bkw

it took dmak and i about 4 hours to install the fmic. major cutting of my avant garde type bumper was required in order for this to fit. as you can see, the intercooler is a little crooked, as in it doesnt sit squarely in the middle like it should. i was looking at the piping and when i get some time, im going to move it over to the right about 1.5"'s. that should help center everything.
the intercooler itself is a pretty thick unit, greedspeed does not recommend installing this behind an a4 bumper. we had to notch both legs of the bumper, then the top of the center mouth. instead of cutting the lower portion of the mouth (where it would be way too visable of a cut), we cut the top and let the fmic sit on the bottom part.
cutting is a bitch and a pita. even with dmak's high speed saw, the fiberglass cracked and pitted like crazy. i'll be going to the body shop to get her filled and repainted shortly.
performance impression..
perhaps its because i did a new mod, but my car feels faster on my *** dyno. some of the lag i had before seems to have gone away, perhaps because of the hard piping. she pulls harder and looks so much more meaner!
for $850, theres not a better deal on the market.. that is until apr makes their unit. if their unit comes below $1k, i may be swapping out the greedspeed unit for it.. but until then, im very happy with my fmic.

ok, here's the pics..

first the intercooler out of the car:
<img src="http://users.cnmnetwork.com/~redline/images/new%20car%20pics/fmic%20pics/fmic1.JPG">

inside my garage:
<img src="http://users.cnmnetwork.com/~redline/images/new%20car%20pics/fmic%20pics/P4290003.JPG">

<img src="http://users.cnmnetwork.com/~redline/images/new%20car%20pics/fmic%20pics/P4290004.JPG">

<img src="http://users.cnmnetwork.com/~redline/images/new%20car%20pics/fmic%20pics/P4290005.JPG">

outside:
<img src="http://users.cnmnetwork.com/~redline/images/new%20car%20pics/fmic%20pics/P4290007.JPG">

and something i photoshopped.. i think i'll use it as my new sig:

<img src="http://users.cnmnetwork.com/~redline/images/new%20car%20pics/fmic%20pics/pshopdsideview.jpg">

Bollinger

The ideal gas law (PV=nRT) says that dropping your intake temp say 30 degrees (F) with an intercooler does almost nothing (10% tops). Perhaps a few % more power.

Corky Bell says the same thing and that the reason to put an intercooler on is to let you increase boost some more without knocking. Basically he says that if you just put an intercooler on and don't add boost, you get no real result.

So what is the story? Is it true? I've never put a bigger intercooler on a car, so I don't even have butt dyno results, let alone real dyno results.

Of course, Corky says some weird stuff like that you don't want an intercooler which is aerodynamic inside because then the air will flow too well and not give up its heat. Now, I understand turbulators to break up airflow along the intercooler walls. But if you intercooler has a 5X larger cross section than the pipes, then the air will flow 5X slower in it and give the air plenty of time to give up its heat. So what's with the idea that aerodynamics inside will block that?

Electron Man

...lower intake temps allow the ECU to use more timing advance without knocking (not sure whether ECU would automatically follow the more aggressive ignition map or not...ECU reinitializtion may be needed).

Second benefit of a FMIC is lower pressure drop (less back pressure) than the OE SMIC. I'd estimate at least 25% less depending on design.

In the context of what Corky Bell wrote, you should remember that his book was written/published (late '70s/early '80s...I dunno) in the days prior to ECU regulation of boost.

letsaudi

do you leave the front lic plate off?? do the cop hassle you for having it off??

bkw

if youre in northern jersey, please sell me your license plate bracket!

email me with location and price

thanks!
brian

letsaudi

nice ride dude :P'''' which one of the 3 vortrag hood u got? does it line up ok??

LAA6

What kind of wheels are those? They look like MAS Sagittas.

RangeR BoB

I think Bell's point is that if the air flow thru the intercooler tubes is laminar (layered, as opposed to turbulent) then the layer of air nearest the metal (the boundary layer) tends to slow down and hug the walls of the tube. This boundary layer slows down, and cools off. The bulk of the air goes thru the middle of the tube, and is actually insulated from the metal tubes by that boundary air. The consequence is that the intercooler is not as efficient at getting rid of heat as it could be.

Introducing turbulence scatters this boundary layer and keeps it from forming that insulating layer of slow moving air.

The energy required to cause turbulence has to come from somewhere, so the addition of turbulence increases the restriction of the 'cooler, and therefore the pumping losses (seen as pressure drop) across the system. As in all things a balance is needed.

Also, on the GS FMIC, you will notice the tubes are very long and thin.
______________________________________
| |-------------------------------------| |
| |-------------------------------------| |
| |-------------------------------------| |
| |-------------------------------------| |
| |-------------------------------------| |
|_|-------------------------------------|_|

This is not the most efficient way to make a cooler of that size, but it certainly is the simpler. Most of the energy you are going to extract will be done so by the time a tube is 10-15" long, so a 30" tube or whatever is a bit long and the last 1/2 of the cooler will do less. Put thermocouple probes along the fins if you don't believe me.


A better way would be to have 2 times as many short tubes arranged vertically, with the header tank across the top and the outlet tank across the bottom.
________________________________________
|________________________________________|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|________________________________________|


This would give better cooling, albeit with the possibility of slightly higher pumping losses. End tank design is important here, as well as using a divider within the tank to make sure the air goes all along the core.

The new Scooby WRX uses a cooler that has many short tubes, but the advantage is probably lost on that car because of the style of inlet & outlet on the tanks. Poor flow design. You can squeeze air thru a poorly formed intake tract, but you will suffer the losses.

HTH

Page

Brian,check your e-mail

JoeyM

looks real mean bri, you gonna put some kinda mesh over it? home depot?