RexNuts Subaru Forums

Couldnt find it in the search so if its been done a link pls? if not which is best? which brand and unit is the best?

Top mount is best..
I'll find a great link for you when I get home

Depends on what sort of power application you are after. There are pros and cons for both though. A front mount typically increases lag but maintains cooler temperatures as it is at the front of the car, rather than in the engine bay. Also, it will be toast if you have an accident. A top mount has lesser lag but temps are slightly warmer due to the engine bay heat. Typically you shouldn't need a front mount until roughly 250atwkws I think.

Is there a hellavalotta difference between the two price wise... i was looking at the hdi front for $790 for the gt. but dont really know where to look for the tops, all my mates have skylines and stuff so they are all frontmounts.

Front mount is the best

Look for a second hand STi TMIC. I picked up my 06 one for $450 in perfect condition a few years ago..

Ive thought about this exact problem. my initial solution was get a tmic until i need / want a fmic. but then i realised that i was paying for 2 ic. so im just going to get a pw fmic in black and do a full stealth install and plan for the future when i chase big kw and et in the future with my full rebuild.. put the money that the tmic was going to cost me into something more worth while like injectors or pump... my 2cents

In terms of brands, Process West are great.

Here's the link.
Makes a lot of sense to me... But I'm no engineer

http://rusubaru.com/intercooler-efficiency/

Ok I added some information to back up my comment... Where's yours?

very interesting read.. would like to read more about these

Hmmm i agree very interesting read.... I was really keen on getting a FMIC and mainly cos i think it looks hot... but reading this article is kinda changing my opinion.
curios as to those guys who have changed from a TMIC to FMIC if you would agree with the comments from this article?

With in reason I'm not to fussed about price.. I still have a bit of coin left from the purchase, I guess the reason I was thinking fmic cause they look tough poking their little nose out. But in terms of performance I'm thinking the tmic. Hmm guess some thinking is in order.. While we are here anyone got a hks ssqv at all or ya reckon turbos art plumb back? Sorry bout all the questions guys I'm just real hungry to learn "insert hungry face here"

Not exactly sure what you're asking here mate.

Certainly an interesting read, however I have no complaints with my front mount Be interesting to see if any other studies had been carried out by others regarding cooling efficiencies of top vs front...

One of the first things new wrx owners do is get a bov for the sound...
My advise is don't bother... Do consider a bpv though if you up the boost to over 18psi

I had a wolf racing top mount, it was a million times better than my standard TMIC.. I was concerned about heat soak living in Sydney with it's stop start traffic.. But the ceramic coating did a really good job of keeping it cool.. You could give the car a hit and touch the intercooler with your hand immediately after and it would only feel warm where as the the stock one would burn your hand.. Larger core but barely noticeable increase in lag.. Good daily, not sure how it would compare to an STI one however

If I was tracking my car however I would get a FMIC only cause of the larger surface area exposed to air, plus lag isn't as big an issue on the track

[quote="tobythegreat"]is there a hellavalotta difference between the two price wise... i was looking at the hdi front for $790 for the gt. but dont really know where to look for the tops, all my mates have skylines and stuff so they are all frontmounts. [/

Skylines/evos have exhaust one side, intake manifold on the other also Skylines/evos and all those cars have FMIC cause their turbo is connected by a very short exhaust manifold therefore reducing lag where as the wrx has longer headers.. Plus the pipe work on a TMIC cause of the boxer design has to be the longest of any performance car iv ever seen..

I have a ProcessWest TMIC, and its build quality is excellent. Still yet to be installed though lol, but thats because when i do, i'll be doig custom heat shielding below it and near the turbo.

Sold mine to your mate
What do you mean below the top mount? Makes sense to stop the hot air from the gearbox/engine rising to it but I'd b worried about air flow.. What you got in mind? Any one looked into turbo beanies? How Efficient are they compared to our heat shelled?

Yep, he still has it on the car, all good there.

As for heat shielding, i'm definitely not going to block the airflow on the bottom of the TMIC. It will be appropriately spaced below it to still allow airflow. Its not going to be an easy task, lots of trial and error fitting, but my idea after doing a bit of research into heat sheidling and heat dissipation is to have two sheets of aluminium spaced about 10-15mm apart and then have them mounted below the TMIC and above the gearbox, with another sheild to go over the top of the factory turbo heatshield.

I'll have to try and find the links on my laptop later, but i found some really good information that explains how heat sheilding and dissipation and reflection works. By having two pieces of heat sheild material spaced apart (in this case aluminium sheeting), the first layer acts as a heat reflector, then the 10mm gap allows cool air between the next sheild, as well as allowing the heat to be reflected from one shield to the next one (by a considerable amount), which results in the top shield being highly efficient and very cold. Hard to explain, and i may not have it 100% right.

Kinda like this (using random numbers as examples here):

Heat source (100 deg) [air gap] <sheild 1> [air gap] (70 deg) <sheild 2> (air gap) (30 deg) TMIC

The left side of sheild 1 is a reflective side and reflects some of the heat away, but does let some though. The air gap between sheild 1 and 2 now has cooled air between it, and this air is reflected between sheild 1 and 2 and is cooled even further. By the time the air gets to the right side of sheild 2, its VERY cool.

Hopefully that makes sense. lol

Large, good flowing top mount + Tomei ARMS M8265 + a built ej25 block = mess in pants

Steve: or mess on keyboard after reading it - but thats just me

- i just feel like typing, so here goes -

t8, i've only heard wonders about ebay special tmics, some people even regard them on top of the usdm sti ones.

two different types that are most common are bar & plate, and tube and fin. some pros and cons of both
b&p: less flow, less heat soak issues, more dmg resistant than t&f.
t&f: more flow, less resistant to heat soak, less resistant to damage.
(the wrx & sti ic's and the evo fmic are t&f, most of the aftermarket ones are b&p ie. ebay, pw, hf)
my mate owns an evo 8 and swears that the oem ic is better than a turboxs one

couple of arguments ive heard on the issue are "why would you spend $150 more on a older top mount" ebay vs sti
and sti spent millions on R&D for their IC's, how much do you think the ebay specials spent - sti vs ebay

im going to get flamed for this, but in terms of what im going to get, im kinda optin for the ebay special..... ==", proven lower pressure drop than the sti one, prolly need to learn the difference first hand. its like $260 incl ypipe & postage.

back on topic, really depends what you are after, if its for looks, no matter what you hear you are going fmic in the end (i heard that is no difference < 200kwatw with a pod, but i wanted one anyway). if you want to boost your car, tmic is the way to go if your aim is ~200kwatw (mine is cos i dont wanna burn money on a new gearbox, not sure how strong the new ones are).

id say anything above 220 should be considering a fmic, (ie. nick) because these is kind of the limit for top mounts, then again, msr has a pw tmic on his and it pushes 300kwatw, he's a tuner and prolly has the resources to fine tune this. besides msr, when was the last time you heard of a car pushing 300+ kwatw that had a tmic instead of a fmic. but keep in mind that subaru DESIGNED their engines with tmic's.

i would LOVE to ramble on more, but i feel that wrxsti02 covered most of that with his link.

hopefully all that makes sense....

That was a great link. did you read the comments to? amusing banter.. is the out come fmic are fine if you are aiming for big power and have the coin and tune for it, but if you are just gonna build up a nice daily with reasonable power and a few bolt on bits go for a bigger tmic with a heat shield.? guess my mind is made.. cheers guys

How about V-mount, BOTH INTERCOOLER and RADIATOR sits up front with GREAT AIR-FLOW, plus the intercooler piping is really SHORT too!

Pics and more info?