The SC test should be taken with a pinch of salt - a nice read but doesn't reflect true road conditions and not a like for like test.

Damien - what car model & age do you have?
Nick

 

I've run with both tmic and fmic on my v5 type r, and my experience is exactly the same as Lunar tick's.

My car runs a gems ecu with full supporting mods, std. internals, std. vf28, mapped by Steve Simpson. I took it to Steve with the fmic and std. ecu fitted, this made 284bhp@ 6700rpm and 265ft.lbs@ 4700rpm. After fitting gems and mapping it made the same 284bhp@ only 4800rpm peaking @ 6000rpm with 340bhp and the 265ft.lbs is now made at only 3500rpm peaking @ 4900rpm with 315ft.lbs

Despite these obvious improvements and Steve getting the little vf28 working much harder, earlier and for longer, throttle response isn't a match for the tmic set up, though full throttle is a fantastic hit.

And here lies the problem for me, the progressive throttle I had with the tmic is lost, in a corner the type r was a peach to balance on the throttle before, totally responsive to every touch to the pedal. Making the car flow now is far more difficult, and progress now feels like a series of punctuated short bursts.

I've now had this set up for over twelve months and toyed with several ways to improve feel/response, such as a bigger, fast spooling turbo [ md321h] that would stand a better chance of more quickly filling all that extra pipework. Ultimately though, I think that any further upgrades would be better served by a tmic and feel that this is now what my car is most missing.

In the latest jap. performance mag an article on Owen Developments makes interesting reading, particually Owens comments on the performance of the sti's tmic and the Writer's comments on how the car drives.

As Andy F. says, there's so much more to an intercooler than just controlling charge temps.

 

Couldn't have summed it better myself. Yes, a FMIC might allow you to advance ignition timing a couple of degrees and squeeze out a few more horses. But you can sacrifice so much driveability in the process of achieving that. In my case the car was less responsive and rewarding to drive with a FMIC and actually slower as each gear change was accompanied by significant lag. I was badly advised to go the FMIC route and I wished I hadn't as it cost me an arm and leg in parts and labour. But that's life I guess - live and learn.
Andrew

PS - for those non-believers out there, I have a Newage Hybrid FMIC and all pipework/fittings for sale at a very good price

 

My car was running 368/369 on its best day with a Top mount and 365/360 on a bad day.

At that power the limiting factor for more ignition/boost/fuel WAS the STI Top mount.

An APS front mount was fitted and mapped and the car produced 380BHP, but the 550 injectors were maxed out. (No huge lag issues, but obviously this may have been offset by the 4% power gain and the fact that the Turbo is a twin scroll.

650cc Injectors were fitted and power went up to 396/415. The standard Turbo unit is now the limiting factor.

These are my own experiences in a JDM STI03.


Summary,
The STI top mount is really-really-really good to a point, if you can compliment it with a better turbo (see Webmasters own articles- 370+BHP). But, there comes a time, where you have to choose (around 360bhp).

Bigger Turbo - £x
FMIC - £Y

I paid £800 for a second hand APS and fitted it myself. With mapping etc, it come out at around £1K. (But I sold my STI TMIC for £250). so £750.

I would be looking at over £1400 for a hybrid and associated fitting parts. (Which no-one was producing for the Twin Scroll 18months ago anyway!).

 

99 UK turbo.

The STI top mounts sounds like a good bet. Making big bhp isn't really a great concern. Having a drivable car is. I'm not a big fan of turbo diesel type lag. I hate the on/off ness of it especially if you get a big slap of boost on a tight corner or somewhere you don't want ti.