I just recieved a good deal of money and am looking into buying an intercooler. i have no idea which one though...any recomendations?

 

depends on your setup, if you are running stock twins, the greddy smic or pfs are nice upgrade options... if you are running more power a M2, ASP or CWS are good larger smic's then if you are making crazy numbers than you might look at a FMIC by Greddy, apexi or others.

 

if you get a vented hood can you still get a stock mount? i though some one told me one you couldnt get a stock mount with a vented hood

 

you can, but the rubber cupling on the top pipe touches the hood. I have a slight wear on my rubber cupplings from the hood pressing on it. I have RE-A SMIC

 

what are you looking to build your car for? Daily Driver? Auto Cross? Road Race? Drag Race? Drift? Show? etc.

How much power are you looking to gain? Do you want Stock Twins? Basic Performance Upgrades? Single Turbo? Monster Single turbo?

there are a lot of things to consider before buying a intercooler.

there are three options:
Front Mount Intercooler
Stock Mount Intercooler
V-Mount Intercooler

There are pros and cons to all three set ups. Some get more airlow to the intercooler, but block airflow to the radiator causing overheating (FMIC). Some get great air flow to the radiator but not enough air to the intercooler (SMIC). the V-Mount intercooler is the most efficient set up in that the radiator and intercooler are positioned in a V shape facing the front of the vehicle. this allows both the rad. and IC to get the same amount of air, so you dont have to worry about overheating or turbo lag.

again, there are a myriad of things to consider when buying an intercooler.
for more in depth information use the search function, you should be able to pull up tons of threads on the topic.

a suggestion would be to upgrade to the Efini Y- Pipe when doing the intercooler set up. this upgrades the factory plastic Y- Pipe and rubber joints with metal piping, making it less prone to cracking.

 

/\ An Efini y-pipe is OK as long as you're sure you're not getting an M2 or any other IC that removes the y-pipe. If so, the Efini is useless.

 

what would u recomend for a mild drift/dd

 

My friend had a Blitz FMIC and it worked fine for him.

 

What would you recommend for Auto Cross?

 

best setup for both drifting, autocross, dd is V-Mount

if u drag race more, its better to have FMIC

but FMIC DOES NOT make the car "overheat". just ur engine temp will run higher than Stockmount or Vmount.

SMIC your intake temp from the turbo will be higher and must have a duct. but its cheaper and easy to install.

Non of the setup are bad, they have different purposes. but ultimatly V-Mount is the best for FD, but doesn't look at cool.

 

*waiting for someone to link that damn ebay ic*

lmao

use the search button next time. this has been covered many times and at the end its everyones personal opinions. this thread should kill itself.

 

a FMIC when out on a track for 8+ laps will cause your car to overheat. when your radiator isnt getting the fresch, cool air it needs, your water temps will rise, hindering performance and scaring the driver. i've raced around lime rock, and even with water wetter, i couldnt keep my temps down. Even around the autocross doing minute and a half runs tops, it overheats. i leave the line at about 90-93* and come back at 100-106*. For daily driving, the cars fine. no overheating issues, but on the track, a FMIC is not a good idea, period. A V-mount is the best option out of all three, the problem is that they're more money, but well worth it.

i actually didnt know that about the Efini Y-pipe and M2/ASP SMIC. thanks.

 

106C is NOT overheating. Not even close. But agree that an FMIC is an extremely poor choice for any kind of track driving.

 

Can i ask,,, do standard mount intercoolers not perform no where near as good as front mounts?

 

Front mount intercoolers typically have more cooling capacity than stock mount intercoolers. They also get quite a bit more fresh air flow but stock mount ICs are adequate for most setups.

It's pretty stunning how many grammatical mistakes you were able to cram into that one line tiger. haha no offense

 

It really depends on the design. Some SMIC's are as effective as FMIC without blocking the flow of air to the radiator:

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/real-world-comparo-ait-water-temps-smic-vs-fmic-373078/

 

like you said, 106* isnt overheating, but when roadracing and the temps are continuing to go up, past 110* and rising, my concerns are not on racing anymore but more on nursing the car back to the pits to cool down. i never see that high of temps around the autocross, but it still doesnt stay nearly as cool as my friend's car with a SMIC on the same autocross track or on a highway with my friends V-mounted Intercooler and dual radiators. there is a significant difference in air temps and water temps when i cross reference my setup to either of my friends set ups. FMIC may look like a 'cool' set up, but they aren't made for tracking. SMIC or VMIC ftw.

 

where can i find a good V mount intercooler

 

Why, just get an SMIC. The V-mount is overkill for anything but running hot track days.

 

here's a great site with some information:
http://www.FD3S.net/intercooler.html

Kevin T. Wyam (i believe that's his screen name) designed and made SMICs for a while for ASP and M2 (same kits, different names.) I am not sure if he still makes them. he made two kits: Large SMIC and a Medium SMIC. the large intercooler kit requires moving the battery out of the engine bay or getting a smaller battery (i believe Rotary Extremes mini battery works, and I think Miatas had a smaller battery?). from what ive seen, they are great looking kits, probably the best looking Stock mounts intercoolers that i've seen as far as quality goes (in my opinion).

here are some pics:
ASP/M2 Medium SMIC

ASP/M2 Large SMIC


and here's Pettit Racing's SMIC Kits. they also look pretty well built.
www.PettitRacing.com

Cool Charge II $1200


Cool Charge III $1450



GReddy SMIC $1250

 

Rotary Extreme's V-Mount Intercooler
$2350 from RX-7store.net



Signal Auto VMIC
www.signalauto.com

 

rotary extreme isnt in business anymore...but he might still make you a ic , you just have to contact him first..e-mail etc...

 

i cant find this one on their site

 

thats a custom kit for apexi's drift fd.

 

I currently run the Greddy SMIC and I see pretty good intake temps and water temps like what has been mentioned above. I am actually going to sell it soon b/c I am going single turbo this coming spring (my car is now stored for winter and wont be driven for a looong time). I have only had it on the car for about 6months and it looks new. I keep it polished with mothers. PM me if you are interested.