Larger intercoolers don't make a difference?

[Nevoie]

So I took my car into the shop to get my hpfp internals installed and a rmm. After he was done he asked me what else I plan to do to my car. I told him I was thinking about putting a larger intercooler on my car. At first I told him front mount. He told me it will slow down the car because the turbo is too small to fill the volume needed for such a large intercooler plus it would increase turbo lag. Then I said well I'll just go with a top mount. He told me that it won't help much because it's a larger volume of air sitting on top of the engine that will actually create more heatsoak because the intercooler is larger(more air to heat up while in traffic). He said I would have to have a modified hood with a larger hoodscoope to make a tmic effective. I started thinking about what he said, and I actually think he may have some valid points. He also said that the stock intercooler on the Mazda's are larger than Subaru and are very effective. By the way he is a ASE-Certified Master Technician specializing in Subaru and Honda. He works a performance shop. Are larger intercoolers just a way for companies to make money from us without offering anything extra in terms of horsepower unless we upgrade to a larger turbo?

[taf0422]

How about this run your stock top mount and watch the boost temp.

Then get an upgraded top mount or fmic and do the same thing and let me know how it goes. I bet the stock one will get heat soaked pretty quickly.

Paragraphs are your friend by the way.

[WetzMS3]

I'll be nice.

Aftermarket intercoolers are as much about construction and airflow as size. His point about a FMIC could be correct, depending on the kit and core you choose. That said, most aftermarket intercoolers will see at least a slight drop in BAT's, which is a good thin.

One last thing, you should install that shit yourself. Don;t waste mod money on turning a wrench.

[someguy]

He's right, more volume = more lag on spool up. That said, efficiency of cooling charge air is definitely improved with aftermarket intercoolers (as proved by the dozens of logs of BAT temps) which makes more power. The other issue with the stock one is a restriction of flow which makes less power.

So he's right in some ways, wrong in others.

[86AmishMs3]

Hahah stock turbo and lag should never be used in the same sentence.

[M.Kyle]

Originally Posted by WetzMS3 I'll be nice. Aftermarket intercoolers are as much about construction and airflow as size. His point about a FMIC could be correct, depending on the kit and core you choose. That said, most aftermarket intercoolers will see at least a slight drop in BAT's, which is a good thin. One last thing, you should install that shit yourself. Don;t waste mod money on turning a wrench.

Yeah, definitely gotta pick the right size shit or else you'll get what he says. No point in gabbing a 28x12x3.5 with 3" pipe with something that's only going to push 300cfm max.


Kyle

[Celestspeed3]

Engineering tid bits and math aside . . . .


I run a TR10 with 2.5" piping on the K04, with 20 psi at redline my BAT = IAT. I've never had any experience with it slower boost response. Is there slower boost response, maybe but would you notice 100rpm difference. If there is I didn't notice it. I've also done 6 to 7 back to back to back 4th gear pulls and the car doesn't get slower and doesn't knock. So take that as you will.

[Tokay444]

Don't go to that shop again.
/thread.

[Nevoie]

Valid points. I'll have to install a tmic and datalog the results and compare. Sorry for the lack of paragraphs in my original post. Does anybody have any dyno runs before and after intercooler upgrades.

[spdtrux]

as far as BAT temps on my GENWON major difference from stock heat soaked tmic to CS SRIfmic.

As far as spool up not a major difference on my k04.
Tests results in other threads just search....

I feel in my genwon it was worth every$

and now i have 10 HP ricer cool factor of visual fmic!

[AndyT]

When i bought a FMIC i found it was a bit more laggy, because the piping was 3" it took that fraction of a second to charge the pipework causing the slight lag. Having said that my BAT's were way better.

Anyways, I found the perfect cure for the lag. A GTX2867

[08.5MS3]

Didn't @dale_gribble; test this out?

Corksport / ETS / CP-E TMIC before/after logs - got 'em, post 'em

[Tokay444]

Originally Posted by spdtrux as far as BAT temps on my GENWON major difference from stock heat soaked tmic to CS SRIfmic. As far as spool up not a major difference on my k04. Tests results in other threads just search.... I feel in my genwon it was worth every$ and now i have 10 HP ricer cool factor of visual fmic!

don't listen to this guy. he's running a ram air cs front mount.

[Celestspeed3]

Originally Posted by Nevoie Valid points. I'll have to install a tmic and datalog the results and compare. Sorry for the lack of paragraphs in my original post. Does anybody have any dyno runs before and after intercooler upgrades.

Save yourself the time and money and just get a front mount.

I've had stock TMIC, CPE TMIC, now TR10 custom.

CPE TMIC gives you about three fourth gear pulls before it starts to heat soak and there isn't much you are going to do about it, even with the gen2 hood vent. It was an improvement over stock but the car would still get tired. With the front mount I can go all day long pull after pull.

Its funny because in the rain you can see the hot side of the FMIC is dry and the snow always melts off the hot side first, so you can definitely tell it's working. If you are going to upgrade I would say save for a FMIC, or just leave it stock.

[Pseudonym]

Originally Posted by Nevoie Valid points. I'll have to install a tmic and datalog the results and compare.

You gonna have a shop push the button to start the log too? I can understand chickening out on the internals the way every other fag on here treats it like it's juggling flaming bowling balls, but a fucking rmm? Seriously?

[abiezerf]

Put some corn juice in your gas tank and forget about a new intercooler.

[MazdaBoy2.3]

Originally Posted by Celestspeed3 Save yourself the time and money and just get a front mount. I've had stock TMIC, CPE TMIC, now TR10 custom. CPE TMIC gives you about three fourth gear pulls before it starts to heat soak and there isn't much you are going to do about it, even with the gen2 hood vent. It was an improvement over stock but the car would still get tired. With the front mount I can go all day long pull after pull. Its funny because in the rain you can see the hot side of the FMIC is dry and the snow always melts off the hot side first, so you can definitely tell it's working. If you are going to upgrade I would say save for a FMIC, or just leave it stock.

My cpe tmic and 4 gal's of e85 are working just fine for me

[Voltron]

@dzikusnj; ran a tr10 on his k04 with zero lag issues. Matter of fact he was the king of k04s in nj before he went bt.


My advice op, go back to the shop and slap the shit out of that dude.
Tell him voltron said go back to doing oil changes.

[LumberJack]

Wow, dude is a complete ass hat if he told you this. Like Teddy said, go back tell him to stick to oil changes and keep his head out of aftermarket if that was his advice. That has to be by far the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. I ran a gigantic FMIC on a k04. Treadstone TR1035 and saw ZERO difference in spool and it made a huge difference in cooling, had almost no heat soak even in dead stop traffic.

[JgamB]

Cheap bastard's solution to TMIC soak is a $15 Home Depot garden sprayer. Set that shit to the finest mist, hit it for 10s, run like a champ. Evaporative cooling works like a champ, dyno proven.

Obviously that is for the staging lane at the 1/4 mile - if you want street results you either have an aftermarket TMIC that sheds heat nicely with a Pu scoop or you run FMIC. Or meth.