Do an upper intercooler and lower intercooler pipe do a lot on their own, or do you really need to get the bigger intercooler as well to see any gains? I'm contemplating adding those to my first round of modifications but not sure if it is worth it?

Current mods:

Drop in filter
EBCS
Catted test pipe
Walbro 255 fuel pump
Tune

Any other 'must have's' for a first round of mods?

 

I believe you either have a cat or a test pipe. I think you mean a high flow cat.

The mods you mentioned are a good start. I doubt intercooler pipes will net you any power.

 

The UICP/LICP don't net any power, and the intercooler doesn't do much in that department either. The upper piping does seem to increase throttle response a bit, and lower charge temps are always a good reason to get an intercooler. The intercooler may give you some small gains, but nothing to write home about.

 

The upper pipe is worth a bit of power and throttle response due to the instant neck down/restriction in the factory pipe. Instead of starting your intercooler piping at 1.75" (Factory Diameter) you start at 2.5" (ETS Upper Diameter). This mod is very similar to the Evo 8/9 lower pipe.

During our testing we were able to net around a 15-20whp gain over the factory intercooler using our 3.5" intercooler. This gain is due to lower intake temps and more flow through our intercooler core. The factory intercooler is undersized for the application. Sure you have guys that will make 1 good power pull on the factory intercooler, but when you run your car back to back our intercooler is definitely beneficial.

Hope this helps!

Michael

 

It does, and thank you!

 

Seems like a good start. Also, sorry you caught the modding bug. It gets expensive real quick! (well worth it though)