Intercooler position

[colin777]

im putting in an intercooler and i was wondering from peoples experience and knowledge, where is the best place for performance. so is it a more direct replacement of old position or would it be better out of the bay behind bumper.

im re buildin shortly and i am stayin with twins and im hopin to get it up to 330-350bhp. i will be street porting,decat, rad, recon turbos, fuel pump and injectors being upped etc etc

theres is plenty more things but for that knid of performance where will it go. inside or out

[Jono FD3]

If your looking at an aftermarket rad, you may aswell do a custom V-Mount, that\'s best for performance so I believe?!!

Jono

[strange_days_uk]

V mount, best option for more power, expecially if you keep the car for a long time.

[colin777]

v mount is big money though isnt it. or can i buy a intercooler and rad and then just bolt them in place, hopeful thionkin i know but still a qustion coz im trying to costs down

[strange_days_uk]

yes is pretty good money, DRAGON above do a custom one about the best value you will find.

If you are ONLY gonna get intercooler, then go FMIC

If you are only gonna change rad, then get a new rad

but if you planning both in the future, makes pure sense to go vmount, you will get max efficiency and it looks nice and all done in one go.  Can\'t fault the logic

[Jono FD3]

You could do what I\'m going to do..... make your own V-mount!!
All you need to do is get the things hanging in the correct positions, seal up the surround so the air has no choice but to go throgh the IC, or rad!!! Ceev the drivers side section of the V open to allow air to your induction kit!!

Jono

[AtomicRex]

Im pulling mine a little more forward to give a bit more room behind.

Im also developing a carbon surround so as to not get any spillage.  All air will be forced through a combination of the intercooler, radiator, power steering cooler and oil cooler.

If you need any info on where to get a custom set up then PM me

[andysmee]

im putting in an intercooler and i was wondering from peoples experience and knowledge, where is the best place for performance. so is it a more direct replacement of old position or would it be better out of the bay behind bumper.

I thought I\'d leave this to the experts but they haven\'t made it very simple so here is my understanding for those who don\'t know.
 
As I understand it, there\'s three ways to mount intercoolers on the FD
 
Stock Mounted (SMIC) - where it is as stock. This gets air from the scoop at the top of the grill but AFAIK the air has nowhere to go under the bonnet and it\'s pretty inefficient (hence the need to upgrade either the size of the I/C or the location)
 
Front Mounted (FMIC) - in the mouth of the grill. The [water] radiator is then restricted as the air has to pass through the I/C to get to it.
 
V-Mount - This is a custom mount which allows you to mount an intercooler and radiator on a V around the mouth of the grill. The I/C is mounted above the grill, the radiator mounted (inverted) below the grill. The sides of the V are usually covered to force all the air coming through the grill through one of the two radiators (I/C or rad). V-mounts cost £££ but they are the dogs danglies!!! Picture viewed from through the front of the grill:
 

 
Hope this helps!
 
Andy
 
P.S. I am aware that there is no actual "grill" in the front bumper of most FD\'s but I couldn\'t think what else to call it :Tongue1 Sorry if this is stating the bleeding obvious - hopefully it will be helpful to someone.

[colin777]

cheers andy

[G@NDY]

I would either go for an uprated stock mount or a V mount design.

[michaelb]

I thought I\'d leave this to the experts but they haven\'t made it very simple so here is my understanding for those who don\'t know.
 
As I understand it, there\'s three ways to mount intercoolers on the FD
 
Stock Mounted (SMIC) - where it is as stock. This gets air from the scoop at the top of the grill but AFAIK the air has nowhere to go under the bonnet and it\'s pretty inefficient (hence the need to upgrade either the size of the I/C or the location)
 
Front Mounted (FMIC) - in the mouth of the grill. The [water] radiator is then restricted as the air has to pass through the I/C to get to it.
 
V-Mount - This is a custom mount which allows you to mount an intercooler and radiator on a V around the mouth of the grill. The I/C is mounted above the grill, the radiator mounted (inverted) below the grill. The sides of the V are usually covered to force all the air coming through the grill through one of the two radiators (I/C or rad). V-mounts cost £££ but they are the dogs danglies!!! Picture viewed from through the front of the grill:
 

 
Hope this helps!
 
Andy
 
P.S. I am aware that there is no actual "grill" in the front bumper of most FD\'s but I couldn\'t think what else to call it :Tongue1 Sorry if this is stating the bleeding obvious - hopefully it will be helpful to someone.

Hi

...very helpful to me as I just started modding the car, just got Apexi fc fitted, next 2 months I am going to fit dragon\'s  de-cat mid pipe ( I already have hks BACK BOX - IT\'S HUGE AND LOUD !!

Your explenation has cleared for me what a v mount stands for..

Regards,
Michaelb

[strange_days_uk]

SMIC is crap.

Try going for a drive on a summer\'s day.  Park the car, come back to it 15 minutes later and check out this intake temps.  How does 65-70 degrees grab you ?  (by the balls I should think)

It sits in the hot engine bay on a hot day and heatsoaks.  Even if you get an uprated one, it will still do exactly the same things.  And even a big one won\'t be very efficient compared to a small Front Mount on a cold day..

cheapy chappy

[G@NDY]

^ ive had no problems with mine

[colin777]

with going with a fmic what about the rad behind, what mods have people done to keep the air into the rad

[G@NDY]

I think thats just the nature of a front mount, you will never really get round the fact that it sits right in front of the rad.