Charge or Inter ?

[craigr]

Hi all,

Have done some searching on here, and think I know the answer, but I will ask anyway...

Is a Charge Cooler an alternative to an Intercooler ?

I have done stage 1 mods on my FD - Air induction, de-cat, cat-back, PowerFC, and all rolling roaded by Geff at re:worx.

I am now at the stage that I know Intercooler is probably the next mod that I need to consider, but was wondering whether I could go down the charge cooling route instead. I am aiming to ultimately go for no more power than stock twins will allow me (sub 380 ?)

I am on standard cooling rad-wise currently, and know this is something to sort out as well.

Any advice ?

Cheers, Craig

[Warthog]

Hi mate, a few of us are running charge coolers instead of an intercooler and as you can see you can make the bhp you are after, as per my signature. :cheers

[craigr]

Sorry for re-launching this thread (thanks for the reply btw).

I just spoke to Chris at Re:Worx about this - as they\'ve done most of my work to-date, and he recommended an Intercooler for my needs (fast road, no track, no drag) - purely on the basis of the reliability of not having to deal with waterpumps, etc.

Given that I have an Apex-i hardpiped air kit already, my obvious choice is to go for the Apex-i GT FMIC, but apparently they aren\'t available anymore (at least for the moment anyway). Chris mentioned HKS and Greddy as alternative options, but suggested I ask on the forum as to what people recommend.

I\'ve done a few searches, but nothing instantly springs out as being the IC of choice.

As usual, any help most appreciated.

[BlitzBoy]

Yeah the Apexi GT Intercooler was the FMIC of choice, but yeah hard to get hold of.
Depends if you are going single turbo or staying twin.
I\'ve gone Big single, so I have ordered from America a Greddy FMIC 3 Row 32R-spec cooler.
A two row FMICs may do for your needs if you are staying twin,there are some Three row SMICs on EBAY but have no idea on the quality or flow from those units.
But there are no FMICs in this country at the mo you will have to order it from abroad or from a vendor here who can order you one.

[McCARTHY]

I\'ve got a big Trust jobbie on my RX and that works great..... this will prob open up a can of worms but i\'m told you can do both, How? anyone got any pics....

[BlitzBoy]

you could do both, but the pipework and space would be a nightmare. Better off adding water injection instead that really cools inlet temps down

[fro]

I don\'t think you\'d have room for both in a FD without major reshuffling. You\'d also lose one of the big plus points of a charge cooler which is the short inlet tract.
If you want fit and forget, go for the intercooler + water injection

[John Yorke]

If you are going with FMIC consider what you are going to use the car for and how much £££££ you intend to budget for, on paper there is not a lot of difference in buying a FMIC and a CC, fitting costs are somewhat different and also the compromise with cutting away the front bumper [not yer bit of plastic but the shock absorbing bumper] for the FMIC.

There are plenty of cars on this forum that have done one or the other convertion - some both  

With all convertions though you need to think about your water temps [which are far more important than yer inlets], by sticking a FMIC in you will restrict the air flow to your water rad which, dependant on what you intend to use the car for will mead the possibility of the added cost of a bigger rad.

For a good priced FMIC try talking to Tim @ RX Motors