intercooler question.

[micradan]

I know a couple of you have fitted front mounted intercoolers and im just about to start collecting all the bits i need for the job. Will 2" pipe work be fine or could i use 2.25"?
A chap on the sxoc is selling loads of pipework in 2.25" with new hoses in various shapes. Just wondered if any one had a list of what parts i.e all the hose and pipe work dimentions that you used. :grinning:

 

[smidge]

cause i have aircon i went the long way round and drilled 2 1/8 holes in the bay with a quality hole saw, i didn't have to relocate the battery but this would make things much easier...

this is from memory but should help you anyway

2 x 90deg bends from each side of the cooler
drivers side : 45degree silicone bend, then 90 degree pipe through hole into engine bay, then 45 degree bend into straight peice of pipe then 90 degree onto cut off inlet pipe (black one with the big and small vac line on it)

passenger side, 45 degree bend in wheel arch, into 90 degree pipe pops up next to battery through hole cut in the bay, then 90 degree bend into straight pipe then 90 degree bend onto SC/turbo outlet

whew

check out the pics of my install, pics tell a thousand words

2.5inch is fine if you can fit it, i reckon 2 inch works just fine for the output of the engine personall, my kit only cost about au$200 for the piping, and some of the hoses, then another au$100 for the core, but spend a fair bit after that on extra bits and peices i needed to finish it off

as always when you don't have a specific kit, it helps to have extra bits and pieces

i had a few leaks to check out the mightycarmods.com video on boost leaks, that shows my fmic system in it also

its not pretty, but it works fine!

 

[Baz]

2" pipe is best to reduce lag it's not a skyline like ha ha ha.

Buy a universal 2" piping kit on ebay and some seller will let you pick the bends you think you need.Few straight,90degs and 45's just to be safe.My battery's in the boot and the air-con gone, much more room to work on it as for the ic I just took a measuring tape out to the mouth of the front bumper and selected a universal ic off ebay.

Make sure you use good sellers though.

You could also just get the intercooler and get a company to fabricate up the pipework would look alot better with nice tig welds and the least amount of silcone pipes as possible,this will also cut down on lag.

 

[smidge]

if you've got the money, tig welded stainless or aluminium is definately the way to go

its one of the things i would change if i ran into some money to dump on the car

still, current setup does the job and its more for reliability than for power anyways

 

[Baz]

if you've got the money, tig welded stainless or aluminium is definately the way to go
its one of the things i would change if i ran into some money to dump on the car

still, current setup does the job and its more for reliability than for power anyways

I'm the same man

 

[Snikty]

While on the subject of intercoolers...

Has anyone played around with uprated top mounts? I've looked at a couple and wondered if the reduced lag might make it worthwhile...if you could make a decent fit. I was looking at some for a WRX which looked like they 'may' fit if you played around a bit (but would possibly still sit too high)

But could you achieve the same/similar amount of compression through a shorter path??

 

[smidge]

yo snikt-o-rama

its all about flow through the core and heat soak

sitting in traffic the top mount absorbs a heap of heat, this is what i like the least about them,

and to be totally honest i didn't notice much different with the fmic there, we're lucky that the supercharger comes on so quickly its not like it makes for a laggy turbo car feel

you could go for a bigger top mount but i think you'd definately need someone to weld it up for you with all the right fittings etc (with the big and small vac line fittings on the pipe connecting to the throttle)

 

[Snikty]

Cool.

I figure I'll end up going for an fmic anyway coz a friend is donating the core from his xr6 when he upgrades.

I notice most of the upgraded top mounts on the WRXs use a water spray and I don't think I wanna go messing around with anything like that anyway. And I really couldn't see it fitting anyway, they are pretty damn big for a top mount.

 

[smidge]

i ran a water spray on my top mount in my subaru but you are always fighting heat soak when you're not moving ,which in sydney, is most of the time

my core cost me $100 and was absolute perfect fit, no cutting required at all!

although i did cut some at first thinking it wouldn't, DOH!