I'm after a FMIC along with some other mods for more power and relibility when tracking my car seen a few around, but not sure whether the 'cheap' ones are exactly that, or good deals???

seems very cheap
eBay.co.uk: SUBARU IMPREZA WRX STi FRONT MOUNT INTERCOOLER KIT (item 220072701731 end time 24-Jan-07 20:02:34 GMT)

more expensive but comes complete with bigger rad and better fans
ScoobyMania Online Shop

and this one seems to be somewhere in the middle
Zen Performance - Engine Ancillaries

 

Dill mate the one ebay will me more than man enough for the job and is excellent vfm.
The pace one is poor in comparision, the only advantage it has over the ebay one is that you do not need to hack the bumper.
The Zen intercooler looks very similar to the ebay cooler, so its a toss up between them two.

Banny

 

Do you know anyone thats had these fitted. My car (97 STi) is still totally standard engine-wise and hope for about 330bhp with new ecu, mapping etc with supporting mods. I know a TMIC is up to the job but thought FMIC wud be safer whilst running on tracks (i've been told the sccops arent much good above 100mph)

 

I have an autobahn88 intercooler, which is virutally identical to the ebay item your considering and it is excellent at getting the temps. I have 97 sti too and it runs much better with the fmic than it ever did with the tmic.

Banny

 

Have you logged the temps from the autobahn cooler..
i think you will be supprised at how "good" your cheap ebay cooler is..

 

Going by the inlet temp sensor mounted in the throttle body, there is a signicant drop in inlet temps. Checked on my power fc commander, so it is working very well thankyou!!!!!!!

Banny

 

What are your results???

 

Well on a warm summer day in traffic the tmic would get into the 50c and would get down to about 30c once moving, but as soon as you put your foot down it would shoot up and boost would start tailing off.
Same situation with this fmic from flat4online not ebay, temps reach about 40c but within a short distance the temp is half and will hold there regardless of how much you thrash the car. Going by the commander display. Next time do some testing yourself before you shoot a product down.
Now dont get me wrong there are better intercoolers out there such as the lateral performance setup but it costs serious money but just look at the position of the intercooler that alone helps will provide much more cooling than a top mount and get rid of heatsoak,

Banny

 

I have tested it.. that is why i asked for your results mate.

i saw temps that climbed and climbed even on motorway runs

the Autobahn 88 cooler would not drop below 50 deg c at any point

 

cheers for your input, need to start buying up parts, trouble is some tuners only like to use their (or ones they stock) products, ie only ,map certain chips, only endorse certain filters (some with good reason i'm sure)

 

Frayz have you tested the pace item?

 

So your FMIC never dropped below 50C EVER? That seems totally the opposite of what every single person who's fitted even cheapo FMICs has reported. I'd be interested to see what happened there.

 

Frayz I'm with Banny on this one I have an Autobahn88 front mounted intercooler and running circa 380 bhp. Have very good results indeed.
running 1.6 bar and inlet temps are consistently low. After a very hard run the pipe from the cooler to the throttle body is cold to touch.

Daz

 

Cold to touch on the outside mate.. but you need to monitor the charge temps inside... The cores offered in these coolers are from the far east and designed for air conditining units as far as im aware. This seems very much the case if you actually look inside them.

These cores in the coolers are poor and offer a very minimal internal fin design. Due to this there is very littlre pressure drop which is good but also very little heat exchanging going on.

For the cooler to work efficiently Daz it has to be removing the heat from your air charge.

If you decide to go and record your temps or log them.. please post your results.

Im sorry if it seems i came here to knock a product.. i didnt. The guy asked for advise. I gave him advise based on fact from my own testing.

Id like nothing more than to have a good fmic setup for not alot of cash.. it would save me both time, agro and money.

Go ahead.. see for yourself, get an independant ACT gauge or even some k-type thermocouples and a multimeter and id be interested to know your findings.


Frayz

 

Just because these are "cheapo" that doen't mean they are crap does it? I remember all to well paying £1000 for a hks item to run my old car to 350bhp what a waste of money,( i was ripped off btw before you say anything).

 

Arent the intercoolers that are used in the Autobahn88 kits the same as the ones that are used by the likes of scoobyclinic in theirs? If not they look very very similar.

The scoobyclinic ones were tested in jap perfomance mag and were proven to work. Dropping temps so increasing power.

 

I agree that the AutoBahn Cooler is of cheap design, if you look in the latest Jap Performance it shows the core of an expensive cooler and that has twice as many fins and so is much more efficient, but the physical location of the FMIC will always be in its favour and even the longer pipe run which expands as it gets to the inlet will help, (Expanding gas cools) before the actual intercooler even comes into the equation. So all these factors will all help keep temps down, even on this low budget kit!

Dave

 

Sorry mate but you're talking complete gash.

My Power FC commander consistently shows inlet temps of well under 30 degrees even after a very hard run on the hottest of days.

Knock the quality of the Autobahn88 stuff all you like. The fact of the matter is I have consistent and proven results that its doing its job very well indeed. We'll soon see though as it will shortly be having 2.0bar from a garrett GT3076R through it.

I'll be glad to post my results then.

Daz

 

Can't speak for any other FMIC's or TMIC's, but I've just gone from standard 1993WRX TMIC to an autobahn FMIC and when toeing it the FMIC feels much stronger consistantly from 4k-7k rpm, no scientific results but for consistant top end power I love this intercooler.

 

Has anyone had any problems with induction kit fitting around the pipes, at the mo i run a standard airbox with green panel filter, if i get the FMIC then it will be with an induction kit (possibly a Pipercross viper kit), along with new ecu, mapping, fuel pump etc

 

No gash spoken there mate.. i wouldnt say unless i had tested it.

Id be pleased to view your results when youre running that turbo.. although bare in mind that a larger turbo working more efficiently will have a lower charge temperature anyway.

 

you dont seem to need a fmic?

 

Who? Me?, i know 330-ish is achievable with a top mount, but i thought it'd be a alot safer on track, and the drag strip with a FMIC rather than prolonged high speed running with a TMIC, AFAIK due to the airflow over the bonnet the scoop doesnt work very well above 100mph (cud be wrong tho, often am )

 

Daz - where exactly is the temperature sensor that is monitoring this?

As far as I am aware there is not a std sensor that measures the temperature of the air AFTER it has been through the intercooler. The intake temp that you are probably referring to is at the MAF.

 

LOL who said anything about standard? Its an intake temp sensor that has been fitted to the throttle body.

I know my onions mate, I built my own engine


Daz

 

Sorry - had to ask ... you'd be suprised how many people get the two things confused

 

FRONT MOUNT INTERCOOLER GROUP BUY!!!!
Spoke to them this morning and their due back in stock in 2/3 weeks I have started a list in group buys so we can approach bren again
https://www.scoobynet.com/group-buys...ic-kit-11.html
KIPS

 

I have to agree with Daz,

The Autobahn88, hybrid etc.etc. all look the same to me. The reason they are cheap is the finishing (chroming of the pipes, thin silicon hoses, poor quality hose clips) not the core itself which works well.

Similiarly to above, im measuring CT just before TB, and with a STI8 TMIC (supposedly good for 400 BHP) on WOT from a low gear - irrespective of ambient - temp would just rise and rise until by the time i was 5th gear det would appear at 50-55 deg and you had to back off.

With a cheap hybrid, even hammering down the long straight at Bruntingthorpe it will go to maybe 15 deg max above ambient and stay there. If i tried this with the TMIC i bet it would be at 60-70 deg if it got that far without sh1tting itself. This is at around 400 BHP.

 

I'd love to fit a FMIC, but I'm not ready for a remapp yet (bugeye WRX)

Its one of those I want, but hopefully should be to long.

S!

 

SORRY TO BUTT IN
Ive decided to go front mount is their any problems i may come up against fitting to an early classic my94 as these are meant for the later cars i know i have to cut inner wing this is not a problem what about the n/s pipework is this straight forward
cheers kips