I have an AMS IC. Awesome quality unit, but with the mods I have, it didn't make any extra power on the dyno.

 

The big BUT here is that you don't KNOW the bigger intercooler is better for road racing either. Has anyone done a road race test of intake temperatures during constant boost over 10 minutes?

 

I would agree, like anything in life there are few guarantees. I'm sure there are some designs that can outperform different designs that are larger. But all things being equal, a bigger intercooler has more mass so it can also store more heat. Plus more surface area to transfer heat from the charge air to the outside air.

It looks like you had a poor experience with an intercooler you bought and that's valid information. On the other hand the Evo is blessed with what appears to be a fairly decent factory intercooler and that is going to be harder to improve on. I on the other hand have a car with 2 small side mount ICs that we designed for about 8-9 PSI....not the 20 PSI I will soon be running!

 

your right, but i wasnt talking about a biger ic. i was saying more efficient ic. a more efficent ic will keep the intake temps down when moving.

dont be fooled by the bigger ic. make sure they perform. also, your not going to notice much gain on a dyno because your not moving. for a air-to-air ic to do its magic air much pass across the outside to disperse heat from the inside to outside. a fan blowing on the ic isnt ganna cut it.

 

I think a lot of people overlook end tank design as part of the intercooler. Most people just look at the size of the core and assume it will work well. I love the intercoolers w/ the cast end tanks like the apexi's, hks, and greddy's. They probably do a lot better job at distributing air through all the rows of the core vs. some of the sheet metal versions available.

 

correct. I sell spearco intercoolers, so the first one that came in, I stuck it on our shop car and went to the track. Our measured intake temps after the ic were consistently hotter by 15-20* vs the stock FMIC. On a colder day no less.

I bigger Ic should be able to store more heat than a smaller ic. In this situation, I think the heat transfer of the smallish stock is better than the big ic, as it's "restrictiveness" so to speak leaks to better distribution.

the major factor is that the stock evo8 fmic is pretty good and it seems an excelent match for the stock turbo.

 

i think for stock turbo with pump gas, stock FMIC is pretty good setup, but piping upgrade will have hugh difference,

 

Piping was HUGE HUGE!!! On my Evo, really it's amazing...

 

yes. of course the pipe is going to be warm. it may not be as scalding hot as the exhaust manifold but it won't be "cool to the touch". this does not mean the intercooler is uneffective. you can't measure if effectiveness by touching the upper IC pipe. you need an AIT sensor (ideally before the IC and before the TB), and you could measure the temperature drop. Cool air can still pass through a hot pipe and be relatively uneffected at the speed at which it would be traveling. Compare it to passing your hand through a fire quickly enough not to get burnt.

 

Maybe you had leaks in the factory piping. FWIW, I've seen only a nominal difference with IC piping.

 

Naw I checked, the lower IC pipe gave me throttle response, less lag, and harder hits as well as more power.

 

Ok, but did you dyno the car, before and after?

 

I upgraded my FMIC to a Hyperflow unit. It did not really hurt my performance at all. I am also uprading the turbo and at that point it is a must. Just for the record my car and my buddies car were dynoed the same day. After a decent amount of pulls his endtank going to the TB was hot to the touch. While he was tuning I was installing my hyperflow unit. I then went onto the dyno for tuning. The difference was very apparent, my endtank was still cool to the touch after a similar amount of pulls. Try to find a unit with minimal pressure drop.

Shane

 

Yup, before my IC Piping I had 320WHP, then Ii added the IC Piping and a Pully, just the crank Pulley, I got me 350WHP, go figure.


Even before the pulley, you felt a SEAT OF THE PANTS Difference, it was that amazing, but I am sure it was the Lower IC Pipe.


Pipe = King, I see no reason for a Bigger IC for the Fact that the Evo Big 16G flows 550CFM's MAXED OUT and the stock Evo FMIC flows 600CFM's before becomming Inefficient.

I really see no reasson to upgrade a FMIC, especilly since people run 11's on them.

 

Yeah, no 70+MPH winds hitting the FMIC. And having the IC cold means nothing but it does not accept the heat, it may be allowing the heat back to the motor. The IC should have some flow restriction to accept heat