donromani

I'm about to install a FMIC which will replace my current SMIC setup and I got to thinking:

What about an FMIC + SMIC set-up?

To be clear, I am not going to try this, but as a thought experiment I wanted to throw it out there. Has anyone tried this?

The reason this would work is that the FMIC does not occupy the same space as the SMIC so it would be feasible to connect both systems. You would have to get creative with some of the piping, but it could be done.

I guess the main question is: would the increased cooling be worth the pressure drop? On a huge turbo system I could see this being marginal, but for a K04 or RS6 I'm guessing the increased core volume is a waste.

Thoughts?

complacentsee

Not enough room, too many turns. Are you going with the ebay FMIC? You'll be doing pretty good then, if you need more cooling go with water/meth.

donromani

Oh yeah, the FMIC I'm getting will almost double my current exposed core surface - more than enough for my application. I'm not planning on trying this thing myself.

I agree that the space would be tight, but I was looking at it yesterday and you could probably squeeze the piping in there if you wanted too...and were willing to invest the effort and money.

The hard ones are the cooled air outlets to bipipe connections. You would likely need a CAD drawing and someone to custom fab. them for you. Still, it would likely require less cutting up of the bumper than going with a huge FMIC.

complacentsee

Cutting the bumper is fun.

donromani

Indeed it is. I'm doing a little work on the bumper right now: I'm taking off the front cover where the Euro license plates go, cutting out the excess plastic and cleaning the edges of the hole. Then I'm going to put a nice diamond mesh grille in there. More flow for that FMIC and a more aggressive appearance (I Hope). If it sucks I can just get an Rs4 bumper. Shrug.

shawnoc2003

Any concerns about overheating with a FMIC? I've noticed a few threads that indicate people have gone back to SMIC.

As for working, bolting both SMIC and FMIC would work. You'd just have a much larger volume of air pre-throttle body. Not sure if you would gain any additional cooling as I've seen some air temps pretty close to ambient with ER SMIC's.

complacentsee

I have ran about 1/2 section above the centerline for coolent temp. That was a 93degree high humidity day. Never had another issue.

donromani

I've heard there are some issues with the A/C fluid not cooling properly but this can be resolved with a larger fan. I'm pretty sure the ER SMIC is a better system than the FMIC but they are also sig. more expensive.