waddup everyone..im a new to the rotory scene. I would like some advise in buying an intercooler for my fd. So many options to choose from. I have seen them from 500.00 all the way up to 2500.00. My car is stock for now but i am looking to go single turbo in the near future. I was wondering what is a good intercooler to go with that will support both single and twin turbo setups...should it be v-mount or front mount.?...thx

 

man this forum is helpful...lol! 22 views and nothing

 

Ebay if you don't mind making your own mounts and plumbing. I've used the CX-Racing stuff and have no problems.

 

never use ebay. thats the worst advise ive heard in a while. ebay provides shotty intercoolers. making your own plumbing could end up costing you more than a well crafted kit. most of the time it also ends up looking like ****.


it really depends on your power goal and how much your willing to spend. always go for a kit. there usually very well made and include all you need.

2 popular front mount kits are:

greddy m spec 2 row intercooler- i would say there good up to 13 or so psi. but you do have to cut into some of the bumper rebar and undertray. its rather cheap and looks very tasteful($700).

blitz front mount 3 row intercooler- very good fitment and little to no trimming to fit it. also lets a great deal of air pass by it to the radiator and ac condenser. only downsides are that its rather expensive(around $1000 plus i dont think they make it anymore) and you cant really see much of it from the front cause it mounts different.

if money isnt a problem and your not set on a front mount intercooler, then a v-mount is for you. but i dont know much about them cause they never interested me. there the most efficient intercoolers

 

my opinion is that most intercoolers are actually way too big for our application.

the difference between bar and plate and tube and fin is going to be minimal. get whatever fits in your budget and is readily available in the configuration you need.

those huge front mounts... again, after looking at how much even the large single turbos are flowing... I believe are way too big. And a front mount is going to slow your response down. Vmount or Stock mount, both with proper ducting, are going to get you good results.

If you really want a cooler intake charge, just run 50/50 water/alcohol injection.


And not to be a dick, but until you actually know a lot about your car, I wouldn't even think about trying to go single. Do you realize how much money you are going to spend? Get your REAL, ACTUAL, NOT-IMAGINARY, TANGIBLE budget laid out.

Start pricing everything you'll need.

manifold
turbo
lines
downpipe
wastegate
bov
IC setup
radiator
fuel pump
injectors
misc fuel items
EMS/ECU
tuning
etc.
etc.
etc.

I thought 8k was a good number for me when I started.

I was so wrong. I was so very wrong. Of course, I didn't cheap out on anything at all, so that could also be why I am going to double my single turbo budget.

 

kru510,

Given that your car is currently stock I would say that an intercooler is probably not the first/next on your list of toys to buy.

Personally, I would start on the basic reliability mods (AST, Radiator, Down pipe, new vacuum hoses/check valves, coolant hoses, etc., etc.) before thinking about anything else. Get used to your car at this stage. After you've gotten used to a healthy, stock hp, FD then I would step up and put a cat back on, a tunable ECU (the Apexi PowerFC is very popular with forum members), and a hi-flow cat. Get your car tuned for 12psi. Get used to this.

Next add a water injection system (Aquamist, FJO, Coolingmist.... there are plenty of systems out there, and everybody will support their own, I've not seen many *bad* reviews) and turn the boost up a little bit more. Get used to this.

13psi is pretty much the most boost you will want to "safely" run with the stock fueling, so before you go any further than that you will want to add/re-wire a better fuel pump, and larger secondary injectors. It's at this stage that I would look into upgrading your IC (6 months to a year down the line).

Take your time on modding your car, get used to it's individual quirks, learn how to drive her at each different power level.


As far as what kind of intercooler to get... it's a personal choice, and people will have varying opinions on which is the best.

Personally I've used two different IC's (not including stock). I started with the Greddy SMIC (good for up to 13-15psi before it has trouble keeping temps in check, THIS NEEDS PROPER DUCTING OR IT'S CRAP!!!) and used that one for about two years. I added in A/I when I started pushing around 15-16psi, the A/I helped IMMENSELY!! I'm currently running a PWR VMIC kit which is made, sold, installed and tuned by only one shop (Re:worx) that I am aware of, they are located in the UK, and I couldn't be happier! Between my VMIC and A/I I can push 18-19psi through my BNR's all day, every day. My water temps never really go above 83 celsius, and my air temp stays right around 8-10 degrees above ambient no matter how hard I push it! I (personally) believe that a VMIC is the way to go, however every driver uses their vehicles in different ways, and different applications have different requirements/demands. So what works for me might not work for somebody else, and vice versa.

 

Haha, what? Have you seen a CX-Racing intercooler from eBay? Nice thick end tanks with a proven bar and plate design. At least I think it was CX-Racing. I work at a sandrail shop where we put these things on sandrails putting down 500-1000 hp, if a problem is going to show up this is the place it will. I also have one in one of my FDs. I spent a total of 175 on the intercooler, mounting it, and to plumb the thing. Granted if you don't have the know how or tools it is going to be a problem.

 

Are you opposed to SMICs?

I posted a bunch of info trying to compare alot of the availible SMICs somewhere. Perhaps you should do a search?

As far as SMICs go, if your not planning to boost heavily and don't wish to do a battery relocation/replacement, the more popular ones on the forum are as follows.
-M2 Medium (best SMIC)
-Greddy
-PFS (excellent if you have the PFS air duct)

RE-amemiya has an SMIC but Im not to sure about the performance of it.

I have an M2 large SMIC for sale if you wanna go that route. It probably is the best SMIC you can find but it requires you move or find a smaller battery and possibly move your intakes.

 

dude read the FAQ's. There is a LOT to modding these cars and if you are not well informed it will cost you big time.

The best advise is to start slow and build up to a turbo updgrade. It's easier to spot a problem area when changes are made gradually.

 

Do an advance search, put in intercooler. Then read everything. Then you will know the meaning of intercooler.

I did that and then I decided to go with a stock mount ic.

 

Go for ebay, don't listen to everyone on here who says they are crap, yet they have never used one, tested one, or have any hard facts. Subjective opinions don't count.
Here's some objective info on ebay intercoolers if you don't mind reading, there are over 2,000 posts:
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/newb...-have-one.html

As for your question, I would say v-mount or stock-mount. I just feel it is bad to block the radiator on our cars unless we have to.

 

O boy...

Here we go again...

 

nice thread actually. BTW I'm using an ebay godspeed SMIC with my single and so far no complaints at 15 psi.

 

build your own! it's really not that hard and it's much cheaper than buying a "name brand" kit!

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/finished-my-custom-stock-mount-intercooler-today-write-up-pics-779240/page2/

here's one we built for about $450

 

whoops, i see you had to re do some things to make room for ducting, what duct is that?
Edit: nevermind saw it in your post.

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79985

Was cruising around the internet, look what i found

Our good buddies: CX racing.

What a surprise..?

OP: You should buy an EBAY intercooler man. It's great. All the performance for a lower price. Who the hell are you to support all those greedy american and japanese companies who rip off innocent consumers.

 

also pettits stock mounts

 

maybe you should take the time to read what you just posted.

on that link, some guy bought a cx racing brand exhaust from a 3rd party ebay seller named "ETD Motors". ETD Motors is not cx racing (they have their own ebay name, "cx racing", go figure...). ETD Motors is just one of many cx racing resellers apparently. just because the guy on that link claims that they are one in the same does not mean it's true.

either way, both of those ebay sellers have 99.whatever% feedback - obviously they are not selling shitty products. the .5% minority that leaves negative feedback are usually deadbeats, ********, or scammers anywa.

just because some jackass orders a super cheap item and finds it to be dented when he gets it, does NOT mean that the company who manufactured the product is at fault. it could have been the reseller, it could have been the shipper, hell it could have even been the buyer himself (trying to scam the seller into giving a full refund because he didn't like the item).

also, lots of ebay sellers offer "scratch & dent" items - this is stuff that does not get sold though the regular websites but instead gets sold on ebay.

cx racing makes nice parts for the price, IMO. i built my custom stock-mount using a cx racing intercooler (see above pic w/ link) and it works great.

the intercooler setup that i built using a cx racing core + piping cost about $1000 less than the pettit intercooler of the same dimensions / cooling ability.

don't knock a company just because they sell products at good prices. besides, where do you think companies like pettit get their intercoolers? they don't manufacture them in their own shops - they outsource their products to companies like cx racing, then they re-brand the products, mark up the price 10x and sell it to consumers as "name brand".

cx racing intercooler = good product IMO

 

Probably because a good percentage of them leave positive feedback, and they can't change it when it's too late.

it's ok, live and learn.

BTW:

# exchange if the item is received defective or incorrect item shipped.
# All return items MUST be in brand new condition which means the item is never installed and kept in the original packaging, otherwise a 20% restocking fees will be charged.
# We will not resend product before we get a confirmation from insurance claim or the returned item from customers.
# All shipping and handling fees are non-refundable in any circumstances.
# Please inspect your order upon receipt. No claims will be honored after 2 days of delivery.
All items are brand new unless otherwise stated.
# Professional installation is highly recommended. Buyer assumes all risk on shipment and usage.
# Item is Sold "AS IS " , no warranty is expressed, unless specifically stated on listing.

Funny how such a high quality part comes with NO warranty, and only gives you 2 days to inspect it and call them. Some people are suckers, they deserve such garbage.

Actually why don't you go back and re-read that thread and do a search. They all sell the same stuff.

 

this is why i said what i did. i have to admit, i have NEVER used an ebay intercooler. but have heard many horror stories of ebay ITEMS that were defective. there are prob around 10 or so threads floating around on this forum alone. just off the top of my head i can remember one from about a year ago. about "megan racing coilovers" i believe. there were several incomplete welds. the man could have been putting his life on the line had they failed while he was driving.

theres a pretty good chance that if you had a defective intercooler. say one of the endtanks wasnt welded properly and had a small gap(barley noticable to the naked eye). how would you know until you had it installed and tested.

granted, there are some good products floating around ebay. but to me the risks outway the savings. large companies like greddy, blitx, hks, and apexi will back up there products any way they can. give them a call and they'll be sure to fix you up if there are any complications.

btw, $10 says this thread is closed by friday

 

i guess i'm one of those suckers then. i'm happy with the product they sold @ the price i paid, and it works great in my FD. made 380hp on the stock turbos w/ a CX racing intercooler - keeps my air temps nice and cool, even in hot *** florida.

also, i don't know where you're getting your information, but you're still missing the point.

CX RACING WARRANTY INFO, TAKEN RIGHT OFF THEIR WEBSITE:
the case you are talking about is a product coming from a 3rd party reseller. clearly you still don't understand the concept of "scratch & dent" sales on ebay. many retailers have products that get either scratched or dented somewhere between manufacturing/shipping/storage/etc. instead of throwing these parts away, they sell them at a lower cost. many times, resellers will buy these items from the manufacturer and them auction them (on ebay, or other places). usually, when you buy a "scratch & dent" item, you are buying the item "as is" meaning there generally aren't returns or exchanges. the thread you liked to with the person complaining about a cx racing exhaust is clearly someone who bought a "scratch & dent" item from a 3rd party reseller, and didn't take the time to read the terms & conditions first.

wait...do you even have an FD? what are you doing in here? your sig says you have an R32, but you posted awhile back saying that you were buying an FC? and you "drove a 350horse fd once"? hmmm

i don't know about you, but i like to keep my mouth shut and my opinions neutral about products that i haven't directly used/worked-with. you haven't suggested or expressed any such experience with cx racing intercoolers.

lol, nice try though. have fun paying top-dollar, marked up "name brand" prices for products that were probably manufactured in the same factory! if you knew anything about manufacturing / sales, you would know that many times "generic" products are made in the same factories, on the same machines, by the same laborers, as "name brand" products. with car parts, that happens quite often. i would put my $450 cx racing intercooler setup against the $1450 pettit racing cool charge III any day.

 

Sounds like the suckers are the ones paying 1000 dollars +.

They have a reputation to uphold, if they were selling **** left and right they would not still be selling since they would get a bad rep. I have bought many with no problems.

 

I guess I'm a sucker now. I bought a PFS new 1000 dollars. Damn, What was I thinking?

 

^ yep your a sucker, could of gotten that off ebay for $500.. ..... nah, some people don't mind paying more to know they are getting from a reliable source.

 

Thats a good price. Does it come with the PFS airbox? If it does thats very good. Im assuming piping and ducts were included.

Good on you man. Buying from a company with a reliable brand name is nothing to be ashamed of.