I think most air would take the path of less resistance, which is right between your coolers. That would make your setup counter-productive. This is why proper duct work is a must! If your concerned about radiant heat from the engine, do a proper vmount. Duct air from radiator downward on exit, and intercooler upward through hood on exit. Wrap ductwork facing the engine with thermal material to reflect/absorb radiant heat.

 

Here is my take with FMIC vs VMOUNT:

Kits like the Greddy/Freddy are cheap and work.

Kits such as the blitz kit for the FD sandwich the radiator and intercooler together. This in my opinion is the best installation of a fmic, and possibly the best setup for the buck. Because the coolers are sandwiched together, airflow does not become slow and turbulent which happens from gap between cores. They also have shorter piping for better response than conventional fmic's that are near the bumper core.

Vmounts should yield great response due to their short intake piping. The idea is that each core is arranged so it will see fresh air for optimum cooling. However, the costs associated with this is great, and usually requires custom work. Even the kits available seem to not have proper duct work, rendering this style setup not as effective as it could be. Air will take the path of least resistance if possible. RotaryExtreme sells some nice looking vmount kits for the FD and FC.

Here's some pictures of the ductwork I had made for my FC with a vmount:

 

I think your right... good observation... Good thing the whole thing will be ducted. Which would make the set-up productive. A v-mount without ducting is like doing the timed mile and walking the last 10 feet, just doesn't make sense. It doesn't matter if it's a proper v-mount or not.. when it comes down to it the radiator will heat soak the IC...thats just fact. Unless you put a descent amount of space between them.
My set-up was built to take advantage of a few flaws a lot of set-ups have so with the above set up I tried to focus on what I wanted..that being:
Will not heat soak each-other
Very Short Charge piping (less than 20" total)
Weight moved in as close to steering rack as possible
Ductwork will provide 50/50 air to each heat exchanger


And here it is without ducting. Ducting will be done soon but so you guys can get an idea

 

As this thread is all about IC set ups etc is there any reason why most V-mount IC's aim the pipes at the back of the end tanks? It doesn't seem like a clean run? i thought your suposed to keep the air speed up as much as possable? wouldn't it cause a restriction?

 

technically you should make things flow as smooth as possible for maximum cooling. But from what i have experienced from running v mounts is they cool so well that there is no need to get too crazy on designs.

But if you really wanted to get the best out of your intercooler design then using a program like solid works is your best bet as it can show you your restrictions and more.

here is a pic of one that would be one of the best designs if you really needed it.

http://image.turbomagazine.com/f/106...ntercooler.jpg

 

^ That is a proper V-Mount set up

I know what your saying that the temp difference makes it appear to work well however the pipe work is set out, but a few years ago i was playing with my FMIC and even though the Air temp was within a couple of deg's i got 15hp all the way through the rev range by removing the 90deg end tank and making them more smooth flowing the core / location didn't change at all. Seems like the V-mounts have 90deg end tanks for ease of construction and keeping the IC pipes as short as poss but i don't think there ideal.

 

http://image.turbomagazine.com/f/106...ntercooler.jpg

I like the way they vent the radiator up too... keeping that air from going under the car.

 

I like how used there ducts to pull the hot air through as well as push from the front.

I think thats how a V-Mount should look.

 

I didn't use a vented hood for awhile on my Rotary Extreme kit. I recently picked up a Mazdaspeed replica from Ronin. However, I noticed no "real" change in intake temps or underhood temps. Granted the Mazdaspeed is no Scoot, but it is still functional. Much of my results are likely masked by 700cc of water meth.

 

Agreed! I ran no ducting or vented hood on my RE kit for a year. It performed very well.

 

My vmic doesn't have ducting yet but I'm running a reostat to my electric fans so I control the heat of my radiator ic and oc but I love mine! Wouldn't go back to front mount

 

While an old thread, I think the following webpage is a good read on how an intercooler system works, which should address some of the questions expressed:

Front Mount Intercooler Efficency Test Data

http://www.enginebasics.com/Advanced...tercooler.html

 

Just to add.

We, our group, found that getting cold air into the intake to be very important for producing WHP. I went V-mount ducted and put the filter in the mouth of the bumper. I am estimating a good 30-50WHP increase at same boost pressure. I estimated this off tuning the car and seeing both the IAT drop and more injector duty cycle.

I was running 40C's in the summer, which then dropped to 20C's in the summer. I dropped a good 20C in same ambient conditions with a cold air intake and v-mount ducted intercooler from a FMIC and short ram intake.

 

Why is it that most people I see doing ANY intercooler setup just run a stupid filter off of their turbo? I mean, they went through the whole expense of doing things right with properly sized piping, divided ducting, and larger intercooler(s), but adding an intake arm to the front of the fender for clean, cool air is a chore??? LOL