welshy1979

will adding a front mounted intercooler make much difference to perfomance...cr will have full stainless exhaust no cats, either air filter/induction kit, and ecu remap?

welshy1979

any one?

lightwave693

just adding a front mount on its own will cause the turbo to spool up later as the turbo needs to fill more space with air, with a remap tho front mounts are pretty good but unless your going for over 300bhp then its not worth the cost.the top mount is good enough.

sl1000

biggest difference is in heat soak and piece of mind.
so more constant performance with many stop and go's
plus they are cheap as chips when mounted yourself

woody1980

yeah if your not going for mad power then a big top mount is fine. ive recently added a front mount to mine, but i have lots of other mods on the way.

after first fitting then reset your ecu as the car will run like cr*p. first thing in the morning expect a 5 minute wait for it to warm up or it just wants to cut out. idle goes up and down like a yoyo due to so much more air coming in. after a reset ecu and a 100 mile run its fine and ecu seems to know whats going on now. hasnt acted up at all for couple of weeks now.

you do get a bit more performance but not huge amounts with just the front mount. i have seen dyno tests from somebody with standard then a front mount. no other mods. you get about 15bhp less at low revs then the curve goes higher with more revs and you end up with about 50bhp more. not worth spending £300 for 50bhp unless your getting more mods. it basically just gives the engine constant cold air so the turbo can run at max all the way through and give full boost all the time. alot of the time the standard top mount wont supply enough cold air. your ecu measure temp as they come in and wont let you have full boost if the engine is already heat soaked.

Going 4 400bhp

iTrader: (2)

Mate are you sure? 50bhp from a front mount with no other mod's?!

I don't know much so could be wrong but would of thought you would lose bhp then gain it as the turbo is working so hard just to get the air around all the new pipe work?

I think most of the top tunners on here would say not to get a FMIC unless you was going for 450+ bhp? The Type 25 has i think 415bhp and a TMIC.

This is just what i think though from stuff i have read on here...

Please one of the gods of scooby lay your eye over this thread and tell us what is right from wrong!

woody1980

yes that what i said, you loose bhp at lower revs, at idle you loose around 15bhp then the curve overlaps the standard intercooler on the graph and at full boost you end up with 50 more bhp. the temps are around 120 degrees faerenhiet lower aswell.

i will see if i can find the website again. all he did was fit a front mount then put the standard back on to test power difference.

woody1980

XS Engineering Power IC System: 2002-06 Subaru Impreza WRX/STi - XS Engineering, Inc.

ok this is one site i just googled its not the same but has gains of 35bhp with just the front mount fitted.

RA95

they upped boost level as well though

Going 4 400bhp

iTrader: (2)

Well there is your answer then

I still don't see how a FMIC only could make a car faster???

Anyone.....

welshy1979

just wondered.........i wud have thought it wud help engine slightly but was just curious by how much......do i spend the 275 on one or not!!!!!?????

sl1000

remember that the more oxygen you can get into the engine the more power you can make. if a engine has 20PSI of boost but with 100 degrees celcius of charge temp. it will have way less power than same engine with 20PSI boost and 40 degrees celcius charge temps.
but actually the difference between efficiency of TMIC and FMIC is not that great which makes it not to important until >300HP.
problem is within location of the IC's when standing still, TMIC gets really hot due to hot air from engine going out through the TMIC. which heats the TMIC up very much. Then leaving the stopsigns charge air actually gets heated up not cooled which results in low power and higher chance on DET.
So if you mainly drive at the motorways stick to the TMIC but if city or many stop and go's are needed FMIC is the better way forward.
Please remember there is not ONE choice for everyone. choices depend on usage of the car.

BTW power output on the rollers with TMIC can be especially misleading due to heat soak effect if no cooling fans are used.

I choose FMIC due to city usage of the car and additional safety for DET.
I found the lag / spool up difference with the standard TMIC next to undetectable, and thus am very pleased with my choice.

woody1980

ok i just googled and sent you the first site i found on dyno testing a fmic i will try to find the site i looked at before. it depends on what intercooler you already have as to how much extra power you can gain.

as sl1000 just explained its not so much about just getting power its the temps of the engine.

i have a wrx 93 import and the standard top mount is tiny. so for me adding my huge front mount does make a big difference to the car. if you have a new age sti then they already have a pretty big top mount so a big front mount isnt going to change much apart from being stuck in traffic the top mount wont get hardly any cold air feed. the car is still so no air through the scoop and all you have is hot engine air around it. a front mount is mounted outside so you get constant cold air.

right i will try and find the site i found before. i didnt bother ready the last one i just posted the first one i found.

mickywrx

iTrader: (29)

Never reset my ECU and its been fine and dandy since last December.

From what you said above, it would seem like you have a problem with your car. I start mine and drive away with no "yo-yo" revs etc.

Micky.

woody1980

its fine now, i think it may have also been due to i only got standard jubilee clips with the kit that kept blowing off all the time. ive now got mikalor clamps and not had one blow off.

car is fine in the morning now. doesnt yoyo anymore. when i first installed it then the ecu didnt seem very happy, BUT it may have been due to rubbish clamps. i would deffo advice a reset though. its good to do every now and again anyway.

welshy1979

rite so i live in the country......so car is on country roads 90% of time and occasional dual /motorway use.....there fore front one b beta???

sl1000

So no city usage?, no real traffic problems and no insane horsepower.
I guess you be better of with the existing TMIC.
better to first look at remap with optional uprated turbo and fueling if needing more power.

woody1980

well there is nothing really wrong with getting a front mount if you want one. they can be alot of hassle to fit if your doing it yourself and probably expensive for a garage to do.

alot of people say dont get a front mount unless your going for huge power but... its not gonna hurt getting one now. and then IF you chooce to go huge power later on then you have already got it there.

i would look at excactly how much you have to do to actually install a front mount cos depending on car and front mount you have to cut sections off the car and remove alot of stuff. drilling involved and cutting loads off your bumper. with a top mount its just a case of a few bolts and maybe putting in different mount brackets.

sl1000

agree with woody FMIC doesn't hurt
but in your case don't expect much power improvement. If this is what your after first look into remap, turbo's and fueling.

welshy1979

ok cheers guys