Intercooler Set-up

Snikty

Site Supporter
I thought I'd start a new thread to discuss this since a few people are looking at re-doing this atm and because I've been very apprehensive about doing anything with mine...

I was contemplating maybe going for one of those i/c's with the entry and exit on the same side as I thought I might be able to get a reasonably short path with one... Are there any major probs with these types of i/c?? I assume that the air would be tumbling a fair bit when it hits the intake due to doin a complete 180 in the i/c but is there any way to 'straighten' your air flow once it exits the i/c? Sorry if that sounds like a retarded question, but I've been holding off on my i/c for ages coz there seems to be drawbacks with most options I've looked at... In all honesty the best options I've seen so far is a straight through water-air i/c but I don't like the idea of using one of them...anyone have any opinions on them??
 

Ed

Fusion Motorsport
MSC Founder
Official MSC Trader
Don't be too concerned by where the air flows. The ST has so many 90 deg bends etc one more wont make any difference.

One thing I don't get is the stock IC is fine for almost everyone on here so I don't really see why people keep taking them out.
 

Baz

Ex. Club Member
Don't be too concerned by where the air flows. The ST has so many 90 deg bends etc one more wont make any difference.

One thing I don't get is the stock IC is fine for almost everyone on here so I don't really see why people keep taking them out.

To be honest Ed they run far nicer with the fmic and its keeping it safe in my opinion. . .I rebuilt the engine in mine at 88k kms and it now has 112k kms on it and it has'nt really given me any trouble and I think its down to that intercooler at the end of the day.Any problems that did arise were my fault.I suppose your right though but I still prefer having it this way,the guy even said it on the rollers it just wants to keep pulling and pulling with the ic
 
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Snikty

Snikty

Site Supporter
Yeah I see what you're saying, Ed. I've not bothered about changing the i/c yet because I'm still only running it as stock. Although my mechanic did seem to think a fmic would be a good idea eventually.

Have any of you worked on or known people with a liquid to air i/c?? I hear mixed reports about em. Some say they are complete rubbish others say they work really well and don't lose as much pressure as a fmic...although most fmics only lose minimal amounts of pressure anyway...
 

smidge

Small Car Enthusiast
Site Supporter
water to air is heavy and complicated but a good system. Personally if i had car with one (like a subaru RS liberty/legacy) and it all worked well then i wouldn't touch it

fact is a front mount system is far simpler and easier to fix, there's no change of coolant leaking into your engine or any other disasters like that. I added an intercooler for 3 reasons...

1. cool in summer
2. looks tough
3. free up space in the engine bay

i'd understand if we were talking about priceless bentlys and stuff but these cars are pretty cheap, if you want to do it, do it! IF you've got AC then you're probably going to have to drill holes in the sheet metal to get the pipes through

i reckon do it, its cheap, and its fun... although i wouldn't pay someone to do it cause they'd charge a bomb, and like Ed said, the difference isn't huge

but i don't get too worried on a 40degree day with a fmic like i would with a top mount

oh and a halfway approach you could take is to add a waterspray system to your tmic, that can take a few degrees off, worked well on my old legacy
 
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Snikty

Snikty

Site Supporter
Hmm taking into account what Ed said about the turns, what smidge said about the ease of using a air-air i/c and from what I've seen of the way most people have gone about their fmics I am thinking that what I mentioned in my first post may have more merit than I first expected... If I got a fmic with entry and exit on the same side I should be able to both shorten my path and also avoid my piping running anywhere near the turbo...I think this would be a good way to go...anyone have any good arguements why it would not???
 

smidge

Small Car Enthusiast
Site Supporter
cause with aircon the real challenge is getting the pipes from the engine bay to the outside world

i chose to run my pipes low so it meant minimal cutting apart from holes near the battery try and on the opposite side the same to get the pipes through

all easier to figure out with the front bar off

i had a pretty tough time removing the grille and foggies though!
 
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Snikty

Snikty

Site Supporter
OK cheers, I see what ya mean now.

I don't think I'll go rushing in to anything too soon but in theory that may be an ok way to go if it can be done.

Do you all use 2.25 piping? and what are the stock fittings for the tmic?
 

smidge

Small Car Enthusiast
Site Supporter
stock fittings for TMIC, no idea, didn't measure them... but i used ALL 2" pipe the whole way round, Ed's idea - works fine... maybe i'd do 2.25 or 2.5 on the cold side if i had the space and inclination to do it, but really its about keeping my good old ST running as long as possible not so much about performance but if it keeps intake temps down that can't be a bad thing
 
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Snikty

Snikty

Site Supporter
Yeah cool, 2 sounds good. Just wanted to check. And I wouldn't be looking for any reason to use bigger piping considering its alrdy cramped and I'm talking about trying to get both runs going down the one side if I can.

Would 1.75 be too thin?
 
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