Punishment Racing 1g FMIC Kit

[blackmirage]

Has anyone had any experience with this kit, worth the money?? For 489 it aint priced bad at all. Just looking for some feedback before I make the decision.. I've got about 500.00 to spend on either that or the GT Mani, EVO III O2 housing from DSMParts.com and a dp from punishment racing. How much will the FMIC help on a stock car..
My reasoning for buying FMIC first is, that its easier to buy 100-200 parts here and there then to save up 500.00 so since I've gotten a lump sum knot of 500 coming to me.. which should I do.. I know I rambled all through that but oh well.. Any and all help is appreciated. THANKS!

 

[MY1GDSM]

It's Not made by Punishment Racing it's a Cx racing(ebay) kit that they resale

 

[dsm-onster]

^^^CX racing has non louvered and non staggered internal fins. No one has shown the punishment kit is like that. And I don't think the vendor who came in here said that. We're supposed to be finding out today from talonspeed21.

Straight from PR's site. . .

Core Info:

This core is 100% Vacuum Brazed Bar and Plate; it can withstand extreme pressure and rock debris. The external fins are louvered and staggered to aid heat transfer, but not too dense to block airflow to the radiator. The internal fins are also staggered to aid heat transfer, but not louvered as to cause too much turbulence that can hurt flow. The external to internal fin pack has been engineered to prevent heat soak from having too much internal area to external fin area. The cores are pressure checked twice before arriving to us and then we pressure check the whole unit before it leaves. This unit has been pressure tested to 35psi and does not leak. The end tanks are made of heavy wall material and will not crack even under extreme heat. CLICK HERE FOR MORE PICTURES

I'm wanting pics to verify this sense so many have been adament about where PR gets these cores. PR sells this kie for $100 less than cxracing. Click.


. . . . Bumper cutting is part of the deal... This is a FMIC kit. You havet o cut lots o bumper wth ETS or other kits. Having it sit back as far as you want it to may not be what the kit was designed to accomplish

 

[MY1GDSM]

I have no Idea if they are louvered or not BUT just to clarify
I Pretty sure they resale it strait from CX.
I think their is a thread out there with them saying this... .

Who's to say anyway that they always source their cores from the same place, the majority of Ebay cores out their vary from one sale to the next I've seen SSAC long pipe kits with all different kind of internal fins, although mostly strait through...

It's funny that they sell it for $100 more then PR now because the kit from Cx use to be a $100 less about a year ago

Edit : they do sell it for $100 more on the website but here on ebay it's the same price CXRacing intercooler kit DSM 1G Eclipse Talon90-94+ BOV:eBay Motors (item 160376131807 end time Nov-13-09 19:15:58 PST)

FYI , with a ETS Street Core you DO NOT have to cut the Front bumper

But your right, That is something that just goes with getting a FMIC anything more then 7" tall your going to have to cut it or make so kind of bumper support

And as far as this being strait from PR

Core Info:

This core is 100% Vacuum Brazed Bar and Plate; it can withstand extreme pressure and rock debris. The external fins are louvered and staggered to aid heat transfer, but not too dense to block airflow to the radiator. The internal fins are also staggered to aid heat transfer, but not louvered as to cause too much turbulence that can hurt flow. The external to internal fin pack has been engineered to prevent heat soak from having too much internal area to external fin area. The cores are pressure checked twice before arriving to us and then we pressure check the whole unit before it leaves. This unit has been pressure tested to 35psi and does not leak. The end tanks are made of heavy wall material and will not crack even under extreme heat. CLICK HERE FOR MORE PICTURES

Looks to me like they strait copied and pasted that from ETS
Go back and look at the link I posted..

Not looking to pay that much when you can get a garrett core PTE intercooler which is more proven. . . Great product though.

A tube and fin Core Or bar and plate?

 

[dsm-onster]

Bar and plate 600whp intercooler from MAP $356 SHIPPED! Garrett core. Great endtank flow design plus made from CAST aluminum, much stronger. PROVEN all over the world 100 times over any other intercooler. See Tim Zimmer (twick69: 9.9 with full weight) over 700whp with just the next size up same core design PTE intercooler (750whp rated). The 450whp rated ets street core has a significantly lower volume: 1/2" thinner core that's one inch shorter in height with about the same length with shitty flow from the inlet/outlet to/from the core tubes using welded aluminum sheet endtanks. $345 . This $350 600whp PTE intercooler is bigger than even the $400 500whp street/strip ETS intercooler, with that better endtank design and more than proven core.

. . .If the internal structure of this PR core is finely offset and staggered, then it is a good intercooler core. The external fins are louvered and at a good density. I've already seen this. Never seen the inside. The cx cores I've seen/used were universal pieces that didn't have any staggering or louvers internally. Regardless of where PR gets thier stuff. "Pretty sure" isn't what you said to the guy upset with PR fitment. You said it was flat out CX racings fault . If these cores are made like ETS/garrett, then this is a hell of a deal and you can't b!tch about some fitment issues. Use your brain with the fitment nuances and save the $500 like you intend when buying this PR FMIC kit.

I just want to know if I'm going to get a 3" wide 8" tall core that is 25" long with decently offset and staggered fins. If it is, then it's 1" bigger than the ETS street core (8" vs. 7") with the same design. Someone let me know. . .

 

[american-rice]

I recently installed a Ebay FMIC and after it was all said and done I kind of wish I would have looked into a higher quality kit.
Cost_____FMic $220 shipped. J-pipe $70 . A 45 deg coupler and 2-2.5" reducer 90 $50. Fabricated my own tb elbow. Then added beads to all pipes. Getting everything in place pipe is scraped up. Powder coat kit $75. Plus trips to stores alum brackets, and hardware and misc. Total cost $450+
Minor Fixes_____Relocate Cruise Control box. Cut Crash beam, Cut bumper, Cut Routing for ic pipe. New recirc hose. + Lots of time.....
I bought the ebay kit thinking it was the cheaper way. But the amount of time I spent getting it together was not worth it. A few minor things or adjustments is nothing to worry about. I wish I would have considered buying a kit that was more ready to assemble, not to mention higher quality.
Other than that I am very happy with the new mod.

 

[MY1GDSM]

I said that because I didn't have the time to quote them on it this morning

Also
I didn't say it was anybodies fault. I would assume that him saying that he expected more from PR that he assumed that they made it like most of their products.
I was Simply telling him that THEY don't make it

there is no reason to take what I say and twist it into what you said

This should cover what I said before some what,

I don't understand why on there site they claim to be manufacture

I called them to purchase this kit and asked them if it was made in-house. They said yes so i ordered. Got it here as SO as i opened the box i new it was EBAY.

Kind of disappointed, but i should have researched before hand.

The young kid also told me the flanges i was ordering were stainless steel and they were just plain old steel.

Probably wont be ordering from them again.

I know it wasn't Tim I was dealing with but maybe someone new there who doesn't know?????

We don't claim anything nor does it say on our website that the kits are built in-house, we are very open about where everything on our website is built.

If there was any confusion when you originally called I apologize, the gentleman you spoke to is fairly new and still learning our extensive product line. As I told you on the phone earlier this week if there was an issue with any part of your order just return the offending part for a full refund. I think you will find we are probably one of the easiest shops around to deal with

Tim

Good luck with your plan... No reason to drag this off-topic

It pretty simple if you don't wanna pay for a ETS kit/Fmic Don't

Go make your own Kit
But Calling out ETS saying anything about their products is laughable
I bet Their isn't ONE person out there that has a complaint about their service or products, let alone the design of their Proprietary cores.
hear, I think alittle more thought goes into them then you think.Intercooler Tech

 

[hellfire_17]

i have punishment fmic on 1992 laser rs without abs

1. stock ac fan muct be removed but a slim fan will fit, mines just from mopac nothing special.
2. Im running stock rad so i couldnt tell you.
3. im still water cooled but the intercooler is very thick and i dont think you will have space to fit it in stock location using stock lines.I would consider tucking it between the intercooler and rad if you dont have A/c.If you do then it must be relocated.Im not sure about the power steering lines though.

 

[dsm-onster]

Hey, does it have louvered or staggered fins internally?

I said that because I didn't have the time to quote them on it this morning

Also
I didn't say it was anybodies fault. I would assume that him saying that he expected more from PR that he assumed that they made it like most of their products.
I was Simply telling him that THEY don't make it

there is no reason to take what I say and twist it into what you said

This should cover what I said before some what,





Good luck with your plan... No reason to drag this off-topic

It pretty simple if you don't wanna pay for a ETS kit/Fmic Don't

Go make your own Kit
But Calling out ETS saying anything about their products is laughable
I bet Their isn't ONE person out there that has a complaint about their service or products, let alone the design of their Proprietary cores.
hear, I think alittle more thought goes into them then you think.Intercooler Tech

You said that the reason for the fitment issue is because they intercooler kit is build by CX racing. I was saying prove it's cx racing that is all. Need more smiley faces I guess . I just want proof so that I can track down the core internal design. I'm still wrestling what is on the inside of these intercoolers. . . If it has the same attributes than the ets (externally it does have the same shitty design endtanks: sorry just truth), then I'm asking if this can be verified by some one who can see the inside fins as this is the only other difference that makes the difference in performance.

Really you should stop being so sensative to your ets company. I didn't "call them out". I could care less. I was asking about THIS kit and you brought up THEM as the only avenue that has the attributes I'm looking for. And thats simply not the case. Like I said, if I wanted to pay that much, I would get better end tank design and a MUCH bigger, WAY more proven core with better cooling, verified by Buschur and others; and only need to deal with the sometimes issue of over heating. But I sure as hell would rather have a more efficient external fins structure and deal with the over heatign in other ways that are stupid easy to do, than get somethign this much in cost that doesn't work the best.

So at the end, I DONT CARE IF ITS EBAY. I just want to know if this "ebay-or-not" core has the attributes I want. You obviously don't know the answer. Frankly I really didn't ask for your suggestions. I know how to get info I need. Their webpage on their hard efforts to have a nice design isn't backed as well as garrett's with raw bulk repeatable results. Thanks for wishing my plans good luck. I truely am glad you are happy with your purchase. But, there are reason's that my build will do better with a garrett core than an ets core. If I were asking for an educated opinion on what to do with my setup, I would have provided more info and to different folk.

 

[juanpac0]

The PR kit doesn't let you keep A/C, the TBE goes right through the cruise control cables, you can't have ABS with it or the TBE goes right into it, the 45* pipe is too long, and the BOV location blocks the path of the intake. Bottom of IC bracket hits oil cooler lines, so I had to chop part of that off.

I honestly can't name one thing that didn't go wrong during this installation, and I'm not even done.

 

[BIRDCLAWTSi]

Are you serious? $150 per kit I wish, if you knew how little we actually make from these kits you would be surprised. If everyone who bought a kit had issues like you claim there would be hundreds and hundreds of posts from people who had issues instead of the handful there are.

If it's really that much of an issue we will discontinue the kits, like I said we don't make shit from them and if it's going to cause all sorts of drama then it's not worth it by any means. We bust our ass to keep our customers happy and to keep a good name for our shop and if the fmic kits are really causing that many issues there is really no sense in offering them any longer.

Tim

I know this is an old post but if anyone comes across this, I have this kit on my car and I LOVE IT! I chose to remove my bumper support , I had to open up the D shaped holes on the sides of the radiator, And last but not least, I had to turn my 2G maf upside down to get the clearance for the BOV and Re-circ. That is it. The T Clamps are strong, The silicone is nice, The pipes are beaded, The core is solid, The TB Elbow is very nice, The J-Pipe was a little tricky but it worked well. I actually made my own nipple on the J Pipe for my MBC. Overall, If you are mechanically inclined or have any aptitude at all , Then you should not have any problems. And for the price, Find a better kit...

 

[silicosys4]

Old thread, but since PR has apparently changed their piping 9 times (according to them) and since my kit is new (6 months old) I thought I"d share my experiences with their latest version.

It sucks.

Get a VRSF kit. The BOV flange placement on the newest PR 1g fmic version is not any better than the hood/bov issue placement the old kit had. The newest version puts the flange directly against the oem airbox, and if you want the kit to work you have to ditch the OEM airbox and go with either a 2g maf and harness, or a gm maf and maft. When I sent pictures of the horrible fit, I was told by tim that they weren't going to make any changes to the kit to correct the problem because "after 9 changes they were tired of trying to fix it" and told me that if I wanted it to work I'd have to make it work myself, no help from PR. Well, $300 later for a maft, 3" gm maf, and K&N filter to make the kit fit, I realized I could have had an ETS kit for the same money. The tbolt clamps are GARBAGE. Regardless of what you take away from this post, if you buy the PR kit despite the info out there, make sure you plan on just getting new tbolt clamps at the get go. The first three I tried to use broke at the same point, the bolt broke in half. PR swore they were sending me all new tbolt clamps but guess what, they never came. The J-pipe is GARBAGE. It fits like POOP.
For the money, just save up another few hundred bucks and go with ETS
Or just get the ebay equivalent of the PR kit, they are identical. The ebay version is cheaper, and paying extra to get it from PR for their customer service is a waste of time and money, as they won't do anything for you if you do have a problem.

 

[DJ23GSX]

I put the Punishment racing fmic kit on my old 16g powered 1g and loved it. 26psi all day long without a problem. I did have issues with the tbolt clamps they shipped me. They eventually broke because you have to crank them down so tight to make them seal properly cause they were a tad too big. The lower i/c pipe needed to be trimmed to fit between the alternator and Fluidyne radiator but that was easy. Depending on how high or low you mount the intercooler behind the bumper some might have the bov hit the hood. It was not a problem for me. I did order a new set of Punishment pipes for my new 1gb to mate up with my Buschur fmic and my only grip about the pipe kit was the neither the jpipe or bov flanges sealed correctly with the supplied gaskets no matter what I did. I had to rtv both flanges to finally seal them. The new bov flange location is kinda tight on a my 1g even with a 2g maf. Its not that big of a deal really. If your putting a fmic on your 1g then you should have already ditched that garbage 1g maf. It will overrun fairly quickly once you start cranking up the boost. Trust me I know . I'm sure that the new bov flange location was not designed for the 1g maf cause honestly how many modded 1g's do you see around here still rocking the stock 1g maf?

 

[sillyme]

There shouldn't be an issue with a stock maf being used. At least tell people that it will need a different maf for the kit to fit. You don't see ETS kit assuming people will have a certain maf. Kits made for a specific car should fit that car it was made for even though it's completely stock. Pick up any other quality kit, ETS, Greddy, HKS, etc etc. They don't have these kind of issues.
I totally agree on PR customer service. There isn't any. I dealt with them twice and never again.

 

[1g_4_life]

i dont have the punishment racing fmic but i do have a 2g cx racing big front mount on my 1ga eclipse and to get it on it took 2 days of ginding and lots of band-aids. ill tell you this it is alot beefier of a sound on the intake side and it feels a little more touchy on throttle response. but at the same time there is much more that can be done to boost hp in the 300 dollar range.but a good add i do have to say.

 

[1990AWD]

i dont have the punishment racing fmic but i do have a 2g cx racing big front mount on my 1ga eclipse and to get it on it took 2 days of ginding and lots of band-aids.

Your complaining that it took a lot of work to put on a ic core that wasn't even made for your car...

 

[1g_4_life]

not complaining kind of just being informative.i feel that the hard work paid off. im happy with the results.when i was going to put it on i tried to look on the net to find any info on how to do it and found nothing so i just went to town and gave it a shot and it came out good.

 

[Maroon4g]

Reading all these posts dating back to 2008. Proves that PR needs to go back and fix these MINOR issues. Makes no sense to spend over 300 bucks just to turn around and throw 50-100 bucks to get it to actually fit on the car. It's 2016 now, I wonder if these Minor issues was fixed. Cheap prices don't always mean cheap quality.

 

[ob1murry]

Reading all these posts dating back to 2008. Proves that PR needs to go back and fix these MINOR issues. Makes no sense to spend over 300 bucks just to turn around and throw 50-100 bucks to get it to actually fit on the car. It's 2016 now, I wonder if these Minor issues was fixed. Cheap prices don't always mean cheap quality.

The one I bought and installed about 2 years ago still had some issues, but most were pretty easy to overcome:

- The BOV flange leaks on mine, unless RTV is used to help it seal. I went through several gaskets thinking they were the issue, or that I had not tightened the BOV enough. Under no circumstances was I able to use the included Greddy style BOV valve, it simply would not seal at all on the flange.

- I had to shorten the j-pipe a good 2 or 3 inches in order for it to fit appropriately.

- Mounting it into a 1g with ABS required me "massaging" the ABS unit 2 or 3 inches back, and the pipe still rubbed on it. I'm sure this would have been the case with any kit though.

- The worst part about it for me though, was that the t bolt clamps are absolute junk, I snapped more than a few.

No big issues like others had with the BOV hitting the hood or anything like that though.

All in all, I'd say that the money spent on the kit was well worth it, even with the $50-$100 you may need to pay to get the install right, it still comes in cheaper than just the core does from many of the other larger companies. Basically, it's as close as you are going to get to a "bolt on" or and "issue free" FMIC kit for the price.

 

[EvilGST]

wow way to dig up an old post. I also decided to run this kit after discovering that ETS discontinued the 1g kits I personally had very few issues when installing mine. if you are creative with mounting the core the rest will be easy. my only complaints were the usual: crappy t-bolt clamps and bad BOV placement. I only spent maybe $10 on the steel for the brackets to make this kit work. here are some of the brackets I fab'd up to mount the core:

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[GSLENK]

x1000 on the shitty knockoff BOV and the even shittier flange. That thing warps if you look at it funny. I use a thick rubber gasket material, and can only tighten it once per gasket/flange flattening.
Other that that, and shitty t bolt clamps, great kit. I guess. The only real parts you need is the TB elbow.
Honestly for a 1g, it is really easy to DIY the piping.

I think every bend is a 120* (60*) bend. One has long legs (lower cold side) short legs (upper cold side) and then the TB elbow.
The lower ICP (hotside) is just a 90* L shape. Then all the correct silicone in between. lastly just get a 2g TB elbow if you are on a budget. and for the love of god, put your own flange on it....
I "upgraded"... ETC fmic swaps right in, and I swapped the BOV section for a tial flanged unit I made.

 

[arprez]

Nice to see some current info. I have been looking at this for a little while now. Thanks

 

[ob1murry]

wow way to dig up an old post. I also decided to run this kit after discovering that ETS discontinued the 1g kits I personally had very few issues when installing mine. if you are creative with mounting the core the rest will be easy. my only complaints were the usual: crappy t-bolt clamps and bad BOV placement. I only spent maybe $10 on the steel for the brackets to make this kit work. here are some of the brackets I fab'd up to mount the core:

This is very similar to how I mounted mine, except mine sits a tad bit higher, and is mounted directly to the bolts for the bumper, sturdy as hell, and yeah, pretty cheap.

The rest of the $50-$100 for me came in the form of needing to buy half a dozen new t bolt clamps, as well as an NPT fitting, and a tap so that I could tap the J-pipe for a boost source.

 

[EvilGST]

This is very similar to how I mounted mine, except mine sits a tad bit higher, and is mounted directly to the bolts for the bumper, sturdy as hell, and yeah, pretty cheap.

The rest of the $50-$100 for me came in the form of needing to buy half a dozen new t bolt clamps, as well as an NPT fitting, and a tap so that I could tap the J-pipe for a boost source.

I got lucky and didn't break any clamps but they are indeed not far from breaking. I purposely mounted my core slightly lower so I wouldn't have any interference with the alternator. I did forget to mention adding a boost source, my local hardware store has these NPT fittings for just a few bucks and drilling / tapping and JB welding it in was easy. Still worth the money imo but the ETS kit would have been nice.