I went to the dealership to check out the Evo X and noticed that the intercooler is behind a thin wire mesh covered by that thin looking bumper. Anyone been in a front end collision? or bump into anything with sloppy driving? How does the bumper handle the damage? It looks like if anything hit the front end of the Evo at more then 7mph the intercooler is effed. Am i wrong? Does the bumper just appear "thinly weak"? How rigid is it? Im just asking because it looks like 2 inches of plastic are the only thing that protect the cars cooling system.

 

Well first this FMIC is setup the same way as it is in most cars with a FMIC and the X is no exception. The FRP, or maybe just plastic I don't know, and a front beam are all that protect a radiator on a standard NA vehicle. It might just be covered by a grill of some sort so that might lead to someone thinking the X is more susceptible when in reality it is no more than say a standard civic.

Second, the intercooler is not really part of the cars 'cooling' system, it just cools the intake air. The radiator is right behind the intercooler which actually could save the true cooling system in a more serious impact, but if you think about it if you're in an accident that bad the last thing you would probably care about is your shiny new FMIC.