Please post any experience with this IC/piping kit on Ebay. For $225 including bolt-on pipes, hoses, clamps and BOV flange sounds very attractive. How wrong could you go with an intercooler other that the internal design of it?

 

yah whats the deal? Im sure the couplers and clamps are garbage and prob the piping as well, but how is the fitment and actual construction of the smic?

 

My deal with it is IMHO the intercooler is the easy part of the equation. Getting an IC that fits properly, has good ducting, and good quality piping is the hard part.

The IC doesn't come with a duct which is a big minus. Also, SS Autochrome's stuff has traditionally not been of great quality - their great looking turbo manifolds crack in no time flat, etc.

It may be the best thing since sliced bread, but initial impressions from looking at it on Ebay are not good.

Dale

 

The piping is cheapo thin crap without beads on the ends to keep the couplers from sliding off. It also doesn't come with a duct, so you would have to fabricate one. They used to list the inlet and outlet sizes as 2.5", but now they have changed some of the auctions to the correct size, 2.75". Who knows if they actually changed the IC, or if they just changed the number on the auctions.

 

I bought the IC by itself. The outlets are 2.75". The IC's welds are extremely nice. From the pictures I have seen of the M2/ASP's I would say they are as good if not better. Dimensions are basically the same as the medium. I have fabricated my own piping which isn't a big deal and had someone tig weld it up. Just takes some time and patients cutting J-Bends to what you want and a belt sander to make clean edges without gaps betweens pipes. The duct I am making by hot wiring construction foam to the basic outline I need. Then I will cover the foam with packing tape, then wax the tape. If I have any problems pulling the foam out I will use acetone to eat it away. Used this method to make several fiberglass RC-airplane and boat hulls. I have taken a ton of pictures so far and hopefully will post them soon. I will try and post an outline of the duct with the pictures. I will be using it with a Koyo that I have mounted at a slightly less than stock angle so that I could get a decent size duct to the bumper openings.

Should have a total of less than 400 dollars in the smic package total. Of course that doesn't count the hours of my time to do the work, but to me that's half the fun.

 

Cool, once you get it installed do you think you could measure the pressure drop and monitor intake temps?

 

so all thats needed is a aftermarket intake system ? I wonder if the M2 box can be run with this setup.. I dont like the open filter look. Id get the 51r battery and jeffs tray and just have someone custom make me a new pipe to fit the greddy elbow though, that bend looks uglyyy

 

I can monitor intake temps via the PFC. I am unsure of how I would measure the pressure drop across the IC though. I don't have a DAQ system to use.

I made my own tray and switched to a 51R so that I would have more room. Looks like it will work out well. Not sure how Jeff's tray positions the battery though.

 

I may be misunderstanding the concept of pressure drop, but couldn't you just measure the pressure somewhere before the IC and somewhere after it using a boost gauge or two?

 

Only problem is the PFC reads off the UIM and my boost gauge/control reads off the same. I would have to plumb two new nipples and gauges/sensors. Would be a pain to wire especially for limited use.

 

what intake are you using fritts

 

Just some cheap aftermarket pipes that came with the car. Similar to the Bomz stuff on ebay with better filters.

 

fritts, i like your style. Making it work is part of the fun. just throwing money at the rx7 seem pointless to me. name brand is over rated.

 

he likes more than your style, watchout

 

So nobody has actually tried this intercooler?

 

beware.. A friend bought his turbo manifold and its ****!! I have never seen such poor workmanship in my life!

I will suggest you get what you pay for

 

You shouldn't knock all of manufacturers parts just because some have problems. This IC looks very well built. Here are some of the pics of how I'm setting it up.

 

I heard his first stuff wasn't that great. I haven't had a problem with what I have purchased from him. I ran the FD manifold with a Massive 74mm turbo for about 15K, and no problems at all, besides the turbo being too big and knocking against the shock tower when the engine would tweek hard. But that was because I just threw on a turbo that I had laying around just to get the car running. The manifold didn't crack, and fitement wasn't perfect, but you can't expect perfect with what you pay. I have his SR20DET top mount manifold on the Wifes fully built SR, and it seems to be holding up well, but we don't have too many miles on it yet.

I have gotten the FD manifold glowing red due to lean conditions with no problems. You just can't expect to get top notch quality stuff unless you want to pay for it. I think for the money it's not bad. I have seen a huge improvement from his first stuff to the newer stuff.

 

This would be comparable, size wise to the ASP/old M2 large. The volume and surface of this one is 756 if it's a true 18x12x3.5 as listed on the auction, compared to the ASP large is 3.5x12.55x17 = 746 from data listed on Steve's site. What intake are you going to be running with it?

Tim

 

Some of the SSA stuff might be ok for the price, but I also know a good number of people who have had huge problems. Super-thin metal, welds that break in a week, turbo housings that break in half, and receiving the new "stainless steel" parts with rust on them. In fact, if you look through the guy's negative feedbacks, there is one in there about the stainless steel arriving with rust, and the guy's response is, "It's stainless! It doesn't rust! Go read a book!" Of course, anyone who has read a book would know there are different grades of stainless and some do rust. I think a lot of people leave positive feedback before installing the parts.

Look through the negative feedbacks and see his replies to people. He sounds like he's 12 years old.

 

So Fritts, how's yours holding up, um, since it's not a wear item that gets stressed like a turbo housing?

Tim

 

im working on a duct with twinturboseven since hes thinking about making them for us. im making the piping like its shown above not the **** that comes with it. if anyone is interested pm me for prices, he MIGHT be able to make a carbon fiber duct so we'll see.

 

well when you get horrible customer service, poor quality parts and general over all sleezyness.. when is enough enough? or is it all in the name to save a buck?

in the end, im sure the ic core is fine. Their are only a few companys in the world that can manufacturer a bar and plate core, so this one is probably from the same manufacturer as alot of other companys.

the end tanks, piping and whatever else they include are a different story. And if anyone buys this i would make sure to flush it thorougly for any debris.

 

I assume you dont use an Airpump. I wonder if the ASP pipe would work this the SSA unit to over come that problem, I live in CA and kinda need it. Very interested in finding out how that duct comes out and if I purchase one of the SSA's id like to see how much you would charge for one.

-Brian-

 

I have started a group buy for my duct for this intercooler. here: https://www.rx7club.com/group-buy-center-69/gb-fiberglass-duct-xspower-intercooler-ends-11-11-05-a-476815/