fmic and the knights sport its bigger than the stock

fendamonky

iTrader: (6)

First off...

Please use the "SEARCH" function, and read the Archives/FAQ.

(They are there for a reason)

Second. You're stationed out in Japan I take it? USMC, first command?

If so then my suggestion to you is NOT to upgrade the car. You will *not* be taking it back home with you (unless you shipped it out there from America). So ANY money you put into modifying the car will be wasted since you will not get that back when it's time to leave.


That said...

There are three kinds of Intercoolers reglarly used in FDs. The Stock Mount Intercooler (SMIC), the Front Mount Intercooler (FMIC) and the V-Mount Intercooler (VMIC).

Each style intercooler has it's own strengths, and it's own weakness's. There is no "perfect" IC setup (though, IMO the VMIC comes damn close!). Understanding that, I think it is up to YOU to educate yourself on the differences between these three styles of IC's, and select the one which will be best for you, and your desired applications.

The information you are looking for is not very well hidden on this site, if you put forth a little bit of effort than I think you'll be able to answer your own question. If not, then you're probably mentally impared, and should probably steer clear of this car anyway.

cobaltfd3sracr

well i hvae done my research on sending the car back to the states and its quite simple you just need to know what you need to get it done and yes im a marine. but the reason why i asked this question is that ive used the vmic and fmic i did see some noticable changes with in the temperature after hard use but i saw a minor power diffrence between the both. the car was tested with every thing stock except a power fc

Monkman33

iTrader: (28)

The power difference is not really the main thing to look at. Cooling of your Engine should be your first priority. Because it doesn't matter how much power you make, if your engine overheats every time you do it.

As far as power difference between vmic, smic, and fmic... it won't be huge or very noticeable. With proper ducting, a vmic is the best of both worlds, hands down.

sp_amend

iTrader: (4)

I'm not a genius at all either, but as far as I know, FMIC set up blocks the airflow into the radiator, which makes the water temp high, which is very not good.

My mechanic also said SMIC is even better than FMIC.

However, I'm planning on going with the VMIC. It seems to be the best option for our cars.

Type in VMIC or v-mount intercooler in the search, you'll see a lot of threads.

oo7arkman

iTrader: (2)

I have had the Greddy SMIC and it did what I needed it to at the time. The SMIC you are looking at would be even better. I have been running the Greddy FMIC over the last two years and have had NO issues with cooling. Water temps have always stayed in check, you just need to duct it properly and yes the install is pretty involved. Currently I am chopping up the greddy fmic core, and my koyo radiator to create a vmic setup. Even though I have not ever had any water cooling problems, I am hoping to never have to deal with them and I am going with the very well-proven best of all worlds vmic.

If you are just concerned about power, you really are not going to see any "real" power differences between smic vs fmic vs vmic. As far as intake temps are concerned as long as whatever ic you are using is properly ducted the temps probably will not be THAT different. I will say that lag is a bit more with the fmic due to all the piping that is involved, so in that respect you may not loose overall high hp, but you may loose amount of usable hp in that you will not get it until higher in the rpm range. Example, with the smic/vmic setup you will probably see 10psi on the stock twins at about 2200 rpm, where as with the fmic you may not see it until 2700 rpm (I don't remember my numbers exactly so no one tear me apart if I am a little off..). See what I mean?

So with that ridiculous amount of typing here is my conclusion for you. Especially since you plan on tracking the car, make sure you take care of water temps and go with either the smic or vmic setups. Not to mention you will keep good/quick spool time that will also help you get out of tight corners faster.