Ok, I've honestly spent hours upon hours researching the threads on the board regarding how much the stock intercooler can handle, what brands to upgrade to, and whether or not ebay intercoolers (or similar brand names like Mishimoto) are worth it.

And I still have not come to a conclusion.

I am about to tune my car next week. I just picked the '05 RS up, and the mods already done are a IX turbo, GSC S1 cams, samco bov, Greddy 3" TBE with test pipe, walbro 255, AEM wideband and intake. Piping and intercooler are stock. My goals for the care are 350/350 ish at 23-25 psi safely on that setup. I do plan on dragging the car once in a while, and MAYBE a track day here and there but not a weekend warrior. I understand that any upgraded intercooler will help, but in THIS case, is the $7-900 really necessary? Are injectors necessary for this goal do you think?

I know these questions have been asked before, but there is so much banter back and forth that there hasnt really been a clear answer for me. There probably won't end up being one from this post either but I would rather try and see what people have to say about that setup than not.

Thanks in advance,

Brendan

 

No they are not necessary, but if you want more power I would get an intercooler and injectors to max out the stock turbo.

Think about what size injectors you want I went with 750cc, also consider what fuel you will be using.

You will also want a mbc or ebc, or mod the ecu for a 3 port to hold higher boost than stock.

 

The 'track day' and '25 psi' are the two main things that tell me you should upgrade the intercooler. The stocker does a good job, but at 25 psi and tracking it, I would upgrade. Even at 25 psi at the dragstrip, a good cooldown is needed to stay consistent. Just my opinion though. If the IC gets hot/saturated it's game over till it cools down.

 

Well if you think that upgrading the FMIC is not necessary, you can just upgrade the pipes. You do gain quite a bit just by upgrading the pipes (mainly the lower).

 

i would upgrade the IC, but at that power level not absolutely needed.
Injectors you might be getting a little close on that power level.
Im selling PTE680's for cheap if your interested

Im pondering upgrading my "ebay" Ic that came on the car. It seems to do well, but i keep thinking about how much better it could do in like 100*/humid days

 

If staying with stock turbo for road-racing applications, which size IC should one go for? 3" or 3.5"?

 

still unsure on both. all i want is what i said above, no plans for any crazy big turbos in the future. has anyone made 350/350 ish on stock injectors and intercooler? reliably with similar mods?

brendan

 

Apparently, this is true for the VIII / IX but the upper gives a better gain on the X

 

i think ive made my decision. going with mishimoto FMIC (i know i know but price is right and should still be SOME improvement over stock) custom LCIP, and 680's. should have no problem reaching my goal safely now. will be tuned on 94 octane (Canada's luxury). oh ya and kwanza i do have a MBC as well already.

thanks again for the tips.

bren

 

I made 349/350 with the stock IC and LICP. Basically stock less 3" TBE and tune.

The same configuration brought me an 11.9@116 timeslip.

I moved to a 3" ETS FMIC only as an appearance mod. I noticed no difference in spool or power but it sure is pretty!

For the record I ran the car with the stock intercooler at a handful of lapping days and never had a heat soak problem The hotside was warm and cold side was cool. I only run 22psi when lapping but I wouldn't recommend more than that anyway.

I see no need to upgrade on the stock turbo unless you are running retarded boost for more than to run an 11 second pass.

 

what kind of boost were you running to get those numbers on the dyno and on the timeslip??

Bren

 

definetly leave the intercooler and take the injectors imo..

 

you dont think the mishi will help at all? im not worried about mounting it... have friends in the fab business. they are making a custom licp for it and brackets so it wont be a pain. flow is supposed to be 1250cfm.

 

I ran 26 psi to get those numbers. Instead of tuning to the bleeding edge on pump gas using bigger injectors and limited timing..... just toss some race gas in the tank and call it a day.

I suggest you do this even when running 22psi on the big track. Better to be safe than sorry and for only $4 gallon more you can run 100 octane all day long.

 

yep i agree, for track days... but for tuning i dont want to go to the bleeding edge. id rather tune safe for what i drive it on the street, then put the c16 in it when im beating hard. for me its not about getting the most out of it, i think i can see those numbers safely without being too wild on fuel/timing/boost. this might be a chance to actually compare the setups.