womandriver

Have been offered a perfect condition sti4 intercooler for my97 uk car...
My questions being :
Is it worth the upgrade or wont it make a difference ?
I will be upgrading turbo etc: and are looking to be around 300/300 tops..
Also i have been told not to bother with the alloy y piece and to fit the 2 adaptors from my 97 i\c and the larger samco hose ?

All comments appreciated

womandriver

Have had a couple of replies in the other section but they seem to vary ??

Is the ver4 sti i/c any better than the uk98 i/c ??
or am i wasting money for no gains ??
Visually checking the back air tank is longer on the sti i/c otherwise everything looks the same but not sure on internals

scooby97

from my experience on MY97 a version 4 STI wont make any difference.

a version 5 or MY2000 IC will make a small gain if you have the ecu remapped

silent running

I'll resurrect this thread seeing as it's pretty much what I want to know.

I've got a MY98 WRX wagon, standard (straight, not slanted) intercooler, changed the hoses for Samcos so I have a decent Y piece underneath. The standard dump valve is on the end of a hose on the nearside, i.e. not directly mounted onto the I/C like the later models. It's also tilted forward.

I'll soon be running a VF35 with a Power FC, aim will be around 300bhp, but possibly 320 if it can be done safely. The question is, will my standard WRX I/C do the job or is an STi 4 I/C a noticeable improvement? I don't want to muck about with different dump valves or pipes, I just want something that will drop straight in but have greater cooling capability, meaning I won't want a later I/C if I can help it. Cheers!

GBruce

Hi,

I cahnged my 98 i/c for an sti 4 i/c and didn't notice much difference, The Sti metal compressor discharge are much better than the ribbed oe ones though, so is a wise upgrade if more boost is planned.

George

silent running

But if I've already got the smooth Samcos installed, probably not much point? Can anyone on here definitively say that the STi4 and 98 WRX I/C cores are the same, and that they only differ in the paint colour and quality of the external piping?

sti69

iTrader: (1)

Im no expert on I/C's but you've got to admit having STi involved in modifying a standard WRX I/C has got to worth something

silent running

But does their modification extend to simply spraying STi onto the I/C face and not bothering to paint it black?

sti69

iTrader: (1)

I have read somewhere that STi I/C's have different internals to help smooth the air flow inside the I/C and the t-pipe is made from from alloy!

JCScooby

Whats the script with this "decent y piece" u talk about?
Just curious as i have the same car and wonderd if its a wee mod that may benefit me.

silent running

Don't know if you've taken your I/C off to have a look at the pipework under it? If you do, you'll find the WRX I/C has a corrugated flexible Y piece (or T if you want!) underneath that joins the single compressor outlet to the two inlet ports at the back of the I/C. It's pretty restrictive if you look at it. I had a split hose under there and so first thing I did was to get a Samco I/C kit which replaces the dump valve hose, the Y-piece and the throttle body connector.

The STi I/C does not have the flexible plastic Y-piece. It is made from cast alloy and is a lot smoother.

So the advantage of getting the STI I/C would appear to be that you get the alloy Y-piece underneath. And if I've already got a set of Samco hoses there, they already do just as good a job.