What intercooler are you running and for what reasons have you made this selection?

[Pronto]

Years ago I upgraded my stock dutt neck intercooler for a Precision slic. It seems to be doing it's job but I have no recorded data regarding temp. Now I am considering a fmic. The main reason is how the Precison one fits. I have HR mounts and TA headers. The intercooler bracketry was always off. I tried to refab the passenger side to help straighen it out. Not much luck. It looks crappy all crooked and off center. The intercooler doesn't line up with the turbo b/c it can't be raised with the provided shroud. The shroud is tight to the frame (radiator support) and won't allow the intercooler to be raised up for a better relationship to the turbo. I'm sure the shroud sitting flat on the frame is a source of knock too. There's no way to modify the ss shroud without it looking like crap either. It would much easier to just deal with the intercooler pipes rather than the whole intercooler and shroud business.

 

[ITSAV6]

I still use my stocker, I have a front mount from a mustang turbo build and I'm just too lazy to fab the pipes. Pretty sure it's an fleabay one. I wouldn't put a lot of stock in GSCA testing data IMHO.

 

[Mike T]

RJC 325 (bar & plate) . I have no real data but the fit/construction was good and the car has never ran hot due to the front mount location.

 

[whitehot1]

I have the old Kenne Bell big boy front mount that has both the inlet and outlet pointed towards the drivers side of the car. It is one of the smallest i've seen but works extremely well and doesn't block the air flow to the radiator like the big front mounts that are available now. I've driven in the high temps of Fl, and S.C. , Ga. and the engine never ran hot even with a stock radiator and fan.
I've used it with 52,54,67,and 70 turbos without any issues and performance has always been great on the street no lag in spoolup at all. The only drawback was the price i paid for it 18 years ago from Kenne Bell, but i wouldn't take anything for it,it works so well.

My first choice for a front mount was made by Tony DeQuick but it was on backorder with no date when it would be available. I was ready to buy and KB had theirs in stock and ready to ship.

No data to offer though.

 

[ravege]

I have stock at the moment. I'm going to give the ATR water cooler a shot, got one cheap - how well it cools I dunno, but I'm curious to see if its a lower pressure drop. Also going to try using the AC condenser I still have in the car as its heat exchanger instead of that tiny thing that came with it originally If it doesn't work out, I'd probably go the RJC route, seem to be good reviews.

 

[Steve]

I am running a A2W in the stock intercooler location. I use 12an coolant lines and a heat exchanger(huge! Its as big as factory radiator but only about 1" thick) and intercooler pump from a Roush supercharged coyote Mustang. The Roush Mustang has a similar HP rating to where my car is so I figured I would piggyback on thier R&D work. I have a intercooler tank in the stock battery location. I previously had a PTE FMIC and the IAT temp data is nearly identical between the PTE FMIC and the A2W intercooler using the heat exchanger. I am sure the A2W temps would improve some with adding ice but I have not tried that. I ran FMIC's for 20+ years with good sucess but I just wanted to try something different and I got tired of looking at the FMIC in the grill like every Honda Civic in town!

 

[TurboTnZ06]

CAS V4 with a stock AirResearch tag on it... Just to look stock, should be good enough with alky spraying. I've been running that intercooler since Christmas 2000.

 

[Undercover87T]

Changed from a GN1 SLIC on my old combo to an RJC 325 FMIC on the new combo for a few reasons. The SLIC was a tight fit (rattle against the rad support) & would get heat soaked quickly during the summer, new 7168 turbo is a 3in outlet that matches up with the 3in piping, and the FM with the piping just looks much better (especially since I was able to get it without a logo painted on it). Have logs with the SLIC in 60 degree temps but haven't reviewed the last log with the new combo and FM in 85 degree temps. Have to see what the IAT is on both.

 

[bison]

I have the old Kenne Bell big boy front mount that has both the inlet and outlet pointed towards the drivers side of the car. It is one of the smallest i've seen but works extremely well and doesn't block the air flow to the radiator like the big front mounts that are available now. I've driven in the high temps of Fl, and S.C. , Ga. and the engine never ran hot even with a stock radiator and fan.
I've used it with 52,54,67,and 70 turbos without any issues and performance has always been great on the street no lag in spoolup at all. The only drawback was the price i paid for it 18 years ago from Kenne Bell, but i wouldn't take anything for it,it works so well.

My first choice for a front mount was made by Tony DeQuick but it was on backorder with no date when it would be available. I was ready to buy and KB had theirs in stock and ready to ship.

No data to offer though.

I'd be really interested with the pressure drop and heat rejection on this unit.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Kip]

Some things dont work as good as they could. Especially intercoolers. We already have the logs proving it. Trying to gather as much data as we can

Can you share what you already have? Would really jump start the thread.

 

[V6sleeper]

Got two Cas v2's because that's all everyone talked about and tried to get their hands on 15 years ago, the v1s, v2s and the elusive giant V3, use to hear stories about people picking up a half a sec with one, and with the stealth looks and light weight it was no brainer,
Also have an Eastern performance fm on a 3rd car going from a double stock core Mark Jackson, went with the Esp because of the small width and the super thick almost 5" core, it made minimal lag over the double slic but gained bout 3 more psi and pulls much better up top. no actual logged data but id like to do that this up coming season.

 

[Nick Micale]

My RJC intercooler will give me a 10 deg. IAT drop during a 1/4 mile run starting at 90 deg. and finish at 80 deg!

This is a high 9 sec. pass from 16-22 psi boost with a HPQ-70 turbo.

With one of the 2 fans running during the pass, coolant temp usually is 180 max at the finish line and 170 deg in a couple minutes.

 

[Mr.Spool]

Just looking for a response to the question.

after figuring out the how the turbocharger and how its run really effects the intercooler and the charge air temps.there is a lot of voodoo about intercoolers and there design.

 

[bison]

after figuring out the how the turbocharger and how its run really effects the intercooler and the charge air temps.there is a lot of voodoo about intercoolers and there design.

Charge temps aren't our problem these days. Compressors still 75-80-% efficient typically unless run all in like they've always been.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Pronto]

So are you saying pressure drop is the most prominent issue with our intercooler choices?

 

[SS/GN]

I have an old Thunderfab SLIC on one car (came with it) and I installed a Precision SLIC on my other car because it was the largest SLIC and I want to keep the car looking stock. Great thread,thanks

 

[Charles Young]

Great thread! I don't have much data to add but do have a question. My car currently has a stock IC with Duttneck. I recently picked up an older Eastern Performance FMIC and made the assumption it would perform significantly better than what I have. Before I installed it, RC volunteered to flow test it for me. To our surprise, it really doesn't flow any better than what I have. He already had data on the Stock GN I/C with the Duttweiler neck; flow = 250. The Eastern flow was only about 255 or so which does not seem significant at all. We actually tested 2 Easterns, mine and another very clean one he had and got virtually the same numbers. Now I am seriously questioning why I should go through the trouble of installing the FMIC. I know the other thing about SLICS is heat soak but for what I plan with my car, I cannot imagine it would be of any real consequence. My car is primarily for the street with a few trips to the track per year at best. My goal is for a mid to low 11's car. Any thoughts on making the switch to the Eastern FMIC?
Thanks in advance to the experts!

 

[turbo nasty]

Im betting the heat rejection is far superior tho despite flow.

 

[Adrian87]

I still have the old school Precision front mount, bought it used in 2006 or so..how much is there to gain with whatever the best new FMIC is? What is the current go to unit anyway?

 

[6APPEAL]

Seems a bunch of us have the old Eastern Performance FMIC. I got mine due to the price. Seems no one wanted that unit with the 3" piping, so I got one at a super deal. I've looked at a RJC FMIC over the years, but it's kinda "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" thing.