Front Mount Intercooler

[skatershawn]

So i was looking into getting a FMIC Soon and was looking for some at a cheap price!

So i go to EBAY.... I KNOW Everyone talks down on ebay parts, but an intercooler??
What can go wrong with an ebay intercooler?? Now i can completely understand the problems that can arise with the ebay evo 3 16g's because they are complex!
Now as for the intercooler.... most of them are maked from proven durable metals!
Im thinking the only thing that may go wrong is the welds giving under the pressure, or maybe even ( at worst) the core leaking. But if the core leaks they sell just piping kits and i could get a nice core from SBR Or MAP!!!

If anyone as used one or you just want to give advice Please Do so. I would like to hear what yall have to say!!

Thanks,
And if this is in the wrong place please direct me to post it in the correct location!



Shawn Huetter

 

[yokotabrat]

They don't cool as well as some of the more expensive name brand intercooler cores out there. Of course, they still perform much better than the stock intercoolers and not having it cool as well will only really matter if you're trying to max out the turbo. 90% of the people out there will be fine with an ebay intercooler.

 

[crash89]

I just bought the VR-Speed kit. Im happy with it. it was about 365 shipped. Only modification I had to do was cut a little away from the core support and it bolted right up

 

[Dark DSM]

Well ill tell you this i bought a ebay intercooler, fairly large one(you can see in my profile). And after running the motor and driving it for a little while, ill go and feel both sides and i can personally tell you that there is a huge difference in temp, and so far im extremely satisfied. And i only spent $110.

 

[EskyDSM]

It depends what you're looking for. I've known many people that went with an eBay intercooler setup and were pleased with the results.

Bottom line: the construction quality and materials, design, features, and ease of installation all play a part in the cost of an intercooler setup, and ultimately, in your purchase. They have a few different designs such as tube and fin, bar and plate, staggered internally fins, louvered external fins, lateral flow, vertical flow, air to air, water to air, etc. Depending on your setup, one design could yield better results than another.

I had a few buddies that purchased different intercooler setups off eBay with piping kits, and they had a hell of a time getting all the stuff to fit correctly. One even needed to buy a really long coupler to bridge the 6" gap between two pipes, which by all accounts should have met up, just didn't. We tried to wiggle the other pipes to the edges of their couplers to close the gap, but no dice. He also had to hack the hell out of his car (not just bumper/support, but frame, mounts, and shields) to get it to work. For reference, his eBay intercooler was bar and plate, 3.5"x34"x10", claimed to support up to 1000 cfm, or about 650hp, and 30 psi. He hacked his car up all over, spent the better part of a few days installing it, had the fitment issues, it didn't sit center, vertically or laterally, he lost his fog lights, had to alter his flange for his BOV, had a leak on a bead, and in the end, one of his couplers burst on a mere 15psi. He also had to design his own return tube for his BOV because the flange wasn't in the correct spot on the pipe to use the factory one. Maybe these couple were just isolated issues.

My ETS kit is bar and plate, external louvered, internal staggered, 3.5"x25x10" (read: smaller), supports 1200cfm or 750hp, bench tested to 45psi, only trimmed the nose of the bumper and a portion of the support, went on under an afternoon, fit perfectly, sat center from the get go, kept my fog lights, had the proper BOV flange from the get go, I've put 30 psi into it so far, and the couplers are 4 ply tanks. It came with short route piping, and is modular so if I change my turbo, I only have to change one little pipe to have it go right on. My recirculation tube popped right on without stress, and one pipe change turned me over to a blow through setup with the GM MAS.

Many people have gone fast with eBay setups, but like the saying goes, "You get what you pay for." You just have to decide what you want into it / out of it.

 

[frankenstein406]

how many horsepower you going for? i bought a used evo one. i think i'll be happy for a while, couldnt beat the price

 

[skatershawn]

well right now im just looking for alittle more power till i get some other bills off my hands!
Then im looking to get her up to the 450 range!! not really looking for anything higher than that! (as for now haha) Plus i have a FWD turbo and an anything over 450 shit..350 will spin my tires! inless i get some damn good tires!

 

[Scuba_Steve]

Well an intercooler isn't something you really want to upgrade more than once. Seeing the custom fitting challenges they cause...

 

[xXx_BIG_xXx]

^correct

If you are looking to get some good power you might as well just save your money and get a good kit. The VRSF kit is supposed to be a good kit and should be able to handle your HP goals.

 

[frankenstein406]

well evos fmic are good for 400 500 horse ive been reading and i got mine in great condition for $100

 

[xXx_BIG_xXx]

I have an Evo 8 core that I have for sale for 100. And yes they are good FMIC's for their prices just getting the piping kit can be a little spendy sometimes.

 

[skatershawn]

well how would i go about putting that on?? where would i get piping that would match up to the specs of the evos intercooler size and all?

 

[jroze37]

my buddie just bought a ebay FMIC for his car and it works great it was a bolt on to

 

[RadDsm]

well how would i go about putting that on?? where would i get piping that would match up to the specs of the evos intercooler size and all?

Dejon makes a kit for 2gs, idk if it will fit 1gs too

 

[xXx_BIG_xXx]

It should fit the 1g since everything is basically the same, but who knows with the connection to the IC it could need different angles.