Which intercooler is best?

[MONSTER]

Is a FMIC a very important mod if the FD only has slightly increased boost and is mildly ported?

General opinions on which is the best kit to go for with prices would be very helpful - cheers

[jetpilot]

I have always been told an aftermarket stock mount is fine unless you are running really big boost.

[John Yorke]

Depends what you are looking for, on the plus side a FMIC will give you significant decrese in inlet temps [last few days where ambiant has been close to 30c I\'ve been running 32 - 35 inlet] down side you will need to upgrade your rad.
An uprated SMIC will give you a better inlet temp than stock without the uprated rad.............. The choise is yours.
Hope this helps

[GaryS]

a FMIC will probably also result in you needing more fuel (larger injectors and fuel pump) and a programmable ECU.

[Fish]

You dont have to uprate the rad when fitting a FMIC. Ant (db2boy) ran his Apexi front mount using the stock rad without problems (from memory).

Fish

[20B_boy]

The GT-spec FMIC has a very rad-flow-condusive(sp?) core. If the stock rad is in good nick and properly filled I dont think an uprated rad is necessary. Max runs the stock rad, as does Geff (both with EWPs) and they have NO cooling issues...although Geff runs a charge cooler now (rather than the FMIC he used to run) and the rad for that is a lot less space consuming than a FMIC.

Replacing the stock unit with an ally one is a reliability mod, as  the plastic end tanks can/do split - ditto AST of course...

[MONSTER]

Thanks for the replies,
 primarily I am after reliability closely followed by a very fast road car with say around 350bhp.

It\'s good to hear that the rad won\'t need uprating, as like most I\'m on a limited budget, but anything that adds to reliability is great in my book esp. if it adds to the performance as well - so the the FMIC seems the way to go, and it looks awesome too.
In addition to the porting the car will have secondary injectors - although what size I don\'t know, as I\'m not yet up to speed with these issues, any advice?

I will be using an Apexi PFC for the control side of things.

Is there any particular fuel pump that is recommended for this level of mod?

20B-boy - when you say the GT-spec FMIC is this a specific I/C or just a style of I/C, do you have any names of manufacturers and approx. cost?

Oh, btw what would be the ideal boost to run with these mods on stock twins in order to get the performance I want?

Its got apexi intake and cat back exhaust with 3" downpipe btw.

[GaryS]

When I uprateed mine (along with secondaries) I went for the Bosch 404 in-tank replacement under advisement.  Done a track day with all the mods (post tuning) so far without any problems.

[John Yorke]

Bosh 404 intank or the Supra fuel pump are good, 1200 secondarys are required, the Apexi GT spec intercooler is the one 20b boy is mentioning.
The reason I suggested uprating your rad is since I have installed my commander I have kept an eye on my water temps and on prolonged hi speed runs my water temp has maxed at 110c, which I\'m sure is not good for the life of the engine.

[20B_boy]

Yeah, fair do\'s yell fella - sustained high speed driving does present an issue.

A bigger capacity rad (without plastic end tanks), an ally AST and an EWP are very good reliability mods generally.

Monitor coolant AND oil temps and \'adjust\' your cooling system appropriately. Some FDs seem to run a lot hotter than others out of the factory...

Cooling mods = good, just not overly sure personally how adversely cooling is effected by fitting of a front mount in the first place as long as the air is still directed properly.