Whats the general opinion on these FMIC's? Do they allow me to keep my AC components on the vehicle?

 

And power steering?

 

I'm not sure about those two things but i do know from doing research on it that its very low quality, most pipes don't fit. The core itself isn't all that bad, but the piping just sucks. You should go to Gurews shop and talk to him about building a piping kit. that way you could still get a core from them or one of the other ebay stores.

 

I took my chances and purchased mine from eBay for $400 shipped. I relocated the battery(easy) and cut the holes to run the pipes(easy) and also had to modify(hammer) the pipe to sqeeze by the power steering pump but everything worked out good for me. Also it was worth it. Did it in a weekend.

 

I just bought that kit too. I have no ps/ac though. Im gonna really try not to murder my bumper.

 

Yea I cut the least amount of bumper that I could. It was more than I wanted to cut but it turned out alright.

 

Your best bet is to do a custom one where you put the FMIC where the rad is, then pull the rad back. No bumper cutting, no cutting holes through the body. Most cores in FMIC's are WAY too large for the stock turbo, so you get more lag, then get a decent pressure drop as well. When you do it as I described then your piping is also shorter, so less lag before spool up.

 

Hmmm, I forgot about the lag part... I've always sort of enjoyed the look of an FMIC in the grill, but hacking my bumper doesn't sound real fun....

Incubus, how would you go about re-mounting the radiator?

Does adding an FMIC reduce cooling capability for the engine? The air would have to travel through the FMIC, then the oil cooler, then the condensor, then the rad....

 

I'm pretty sure I've seen pics of this installed without cutting the bumper up. Its pretty tight in front of the Rad support but I think it can be done. The coolant overflow and front relays may have to be moved. It'll be a few weeks before I get to work on mine.

 

idk about godspeed but there is a greddy knockoff that allows you to keep both power sterring and A/C.

 

The Godspeed/XO2 kit is the greddy knock off. It does allow you to keep PS/AC.

 

I thought with the greddy kit you could keep your AC?

I have the corksport kit. Just finished it a few weeks ago. It's pretty solid, the piping takes some weird turns, but it's for the stock TB elbow. It allows you to keep your PS but not AC. You also have to either hack the hell out of your bumper support or remove it all together like I did. The core is really nice, plus you get good solid T clamps + hoses with the kit. I'm going to re-do the piping when I throw a bigger turbo on there.

You would have to custom mount the rad. Aaroncake did this I believe. Along with a few others.

 

I can tell you that when I had my stock turbo and radiator and was going upgrade to the FMIC every one told me I would have lag problems and heat problems. I didn't. I noticed nothing but increase in power and preformance. No noticeable lag. About cutting the bumper I have seen people sqeeze them behind there pretty much uncut bumper.