Thread: What kind of Intercooler

If the core length on your si 24 then the total with tanks will be 32 in or so. These intercoolers have fittment issues with piping. Again my opinion.

I like the cores in the 18-20in range.

Just to claryfied something Bigger FMIC does not mean more lag , a well made fmic will have LESS lag and a better reduce in temp.
If you want a nice made ebay fmic get the AMS copy for the evo8

That's the one I meant to post, god damn it. Why stay away? Just curious. I'll probably find out sooner or later, as that's what I have waiting to go in. =]

Edit: Nm you answered me above. We'll just have to see how much cutting I have to do. I agree maybe smaller with no cutting would be a better choice. Depends what you're willing to go through for that extra inch³. =]

Those are good to as they have the piping facing down and you can run a better piping setup.

^Thanks.

LOL why even ask the question if its such a horrible myth?? Just "Debunk" the bitch then. Anyway the more area you have to fill the more time its going to take to fill that area with air to the point that its pressurized. Also tube and fin has benifits also since it will let the front of the car breathe alot better then a bar and plate. This is the reason why I run a Johnny Race car Tube and fin on my NX instead of the ebay bar and plates.


and...slower boost onset....turbo lag....same **** cause its gonna feel just like turbo lag till it builds pressure.

I am running the johnny race car setup. It is the 5" tall rig. What type of hp should it support? I looked at most of the ebay specials that were posted. With those 9 and 12 inch units, the bumper support will have to be hacked up, correct?

You do not have to mess with the bumper suport.

are you mounting it in front of the support then? if i mount it underneath like i have it now, it will be hanging down past the bumper.

Just wanted to tailor my debunking to your reasoning. As expected you went with the "more volume to fill" myth, and I've thankfully already got the answer for that one.


You got it.

Most of the time I just link to a post I made a while back but I'll boil it down for you here. For a second lets forget about flow through the intercooler and imagine all we want to do is get the air compressed, since that's what you seem so hung up on. No matter that flowing the air through the intercooler will make more power than if it would compress in the intercooler. No, let's forget that for a second and just assume we want to pressurize the bitch.

What's the difference in volume between a smallish intercooler and a large intercooler? 2 liters at most? Okay good. How much does the engine displace? 2 liters? Excellent. How long does it take to pressurize the engine? Oh, two revolutions you say? Alright then... How long is one revolution at idle...

800 revolutions.....1 minute......= 13.3 revolutions
....1 minute............60 seconds........1 second

13.3 revolutions per second works out to 0.075 seconds per revolution, it takes two revolutions to fill the engine so it will take 0.075*2 or 0.15 seconds longer to fill another 2 liter cavity (not taking into account how much easier it is to fill or pressurize the intercooler compared to the engine chocked by tiny valves).

How long is one revolution at some normal operating rpm like 4,000?


4,000 revolutions.....1 minute......= 66.6 revolutions
....1 minute............60 seconds........1 second

66.6 revolutions per second works out to 0.015 seconds per revolution, so it will take 0.015*2 or 0.03 seconds longer to pressurize an additional 2 liter cavity at 4,000 rpm. The question is, would you find this significant enough to continue to recommend an intercooler smaller than another one based on the so-called delay in boost onset?

If you'd like something a little more fleshed out, read this:
Charge pipe sizing & differences: - e30tech.com Forums
Pay attention to post # 18 if you'd like a more general formula. That's a thread about charge pipe size and mythical additional "turbo lag".

Basically with 20-50 pounds of air per minute flowing through the charge pipes a couple of liters here and there are completely insignificant.

Oh really? Tell me what turbo lag feels like. I dare you.