Intercooler

In the near future thinking of getting a front mount intercooler. Just a few questions regarding this...

If the air conditioning comes out does it improve the performance of the car?
These cheap intercoolers on eBay any good?
How much BHP gains  should I expect if any lol?
Do I require A remap before driving?
Would I get more lag? Noticeable?
Anyone recommend any good kits?
Would I need to move the radiator fan?
Is it worth it?

Thanks

Less than 400hp I would stick with top mount & if want a little better get it recored or perhaps pick up an ARC top mount if see one at sensible money & A1 condition. Also adding heat reflection mat under top mount is useful benefit
Intercooler on its own needs no remapping & you will not see HP gains unless current one super bad condition or you running boost beyond its cooling ability.
Most cheap front mounts off eBay are shite & in general going front mount is a complete waste of time as the pipe work run & top effort on a top mount core wins hands down in my opinion unless going BIG power.

^^^^ the mans spot on again   

big fmic will give you lag on a small turbo so horses for courses
if you want a fmic then get a smaller core one and run the pipes as short as possible that way youll reduce lag time hugely

@Turbazz, for bit of top mount insperation look a Freds recored top mount, top mounts are well underrated due to tuners & like of 2fast2furious boys knowing very little & not actually checking charge temps or engineering basics. Race teams & drift boys (v mount) spend big money on minimal pipe route systems & quality cores.
I've been using an ARC core for years & still use standard pistons without issues, will be getting a shabby ARC recored soon hopefully via same route as freds.

What's yr spec and bhp mrB?

many conflicting opinions on this. I also agree top mount is very underrated. I also agree that e bay cores and pipe runs are shit seen many a test where charge temps are up with the cheap ones, but I said this a few weeks back lots on here disagree but I will argue all day as most e bay ones are crap. This said a good aircon radiator place ie advanced radiators near me could build a custom one which keeps temps as good or better than the likes of forge etc where your paying extra just for the name. I agree a front mount will lag over a topmount but the length of run difference once running front mount is very minimal not really noticeable just my personal opinion on different set ups I have had

One thing that you will get with a top mount is heat soak in extreme situations. For example if it's a very hot day with hardly any wind and you find yourself stuck in traffic for an extended period of time the top mount will heat up with everything else in the engine bay because your not getting any air through the vents and then if you were to boost it right away charge temps will be high but only for a small amount of time because as soon as you get moving again the air from the bonnet scoop will cool the intercooler.

As others have said I wouldnt bother with a fron mount unless your talking a lot of power. My car has a front mount and it's unnecessary for my needs but it came with the car so I suppose it's there ready for if I do decide to run big power.

johnny gtir wrote:many conflicting opinions on this. I also agree top mount is very underrated. I also agree that e bay cores and pipe runs are shit seen many a test where charge temps are up with the cheap ones, but I said this a few weeks back lots on here disagree but I will argue all day as most e bay ones are crap. This said a good aircon radiator place ie advanced radiators near me could build a custom one which keeps temps as good or better than the likes of forge etc where your paying extra just for the name. I agree a front mount will  lag over a topmount but the length of run difference once running front mount is very minimal not really noticeable just my personal opinion on different set ups I have had

I can remember this discussion johnny and I was one of those who said I couldn't see how a front mount could actually increase charge temps but I suppose it depends how shit the front mount is. If its really that shit an inadequate then I suppose it just won't cool the air from th turbo properly at all thus actually increasing temps from stock but I don't think thats got anything to do with the positioning of the intercooler, more todo with he shitness of it so I can see why tests produced those results if the front mount in question was really that shit.

If you can keep the pipe work short then its not to bad but a topmount will spool much quicker due to the short pipe run .... plus for the fmic is less work when you want to do anything like plugs etc ....

Definately plush for the front mount making things easier to work on, I think I would of gone insane the amount of times I would of had to remove and replace the top mount with all the things I've been doing to my car lately

Bones wrote:What's yr spec and bhp mrB?

Not outrageous, running between 330 to 340 hp with pretty much standard engine beside usual areas such as Z32, larger injectors, Bosch fuel pump, GT28RS, greddy boost controller ,Nistune board (had unichip in early days), ported exhaust manifold & fabricated j pipe with better rear silenced mongoose exhaust. Point is top mount not an issue for me & can handle more hp as long as you use the right turbo for your power goals & make effort in mapping & maintenance.

It takes like less than 10 minutes pull the top mount off.
Much prefer a quality top mount as can perform well,looks better, less vulnerable to debris & light font end damage, retains use of characteristic bonnet design plus helps keep a bit more resale value.
Each to his own but the craze had little to do with the need for the front mount for average power road cars.

I know it only takes 10 min but I must of done a million things things around that area over the past few weeks, trying to get to the bottom of this misfire and what not. Definately more convenient not having the top mount at times

And my car would look shit with a top mount due to my front bumper but I must admit it looks much better under the bonnet with the top mount on and I do worry about my front mount getting damaged from debris etc

The bonnet scoop still retains its main characteristic with a fmic .... it still pisses water in when it rains...  

Lol. I suppose if you wanted it to stay functional you could always stick an oil cooler there

I want to get my car mapped so i enquired, he asked what modifications I have. Recommended to definitely have a front mount before mapping.

I mean having a front mount reduces  temperatures
And lets you Get more air into your engine right.? So it's got to be better Really confused on what to do now lol

ReMoving the air conditioning  that make it easier on the engine? One less pulley to  turn?


Mr b. you said something about charge rates.. What do you mean by this pal

Best thing by far is to run a charge cooler
After fitting one around a year ago I would never go back to an air to air cooler, charge temps are way better with that set up.
And that's just using water, if you use a water methanol mix temps would drop even further.

Trouble is people always think bigger is better so most cars around the normal 300bhp are running inter coolers which are way too big for the turbo and boost they are running.
As said its horses for courses

Whats a charge cooler? 

Getting shot of the air con .... you will need to get a shorter belt .... ditch the big old wieghty bracket that the pump sits on aswell if you do decide to go down that route .....

Its not about getting more air in the engine the design of it is to keep the temps going into the engine cooler  with both tmic and fmic  have a read of this it may explain it better than i can mate ....http://www.gdmcoolers.co.uk/IntercoolervsChargeCoolervsNothing.php

Turbazz wrote:Whats a charge cooler? 

Basically one of these from my track car

Do you have a pump with the kit bob ?

Yeah electric pump fitted under front wheel arch.
Filler reservoir is near the bulkhead and cooler rad is at front where normal fmic would be.

That's out the car now though and will all be fitted in the rasheeeeeen

Oh i see watercooled.. So does it link to a separate intercooler ? And the radiator cools are different location... Bit confused..

Anybody else use this? Bob do you get good results? Less lag?