Fmic Or Smic?

footlong

Active Member
Oct 12, 2007
228
0
South yorkshire
Looking at intercoolers-should i go fm or sm. i'm thinking that a front mount may become a little counter productive, it will surely be dterimental to radiator performance????:confused:

Advice plaese!
 

TurboCupra

Active Member
Aug 24, 2007
190
0
Nope, the air flows past the intercooler to the radiator just fine. Dont mount the front mount too close though otherwise heatsoak from the rad will heat the front mount and you wont be gaining the most you can..

SMIC are not very good, they are too small. Buy a good quality FMIC..
 

Dan Cupra R

The Yellow Sub
May 2, 2006
1,514
0
Reading
Im getting a Forge Front mount fitted tommorow. Ive chose Forge as they products are tried, tested and proven.

Not to mention that their customer service is great
 
Feb 1, 2007
1,293
0
gloucester
jabbas pro alloy ones are the best out of the 3 , forge ones can only really flow upto 300bhp , so if u r thinking of going big turbo down the line get a jabba one ,
 

footlong

Active Member
Oct 12, 2007
228
0
South yorkshire
well to be honest, i won't be going mega big anyway, so it will most likely to be forge. laguna-any views?
i don't have the money to build and then keep repairing a 300bhp+ motor!
 

Dan Cupra R

The Yellow Sub
May 2, 2006
1,514
0
Reading
well to be honest, i won't be going mega big anyway, so it will most likely to be forge. laguna-any views?
i don't have the money to build and then keep repairing a 300bhp+ motor!


Laguna has some good reviews and seems to work pretty well. Its also cheap. Do a search on laguna intercoolers and you will find all the info you need on them.

Im personally choosing the forge becuase I love the look of it and I dont plan on going big turbo.
 

TurboCupra

Active Member
Aug 24, 2007
190
0
Laguna is a radiator core with intercooler ends, good, but not worth all the hassle <--In my view..

The Jabba and Forge itmes are expensive though.. But are bolt up kits, which makes things a lot easier.. And depending on where you look, and how handy your fabrication skills are, a cheaper, better alternative can be found with a little DIY action.

People slate the Ebay items cos their cheap, but on the other hand they are big, bar and plate contruction, good mounting eyes, and well made and have proven results. J-tech Automotives 1.8t Mk2 with a custom internals GT28 on a stock BAM code engine and Emerald ECu made 330whp yesterday on Dave Walker RR - a very reputable RR, with a medium sized Ebay intercooler than was bought for £130! With a hundered quids worth of samco bends and £40's worht of alloy tube.. They work VERY well.. - Granted the situation for the smaller turbos may be slightley less ideal..
 

footlong

Active Member
Oct 12, 2007
228
0
South yorkshire
i'm not too bad with spanners, but my mate is a mastertech, and will be doing the work. mind, he doesn't know yet........
I've done some searching and a company in the states called ivevex seem to doo decent gear, at a fair price. still searching.
 

helms

Console Race Car Driver
Jan 30, 2005
492
0
Basingstoke
dont start another intercooler war. lol
You could argue till your blue in the face,with no result. lol
I've got what i believe is a custom intercooler and that does me fine.

Basically look at what you can afford or what you want to spend. if you want the "real deal" go for the Jabba or Forge one, If you fancy one that does the job just fine and cost about 1/6th of the price, then go with the laguna.

At the end of the day, if you put one type on, its not like u can be dissapointed because you wont have anything to compare it too.. hehe.

I love my custom made one, i dont know if its that efficient, but I've got nothing to compare it to, and it seems just fine to me.. hehe

Who said ignorance isnt bliss?
 

ForgeMotorsport

Full Member
We have had considerable success with the intercoolers ...this 300 bhp figure is bullshit put out by other manufacturers

basically its so much better than the stock so will be beneficial no matter what the hp. We use 60mm diameter tubes all round so the flow of these are well suited to 400bhp (we have John Wilko Golf which is close to 400hp and he only has 57mm tubes and flow has been fine with both IHI and larger Garrett turbo's.
The IC has been tested in 2 seasons of endurance racing on a car with 250hp & 350 and never failed once even when the engine itself had overheated due to coolant fans failing.
We cant say without doubt that 400bhp would be achieved as we have never tested on a car with that amount of hp?

You will also find that there is an awful lot of disinformation out there about the Forge intercoolers
 

footlong

Active Member
Oct 12, 2007
228
0
South yorkshire
So anyhow, thanks for the insight guys. how many elbow joints, how much tube etc will i need?

I think i am about to embark on fitting my own.......................
(key the darth vader music):think:
 

AwesomeSarah

Forum Sponsor
Mar 6, 2006
727
0
Have a check on our section for the offers on FMIC`s from Forge
We can still do a few more at the prices quoted on there too
Sarah
 
Feb 1, 2007
1,293
0
gloucester
i have a x02 racing intercooler on my ibiza , it came on the car when i bought it , i think that is a cheapy intercoolr , but it is massive , hence the reason the air con rad had to come out , but it handles 341bhp fine , do a search on google they get good write ups
 

footlong

Active Member
Oct 12, 2007
228
0
South yorkshire
My air con is coming out for the intercooler anyway. living in the uk, windows are air con enough, if you want to turn the chill factor up, simply push the throttle.:funk:
 
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