fmic do's and don'ts

[greentsiawd13]

2g tsiawd want to get a fmic but dont want to cut up bumper reinforcement i have a fiberglass nose with a big mouth but i only have 6"-8" vertically any suggestions? what about ebay good or bad

 

[Boost92awd]

Punishmentracing.com. Check them out they have exactly what your looking for.

 

[greentsiawd13]

Punishmentracing.com. Check them out they have exactly what your looking for.

not looking to cut or remove bumper reinforcement

 

[Dsmj89]

Go on ebay and look for intercoolers in the 6-8" height range and then fab up some custom intercooler piping.

 

[Boost92awd]

not looking to cut or remove bumper reinforcement

Opps sorry forgot you had a 2G. Let me see what I can find for a 2G.

How much are you looking to spend?

 

[greentsiawd13]

looking to spend the least amount, so i can spend it on other stuff $200-$300 but thats why i dont know about some ebay kits

 

[untouchablecc]

If you spend the least amount, you will get least amount quality. Now im not saying spending the most will get you the best quality but you can get some nice kits around 400. Just ask yourself how many intercoolers do you want to buy. Its your choice an totally up to you but do you think that harden plastic front bumper will really save you that much more in a collision by taking out a few inches?

 

[1995gstr]

Yeah and even if you do have to cut the reinforcement it wont be much I have the SBR Fmic and I only took out about an inch and a half two inches tops from the center.

 

[Ahsieh2]

If you try to install a FMIC without cutting you may as well save the headache and upgrade your SMIC since the difference in performance will be negligible. I assume you must be wanting the "look" more than the performance gain since you're going the cheap route but anyone with a real eye for these things will see through a cheap e-bay FMIC. just my .02

 

[greentsiawd13]

dont just want the look but i dont think i have to spend 800 thats if what your tellin me the reason i dont want to cut my bumper reinforcement is incase of a little front end love tap and put my intercooler into my radiator and push that up into my turbo and so on i saw the vrsf for $ 329 thats not much is that a piece of crap and the size is what im lookin for in a daily driver

 

[1stGenTSi]

dont just want the look but i dont think i have to spend 800 thats if what your tellin me the reason i dont want to cut my bumper reinforcement is incase of a little front end love tap and put my intercooler into my radiator and push that up into my turbo and so on i saw the vrsf for $ 329 thats not much is that a piece of crap and the size is what im lookin for in a daily driver

The VRSF is a great kit at an unbeatable price. And mangina (the vendor) is very helpful and active on the site. I'd say go for it.

 

[silvreclips]

I wouldn't buy an ebay core. I have one and once I started running more than 10-12psi the intercooler doesn't work worth a shit. Temps immediately rise under boost and keep rising till I let off. I did some track runs with a 16g at 18psi and the temps went from 95 off the line to about 135 by the middle of 4th. Ambient was about 70*.

Now Im having to buy another intercooler so dont go to cheap.

 

[greentsiawd13]

I wouldn't buy an ebay core. I have one and once I started running more than 10-12psi the intercooler doesn't work worth a shit. Temps immediately rise under boost and keep rising till I let off. I did some track runs with a 16g at 18psi and the temps went from 95 off the line to about 135 by the middle of 4th. Ambient was about 70*.

Now Im having to buy another intercooler so dont go to cheap.

stupid question but how do you gauge the temp

 

[silvreclips]

Log the IATs with megasquirt. The sensor is in the intercooler pipe 3" in front of the TB.

 

[dsmproject1]

hello all , sorry for threadjack, but i also own a 95 awd, and my goals are 350whp would i be ok with a supra sidemount?, or whats the best bang for the buck? and whats the best ic pice size for my setup? 2"5. 3",

thank you...

 

[silvreclips]

hello all , sorry for threadjack, but i also own a 95 awd, and my goals are 350whp would i be ok with a supra sidemount?, or whats the best bang for the buck? and whats the best ic pice size for my setup? 2"5. 3",

thank you...

2.5" will be fine. Go ahead and get a FMIC, a supra side mount may do alright but a front mount will recover fast between pulls and perform better overall.

 

[95GSXCO]

I and many other menbers have ebay IC and have no probs with them. I would just take your bumber off check to see how much room you have and then order one off of ebay. Will likely be something like this eBay Motors: CXRacing Intercooler Front Mount 27x6x2.5 Civic Golf (item 140301393513 end time Feb-20-09 18:45:14 PST). Or just go with a bigger sidemount.

 

[matthewdesigns]

OP, here's a link to a short-in-height FMIC for $80. Their products are inexpensive but put together well. I thought about picking one up to fit my 2ga Talon bumper, so it should work for you too. It's not huge, but I got into the 12's on a big SMIC with only a little less volume overall, and this would cool better than my SMIC for sure. No piping for that price, but that can be had for cheap enough on eBay.

 

[PIMking]

I wouldn't buy an ebay core. I have one and once I started running more than 10-12psi the intercooler doesn't work worth a shit. Temps immediately rise under boost and keep rising till I let off. I did some track runs with a 16g at 18psi and the temps went from 95 off the line to about 135 by the middle of 4th. Ambient was about 70*.

Now Im having to buy another intercooler so dont go to cheap.

There are plenty of people on this site that have a ebay FMIC and are doing just fine. What you have to watch out for is the piping doesnt have beads on them for the couplers and they pop off.

 

[gieri002]

yup definatly make sure the pipes are beaded, mine weren't and they popped off all the time. It drove me crazy so i put the stock sidemount back on!

 

[greentsiawd13]

OP, here's a link to a short-in-height FMIC for $80. Their products are inexpensive but put together well. I thought about picking one up to fit my 2ga Talon bumper, so it should work for you too. It's not huge, but I got into the 12's on a big SMIC with only a little less volume overall, and this would cool better than my SMIC for sure. No piping for that price, but that can be had for cheap enough on eBay.

i see you use e85 hows that for your mileage?

 

[gettingwop]

I would say honestly ebay gets a bad rap way to quickly. I have had great success with a items. The best part about the I/C's on ebay is they have so many different sizes, you could find exactly the size you want. Regarding the modification of bumper supports. A light bump would only damage the bumper, if you hit something real hard, the damage will be done, support mod'd or not.

In regard to the I/C piping kits. Ebay is known for the slick pipes haha. There is a cure, or well two cures. Both require a welder, one requires use of a welder one time, the other requires usage the whole process.

1) You can make this sweet tool, which you can have forever and bead anything you want. Here is the link Weld that up once, and you will have the tool for life, or until the weld breaks. haha
2) If you have a welder to use whenever you would like, throw a nice thin bead around the pipes once you have it all cut and routed.

Enjoy.