FMIC

[Zak427]

I was looking into upgrading my intercooling in the next six months. i'm doing the ecu soon and other things. NSR jump in on this one.

i'm looking at fmic. are they really that much better. also which one is the best way to go(i'm not building a drag car. just want good consistant performance. i'm upgrading to 530 BB's eventually). i want it to fit properly without cutting or fabricating. then also what happens to the oil cooler. i'm assuming it gets relocated

[Wetmyson]

the z enthusiast i bought my tt conversion from told me side mounts work better. he didn't go into detail and he half assed everything on my car lol. so i don't know how much truth there is to it. good luck though!

[freakonaleash1187]

If you are just going with the 530BB's, upgraded SMIC's will be your best option. A FMIC will only be the better option when you get in the real high horsepower, but even then, SMIC's will sufface.

[nsrZ32]

With 530's SMIC's are your best bet. Check into HKS, Stillen, ARC, Greddy, etc. FMIC would most likely be over kill. As for the oil cooler, it can either be relocated or left where its at. Mine is still in the same location but its upgraded with the much larger Nismo unit that used to be available.

[Zak427]

i have a huge oil cooler.. i put it together myself. it's linches 12 long 14 row. but the apollo fmic is the same as the stillen one. approx a grand. why not pay the same and get the fmic. that was my approach. but as long as i can leave things the way they are and not have to fab anything on the install i'll probably go with the fmic. i'm running the jdm fascia so i believe it would look pretty good. but will it really effect my normal engine cooling. what i've noticed while doing the engine swap is the side mounts have no air outlet. they get hit with air. but have no real outlet behind or beneath them for the warmer air passing through them. so i really question there effiiceincy.. thats my main goal. to get the most out of the intercoolers.

[tg]

You need to re-pipe from where the smic's were to where the air filter is now, then you need to re-pipe the air filter(s) down to the sides where the smic's used to be.

just get the greddy smic's they're clean and they dissipate almost twice what stock smic's do, all you have to do is cut your ducts and put them in place of the stock ones... easy and reliable.

also relocating your intakes down there means you need to keep that area clean, which if you're plastic fenderwells are ripped or missing as is my case, is near impossible.

[Zak427]

i take it your running greddy's. i compared the the stillens to greddys and the stillens and hks have more frontal surface. but the greddy's are really deep.

[Mossive]

so at what hp do you decide to move from smic to fmic?

[Mossive]

found this...kind of interesting...

http://www.ashspecz.com/ashspe...s.htm

check ou the chart at the bottom

[Zak427]

found this...kind of interesting...

http://www.ashspecz.com/ashspe...s.htm

check ou the chart at the bottom

interesting how do we know they aren't inflated chart numbers...?

[Mossive]

agreed! it seems all companies will do that of course to boost sales but i havent found a chart like that from any third part that is unbiased....

[tg]

all they're showing on that graph is flow, not thermal efficiency.

look at how large the channels are on those ic's and look how small the fins are.... those are going to channel your hot air (and alot of it) back into your engine...

perosnally I like the greddy's,

[Zak427]

if channeling is your thing how about a set of these. and i'm sold on the greddys' i can get them for less than stillens.

http://www.conceptzperformance...1.248

[jwnoodle]

I also debated this decision until doing further research. SMIC are the way to go, I went to the Stillen SMIC's and notice a huge difference during hot summer days. FMIC means fabricating your front fascia, along with coolant problems unless you upgrade your radiotor... :/

[Honad]

SMIC's require a lot less retrofitting and depending on which ones you get will be sufficiant to extremely large power numbers. If you get to a point where you need the added capacity of an FMIC, the extra grand on top of the tens of thousands you have spend on your car will be a simple drop in the bucket.

SMIC's for the win for me.