What size should I look for, what's one that isn't going to be overkill, it's only an SC application.

Only knowledgeable posts only, thanks.

I want to do one single FMIC.

What do you guys think about Starion IC's for this sort of application?

 

when people do front mount intercoolers, i hear they have a drop of boost psi. i was just wondering, does having narrower pipes help keep the pressure up or am i completely on the wrong track. i rilly wanted to do this same setup next spring. sorry i answered with a question

 

What about an IC mounted in the battery slot and relocate the battery to the trunk? This will give you better weight distribution and it will also lose less boost since there is much less piping. I know someone on here has one mounted like that although I'm not sure who.

 

First of all, I love your ride man. When I had my DSM I actually looked into getting a Starion FMIC. However, I was advised against it due to the fact that they are not very efficent. It might still work for a SC max depending on what PSI you plan on topping out at. If you are gonna go 10 or up, I wouldn't suggest the Starion. Check out http://www.roadraceengineering.com/intercoolers.htm for some options. There are a million others, just a place to get started.

 

with the IC you lose like at most 1 psi. but thats not really the point of why he (and i) are putting on the intercooler.. its more of the longevity of the motor that i am particularly concerned about. its hotter than hell here in the desert with 105+ outside temps, you must think that the compression of the air inside the car and under the hood must be much warmer.. so by adding the cooler, we lose some pressure. so what. but the engine is getting denser and (some-what) cooler air.

what should be more beneficial to a boosted max in hot temperatures is an oil cooler....

IC and oil cooler are both ideal. but if you cant afford the new piping.. oil cooler is the way to go....

brian. dont forget to run water wetter in your radiator.

 

Ask max'n out about his boost lost with the IC.

 

the pressure loss shouldnt worry anyone, the power you lose from the pressure loss you will gain with the IC, i would recomment a sidemount(mazda or dsm) instead of a front mount, but if you do go with a front mount i wouldnt go with the starion there would be way too much piping cause of the way it is setup, use 2.25in from the vortech to the IC, and 2.5 from the IC to the TB.

i would recommend an intercooler setup like either of these. just my .02

http://www.roadraceengineering.com/p...0x10-39-15.jpg

http://www.roadraceengineering.com/p...c-sameside.jpg


-Dummy/Dumbkid

 

I run an SC & FMIC combo w/a 3.25 pulley right now. (pics on my webpage) The loss of boost is very minimal too. Most of the time I can hit 9psi, on a good day I can get a little more maybe 9 1/2! Dont have an oil cooler yet but that would be key also... The cooler the egine the better... ALWAYS!! If you're worried about the loss of boost, you can drop down a pulley size to compensate. In my expeience, getting an FMIC dos'nt hinder performace as much as it was said on here but again.... everyone's case is different.

 

All this talk about sc's...already saving

 

I didn't ask whether or not having an FMIC is beneficial, in my Texas heat it definately is.

I just wanted to know about brands

 

http://www.roadraceengineering.com/p...0x10-39-15.jpg

This one looks nice.

Should I leave the end cap config like this, have both come from the top like the one on the right, or have them both run straight through the bottom like this:

http://www.roadraceengineering.com/p...-39-39-low.jpg

The piping will go straight down from the blower, across and then have make a couple bends to get back up into the engine bay.

To Anton, there's no point in trying to even out the weight distro in our cars. More weight in the back of the car slows us down more then in the front, not to mention puts less weight on the front tires which means less traction. If it was a RWD car I'd definately do it, but packing weight in my trunk is a no-no. Plus there's plenty of room for the piping to swing up in front of and to the left of the battery.

Finally, do you think 10x20 will fit (too big, possibly too small?)

 

Does anyone even make a FMIC setup specifically for our cars?


Also, how much customizing does it take to put a FMIC on?

 

Not too much, the pipe out of the blower isn't too bad.

You mayt have to shave the bumper a little bit, and the pipe going to the throttle body requires some bending.

Nothing too rough, $250-$500 for aluminum mandrel bent fabrication is my guess.

 

$250-$500...that's alot.

 

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh, but really

We got a special guy from vortech to check it all out and pressure test everything.


But for the question, Size, well on here it seems to be debated to much, pipeing should be mandrel bent, i like the spearco intercoolers they claim and seem to be backed up as only .25 psi drop. Putting an air/air intercooler in the engine compartment is dumb, air/water intercooler would be awsome but would have to be custom built just like the air to air. With the air to air, you might want a new raditor why? cuz if you don't there is clearance problems for the piping back out of the intercooler.

 

I would like to know what is soo bad about the starion cooler? honda guys jump for them.

 

someone give me some sizes for an IC that'll fit without having to buy a new radiator, at this time I don't want to replace the radiator.

 

5th gens have to do some cutting to make it fit correctly

 

Brian, why don't you email Nigel (turbo97se) or Turbymax (matthel) and see what size intercoolers they are using/where they got them from?

 

Any air to air intercooler will need some cutting or a new rad...Reason is simple, the piping back in. There is a cross member that you can mount the intercooler that also has the rad on it...I think I said that right...But the bottom line is if you put it out front, you can either not change the rad (me) and run the pipe just a about a quarter of an inch under the car or start cuting and changing the rad.

 

I'm going to do it your way, I don't mind cutting/shaving the bumper a bit, but I'm not in the mood (or wanna spend the money) to replace/modify the radiator.

So once again, how about sizes? 20"x10" ok, and what style connectors, both bottom straight connectors?

 

You have turbo now?

 

I'm interested. What sort of tempature drops are you guys getting with intercoolers on a Supercharged application? Has anyone measured before and after temps?

 

i would only go with one where both outlets exit to the left like the first picture. the second picture would require too much piping. 20x10 should fit, it might require some cuttin of the bumper support and maybe trimming behind the bumper cover but it should fit.

 

Dumbkid that doesn't make sense. The SC is on the left, the TB is on the right, it would require a lot more piping to do it with both exits on the same side.

 

 

i was under the impression that you were going keep using the stock SC to TB piping, if you are not and are going to do all custom piping then yes it would require less piping to have an outlet/inlet on each side.

 

Mine is about, 24x8 plus end tanks..The pressure pipe runs out of the sc to the top of the intercooler then out the side down just out where the splash gaurd is through a minor cut in the fender back up by the battery and back of course to the tb...It don't hang down alot you have to get on your knees to go see it and I don't bump anything. I have a few pics of the whole thing scanned if you'd like to see send me an email and I can show ya.

As for the guy with the temp drop q...I can't give you the numbers but I'll give you the hand ...Meaning b4 you'd burn your hand after about an hour by touching the pipe, now out of the intercooler anywhere b4 the tb, it's cool to the touch...Engine runs much much better overall.

 

How would he run an intercooler if he was going to use stock piping???

 

23x8, yeah email me pics brian@brianv.net

Also, what brand IC and where did you get it, and for how much?

 

have piping fo from vortech straight down and over a lil to inlet of intercooler, and and have piping exit intercooler travel left and go strait up into stock sc to tb piping....simple.

 

That's way too much unnecessary piping, the goal is to install it with the minimal amount of pressure loss. Also, that would require the pipe coming down from the SC and the pipe coming up from the IC to be near each other. There would be some heat transfer from the real hot pipe to the not as hot pipe (equals - NO NO)

 

Move Battery, put IC there.

 

Have you seen Delio's setup? He has a small intercooler where the battery used to be. I'm not sure if it's A/A or A/W.

 

They're not that detailed, but if you go to my homepage, you 'll see how my FMIC set-up looks. I had to do it custom and we did have to cut 2 notches out of the metal bumper frame on either side so the piping would fit through... hope it helps.


Deac

 

i am aware of that, i thought you wanted to keep the stock piping... thats the only reason i suggested it.

 

Nah man, anyone should know me, I'm all about doing whatever is necessary to make the thing most efficient (performance and cost taken into consideration).

 

If the intercooler is doing its job, then there will always be some drop in pressure, since pressure is proportional to temperature. If you cool a gas it will contract, thus losing pressure if the volume is held constant. PV=nRT says it all. But the main thing to remember here is that the goal of a super or turbocharger is to increase the density of the air going into the engine (not just increase pressure). This is indeed accomplished by compressing the air with the blower, but if the air is heated up too much (for instance due to low blower adiabatic efficiency) you can actually have a drop in air density even though the blower is producing boost. In cases where you have a blower with good adiabatic efficiency, the reason for having an intercooler is to reduce the air temperature to prevent detonation in situations where you are producing high boost. Having an intercooler can allow you to run higher boost without (or at least with less) risk of detonation.

 

You might want to check with Rich .... his intercooler was too big and caused problems for his SC setup.. and he had to end up removing it... VolkRacingMaxima is his name on the org i think

 

yea... hi... how are you. I had an intercooler on the Maxima with the Vortech supercharger. I looked nice, but was way too small for the CFM I was pushing. I have since replaced it with a strait pipe and it works phonenomial. You have to realize, the supercharger doesn't really heat up the air to a level at which it's going to be detrimental to the engine. So all you really have to do is avoid getting the air any hotter. I didn't like how the stock kit (no offense to Stillen, becuase it's a perfect kit when no cutting is necessary) runs right over top of the exhaust manifold and right behind the radiator. That heats the pipe up to the point that I can't even touch it. So what'd I do? Rerouted the piping away from that. Now I have what you could call, a front mount bypass pipe. You can use an intercooler on it, but it's unnecessary. Boost drops a few PSI with my set up, you may want to think about doing a 3.33" pulley. If you DO get an intercooler, make sure you get the right size. A DSM 178 core is a good size one. But the set up I have right now with the piping that's just routed away from the engine bay, works GREAT. If I ever do put an intercooler back in there, it's for show. This is my experience with it, take it for what it's worth