cxracing.com intercooler

REGL8R said:
I'm looking for a cheaper front mount alternative to GN vendors
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I wont glue mine. :D

That's a terribly unfortunate attitude. Go ahead and buy one. Let us know how it works out for you. :rolleyes:

BTW, you'll get what you pay for. Every heard that before?
 
That intercooler is fine I bought one and its heavy duty constructed, the thing that may cost you some money is fabbing up the pipes and mounting. So by the time you get to the other end of the deal by buying piping and having them fabbed up you might be very close to the cost of the one a vendor sells.
I had the material and a welder friend nearby so it was cost effective.
So do your homework and make some calls to be what it will cost.

And you dont always get what you pay for. That expression was invented by a salesmen.
 
Ok I figured the responses would be all over the place, but so far the two people who actually have experience with this intercooler have said good things. For the record I plan on buying from a GN vendor eventually when my car gets faster but it may be hard to pass up front mount and alky over just a front mount.

Anyone else have personal expereience with this intercooler? Not just its cheap on ebay so its junk responses.
 
You are aware that these are made in China and that the cores are not nearly as effective as the ones you get from the USA. Buschur Racing in Ohio just did a huge FMIC test to silence the Ebay critics and the ebay intercoolers doubled the ambient temps while the USA cores were around 10 above.

When you add in the piping costs and that the intercooler is barely better than the stock intercooler, what did you really gain for the $300-$500 you have in it?

I would find a used PTE etc stock location and be done with it.
 
DR.BOOSTER said:
... Buschur Racing in Ohio just did a huge FMIC test to silence the Ebay critics and the ebay intercoolers doubled the ambient temps while the USA cores were around 10 above....
QUOTE]

Is that test information around for all to view?

dave
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Just for future reference, when someone asks advice about a specific item, people who are familiar with that item or have first hand experience should shime in. Granted everyone has there opinions and we know what opinoins are like but I get tired (Im assuming others do too) of people bashing products that they have never seen or used. They could recommend others but the bashing is unecessary. As for myself I have bought plenty of Buick products and about 99% of them where from vendors who support this sight, and guess what, most of the higher end items (eg turbo, exhuast system, intake system, axles etc) all needed some sort of moddifing to get them to work properly. The $1300 turbo I bought from a vender here had to be modified so the intercooler, wastegate and downpipe would fit right, the 2 3/4 exhuast had to be taken to a muffler shop so the pipes could get widened to fit the supplied mufflers, the intake had to have a throttle body spacer put on to clear the up pipe even though it was supposed to fit stock applications. Axles for a stock 8.5" diff had to be moddified to fit stock studs..... I mean you could pay more with a vendor here and you still dont get gauranteed that it will fit right. Vendors here do usually provide better support so that helps. All these examples given are from my personal vehicle, and as a ASE Master Tech and MB Tech I know my way around cars a little so its not like Im lost when I do my own work. Its just upsetting when you support the vendors here and the parts still dont fit right..... bu thats just my opinoin. Hope this helps.
 
Well you knew this was going to happen, I was even reluctant to post because the vendor defenders flock in.
Look at my sig it reads like a vendors advertisment, but money IS an object to me; and as many rich man's sports go, the guys who can afford whatever they want, whenever they want, impose their standards on everyone else.
My supporting vendor Kirbans drive shaft loop rubbed my driveshaft-- but his SS crossover pipe fit like a dream, I'm realistic, I didn't call him, I didnt slam him here, I just brought it to my welder friend and for a few bucks cut and fabbed in a pipe piece.
Don't limit the competition by trying to make the sport unaffordable.
We all lose in the end.

From trial runs my very unscientific "palm of the hand test" after a run I felt the hot turbo outlet pipe and the much cooler throttle inlet pipe and there was no way it was even close to double ambient (which would have been 120*).


(BTW I noticed eBay advertisments on here doesnt that make them a supporting vendor?)
 
While I don't have any first hand results, I do have this intercooler sitting in a box in my garage. From my inspection it looks like a pretty decently constructed unit, and I am sure performs better then the stock location intercooler.

I would love to support the buick vendors, but I don't see anyone offering an intercooler at this price.

But then again if you can't fab or make your own pipes, your going to approach the price of the lower end intercoolers of the vendors anyway.

This is my take on the Buschur Racing reports on this intercooler. First of all the guy doing the test sells intercoolers himself for the EVO's, which I think might be skewed. I am not saying he is lying by any means on the numbers reported, but there is incentive for him to do. I would like to see an independent test by someone, then possibly duplicated by someone else.

But this is probably not reality due to the cost and effort of putting everything together and the varying factors associated with measuring effectiveness.

Also the ebay intercoolers "working" efficiency clearly states 30-35 psi where the Buschur Racing guy is testing different boost levels up to 42psi peak


Here is one of the threads talking about the intercooler tests performed.
Ebay FMIC testing VS. BR Race FMIC - Buschur Forums

BY no means am I saying this intercooler perfoms anywhere near an rjc , cottons, or pte unit for the buicks, but it would be nice to have someone test all the major buick intercoolers and post results.

I will be putting this ebay style front mount on my car in the next month or so and I will try to report back with some findings, but I find it hard to believe that this intercooler will "barely perform better then stock".
 
I have to concur with MY1STGN- and I rarely do:p .

Just because something is inexpensive doesn't mean it's cheap. I bought an ebay IC for a WRX project I was working on. It was a perfect fit and performed well. Zero issues. I bought something from a vendor on this board and the product did not work and the vendor got hostile when confronted.

As for the testing "numbers", unless the variances are significant, I do not see why anyone would pay potentially hundreds of dollars more for a couple
degrees of temperature change. (you'll never notice it and I'm sure the car won't either) Price is an object to many of us. We all want to get the best bang for the buck.

While I'm not a vendor defendor, I'm not a basher either. I agree that when one of these questions arise, we should get input from actual users whether bad or good. (Maybe we need a product review forum like some of the other enthusiast boards have) On the other hand, I am not going to blindly use a vendor just because they are a vendor. I've tried that route and it did not work out very well.

Just my 2 cents.
 
my1stgn said:
Just for future reference, when someone asks advice about a specific item, people who are familiar with that item or have first hand experience should shime in. Granted everyone has there opinions and we know what opinoins are like but I get tired (Im assuming others do too) of people bashing products that they have never seen or used. They could recommend others but the bashing is unecessary. As for myself I have bought plenty of Buick products and about 99% of them where from vendors who support this sight, and guess what, most of the higher end items (eg turbo, exhuast system, intake system, axles etc) all needed some sort of moddifing to get them to work properly. The $1300 turbo I bought from a vender here had to be modified so the intercooler, wastegate and downpipe would fit right, the 2 3/4 exhuast had to be taken to a muffler shop so the pipes could get widened to fit the supplied mufflers, the intake had to have a throttle body spacer put on to clear the up pipe even though it was supposed to fit stock applications. Axles for a stock 8.5" diff had to be moddified to fit stock studs..... I mean you could pay more with a vendor here and you still dont get gauranteed that it will fit right. Vendors here do usually provide better support so that helps. All these examples given are from my personal vehicle, and as a ASE Master Tech and MB Tech I know my way around cars a little so its not like Im lost when I do my own work. Its just upsetting when you support the vendors here and the parts still dont fit right..... bu thats just my opinoin. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...


Those of us that have been involved with these cars for over 20 years, MAY not have first hand experience with every part that we may advise on, but more often than not have direct and first hand knowledge of them, or their attributes or pitfalls. And I for one, despite your concerns will continue to offer help on an item or tune point that I have knowledge of, despite your wishes that we remain silent. I don't care that you're attempting to impress us all with your bonifidies as an ASE master mech... As far as I'm concerned, mine are no less than yours on THIS particular line of cars.
I don't care if you've been around cars as a master tech for 20 years. Maybe, just maybe there are some of us that might have some input on this particular brand and it's peculiarities.

As for upsetting, it's just as upsetting to be told to hold one's tongue if we don't happen to have a particular piece on our car (but have experience anyway).

Am I a little aggravated at your comments? You bet. Sorry for tirade.
I'm cooling off now though, and down off my soap box.
 
There is a member on this board that has an ebay front mount intercooler that looks very similar to the pte unit and his car is running in the 11's with it,so i wouldn't say they are all junk.

As for piping for the ebay intercooler napa sells mandrel bent pipes that you can fabricate to make it fit. I've seen some pictures on these boards of those who did it and they turned out very nice.

Intercooler universal piping kits are also available on ebay that include;straight pipe pieces,45 degree pieces,hoses,clamps for making your own. Prices that i saw were in the $90.00 to $120.00 range.

Sometimes money is tight for some of us and we can't afford the name brands but that doesn't mean you can't with a little imagination,fabrication and some less expensive parts modify your car to make it a little faster.
 
whitehot1 said:
There is a member on this board that has an ebay front mount intercooler that looks very similar to the pte unit and his car is running in the 11's with it,so i wouldn't say they are all junk.

As for piping for the ebay intercooler napa sells mandrel bent pipes that you can fabricate to make it fit. I've seen some pictures on these boards of those who did it and they turned out very nice.

Intercooler universal piping kits are also available on ebay that include;straight pipe pieces,45 degree pieces,hoses,clamps for making your own. Prices that i saw were in the $90.00 to $120.00 range.

Sometimes money is tight for some of us and we can't afford the name brands but that doesn't mean you can't with a little imagination,fabrication and some less expensive parts modify your car to make it a little faster.
Click to expand...

You can run 11's with a stock IC....But what the h3ll throw parts at it because someone told you you need a front mount....I know someone that run in the 9's with a V4

Oh and let's all go out and buy cheap crap to put on a PERFORMANCE car...but I what to run 11's...TUNE YOUR CAR
 
I'll see if i can find the pictures of the car with the ebay front mount and post it here for you and everyone to see and enjoy. :D
 
Ttype83 said:
You can run 11's with a stock IC
Click to expand...

You beat me to it.

Myself try not to get in pi$$ing contest of who can pi$ a deeper hole in the dirt.

Way I look at it is the Ebay items are CHEAP cost wise. That is a big lure....but, there has been zero popular/well known vendors that have picked them up and have had great results and have identified them as killer must have part.Instead they try them and see the poor quality and that is the killer.
Furthermore, the parts are mismatched, do not align, warped flanges, mounting bolts with threads that are crap out the box/missing bolts, hoses that are too short and blow off under boost, etc.
Yes they has been a few..few .. people that have them and they are doing ok..well supposedly.

Think its safe to say that most of us that have been working/owned/raced/etc the Turbo Regals since the late 80's (myself included) can be skeptical of the ebay/cheap parts as we have had dealings with either directlyt through friends or vendors that proven what is poor and what works.
 
Here is something that might be of interest to those looking at the ebay front mount intercoolers.

I found this one while looking at intercooler piping.

This company has been in business selling on ebay since 2000 and with feedback in the upper 90's which is pretty remarkable if you think about it,nobody can please everyone.

This one is similar to the Kenne Bell front mount i have and it comes with stainless steel piping and is made with bar and plate design same as the Kenne Bell but at almost a 1/4 the cost.

eBay Motors: Buick 3.8L Grand National GN86 Intercooler+piping 86 87 (item 250225889720 end time Mar-21-08 18:34:27 PDT)
 
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