4Lurker4 said:

Yup very few of us. SMIC's are GREAT if you use them correctly. Like anything you need to redo the ducting to make use of the area it's in (vacuum on the wheel side and pressure from the front). The use of water injection (no need for meth unless you really need to) is possible to help out as well for "spirited" driving. They also help in quick acceleration (boost a little bit quicker) as they aren't as big to fill.

Both my builds are like you mentioned. T28 and dejon super smic for 2g and 18g with supra smic for the 1g. Love both setups. . There's also bullseye smics if you can find one.

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bastarddsm said:

Here's an example, look up jon rogers with a 240sx. It has a sr20 and a pte6870, he runs mid 8's at 160. Most will agree that IAT, doesn't have a huge effect on ethanol motors. He runs a core in the 24x12x4.5 area, he had a treadstone, and went to a garret, car picked up a few mph from just fmic change. I think he posted IAT changes somewhere, but I don't remember what they were. I personally saw over a 150* iat drop from a CX racing to a garrett core, a treadstones turbulators are very sparse in comparison to a garret, similar to the CX I had.

It's going to be tough to find any good comparisons of garrett to treadstone, most shops capable of showing the gains won't waste time on a cheap core. Look at all the big shops, bushur, shearer, english, ect, none of them use treadstone. Look at the half ass shops that don't have any records or winning cars, they run treadstone.

I have treadstone end tanks on my garret core, and I was tempted to buy a treadstone, but then I was like its, 2/3's the money for 1/2 in intercooler, and I was tired of wondering if a part was holding me back, so I bought the best money could buy.

It's your money and your car, but choosing a treadstone becuase you don't want to narrow up a garret core is dumb. Not acknowledging that a garrett is a superior part is also dumb.

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I DSM KILLA I said:

I never said Garrett was not superior to Treadstone. I know it is. The problem is that to get a Garrett I would have to cut it, which I have said from the start I don't want to do. I'm now leaning towards Bell since they have a similar size to the Treadstone, but are better rated.

This whole time you have been comparing Treadstone to intercoolers on high end shop cars. I am not going for high end. I need something with a little bit better flow then stock to counter heatsoak. That's it.

Thank you for the suggestions though.

It's just annoying when I have a few supporters that are giving good feedback and someone that keeps comparing my questions to an application that doesn't apply to me. All those shops have FMIC so maybe the tighter fins on a Garrett would be better. For me a SMIC might be better off having more spread out fins.

Just my $0.02...

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4Lurker4 said:

Add good suspension components and you have a nice rally-x starter.

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2gmitsueclipse said:

Who in their right mind would RallyCross a 2g?

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wishihadatalon said:

If you're looking for every last bit of power, the Garrett is the right choice. The external fin density slows air down long enough to get better heat transfer and the internal design allows for less back pressure by reducing the work load on your turbo charger (less internal pressure drop). This is fact, if you search posts from Kevin Kiggly, he gets pretty in depth about the differences he saw from an ebay core to a Garrett core. With that being said, I have never had a problem with my Treadstone core. I was torn between making a Garrett core work (cutting to fit) or going with a Treadstone that had the perfect dimensions for my custom fit application. In the end I took the compromise of the Treadstone's efficiency for the better external air flow through the core. I did this to get more air flow to my radiator because DSM's have such small frontal air openings for cooling. Again, no issues. My car has a stock bottom end, hx40 with BEP .70ar turbine housing at 30psi, weighs 3300lbs with me in it, and trapped 101mph in the 1/8th with a slipping clutch and a bogged launch. I had to get out of it after the 1/8th because the clutch was slipping too much.

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4Lurker4 said:

Sorry, had rally on the mind, meant autocross

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I DSM KILLA I said:

So I emailed Garrett and the said they do not make custom sizes. With that said, I'm thinking I may end up with a Bell core. I have seen plenty of users (not on here) using Bell cores without any issues.

The only way I could use a Garrett without cutting is to buy the one that is 12.3"H x 10"W x 4.5"D. But this would make it about 5" taller and 1.875" wider than stock and don't know if that is too tall...

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I DSM KILLA I said:

Hey everyone,

So I luckily was able to hold on to my car since I found a storage place that was the same price as my regular storage unit but can fit everything! That means in about 18 months, I can get her back on the road (paying DD's off first).

I am beginning initial research into parts and the biggest thing I have found lacking is good SMIC options. It seem the only prefabbed ones (Hahn, Dejon, etc.) are long gone. I know the next thing is a Supra intercooler but if I am rebuilding her properly, I am willing to spend the money for a custom intercooler that would be a better fit.

I have read DSMunknown's thread on the Supra SMIC (http://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/supra-smic-install-guide-long-version.234172/) and it seems stock core dimensions are about 7.3125"H x 8.125"W x 2.6875"D. The Supra intercooler which is the most common SMIC swap out there is about 9.25"H x 10.375"W x 5"D. Treadstone has the two following cores that I would get custom endtanks made for (including mounts for stock location attachment), but not sure on size. The one glaring issue that I saw in DSMunknown's original post is the bulging of the bumper cover due to the position of the intercooler. I want her to look completely stock but I don't know if that was caused by shear size or the fact that you are hooking up an intercooler that doesn't line up due to not being a "bolt on".

The two cores are as follows:
C300 300zx Intercooler Core
This one is 8"H x 9.2"W x 4.5"D and is stated as being able to handle 500HP at 700 CFM.

Rated-R Intercooler Core CV810R
This one is 8"H x 10"W x 4.5"D and is stated to support 526HP at 789 CFM capability.

Both are smaller than the Supra SMIC with the CV810R having tighter fins which would probably be better for a side mount location I would have a custom air intake duct as well using stock screw locations and would retain the wheel well cover. My HP goals are to use the EVOIII 16G to reach about 380HP and I am trying to go OEM with everything except the trans upgrade (though technically EVOIII gearsets).

What are your thoughts?


Thanks a bunch for all the support past, present, and future!

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