How you guys doing??

It's been a while since I've visited the Forum. I'm thinking about replacing the Stock IC with a 2-row Greddy FMIC. What, if any, are the advantages of having a stock 13B-REW/FMIC combo?? Well,...stock except for a DP and Blitz SUS Intake system.

The car has been running great. No problems with over-boosting ever since I replaced the MP with a Stock Main-Cat.

What are the Pros and the Cons of replacing the stock IC with a 2-row Greddy FMIC??

 

Theres many threads on this..search "intercooler", and you'll get lots of good info.

 

well unless you have an aftermarket radiator youll probably overheat quite a bit more often....

 

I would say you could expect 15 to 20 hp with a front mount. but your car will run hotter, even worse with the ac on. when i first had one with the stock rad it overheated everytime with the ac on. the koyo helped out alot with that problem. the factory intercooler is a joke, not even worth comparing. I have the same fmic 2 row your talking about. according to them its only good till 15 psi but i've had over 20 with no problems.

 

I've run in 90 degree weather with my AC on and never seen over 92 on my PFC with my front mount. Texas may be different I suppose, I'm not sure how rough your summers are or how humid it gets.

 

greddy fmic here...drove on the highway with air temps (manifold) about 27C...then got to in "city" driving...no higher than 34C. Waiting for summer heat for true performance...I have a PWR radiator...

 

definately go with the intercooler. But you should do one of the fan mods too. If you can you should put a better radiator in there too.

 

yeah you will over heat some if you are in stop and go traffic but if your on the freeway you shouldnt have that much problems. how much you pating for that fmic? you might want to spurge and get the v-mount so you get equal air

 

I noticed a bit of lag in boost response from stock IC to FMIC.
Also my temps here are about 95 in San Diego CA. in stop/go traffic with the fans on.
I will probably go with small V mount in the future.

 

Its a good IC.. i recommend it.
Like others said, it will block air to the radiator and you will over heat. I was running it wil fluidyne and I still over heated w/out the fans on, especially when i'm at low speed.

I've took out the A/C condensor and hope it will increase air flow to the radiator.
Also, you could make some air ducts for the radiator. I'm working on that..

 

The only con against an FMIC is that you're putting a heat exchanger in front of another heat exchange (re: i/c front of rad), which are located close to another heat exchanger (oil cooler) so underhood temps will get a lot hotter. As everyone posted above, your temps will go up in day to day driving and stop and go. If this is a street car, i'd say go with a SMIC replacement for daily driving. However there are others that will argue that an FMIC is perfectly fine. They are the ones who make +75k a year and can buy a new engine like I buy soda's at the vending machine. For people like me who are poor, and make sub 75k a year, an SMIC will work perfectly fine.

The stock intercooler's only limitation is it's relatively small sizesize, and limit for cooling the charge air. There's only so much air that can be cooled with that small of a surface area.

Of course, FMIC's look cool, and if you go that route, make sure you have proper ducting, and some sort of vented hood if available to help alleviate the heat. Just my .02

Chris~

 

On my Greddy FMIC install I did not use the undercover allowing bottom exposure to the rad, condenser and exit of the I/C. I did not mount the radiator parallel with the FMIC but with the lower part of the Radiator anglee more towards the firewall. The intent was to pull convective eddies detrimental to heat transfer to the low pressure, high velocity airflow moving under the car. My cooling temps are dead nuts at 180F...again waiting for the dog days to monitor improvement under real thermal strain.

I also allowed for good spacing from the hot side of the FMIC to the condenser and radiator. This was so the fans could pull fresh air underneath the car.

Hope this helps.