Who here has done a front mount intercooler? How much of a pain in the *** was it and what did you use? also, did you replace all the rubber hoses with aluminum piping? If you did, what did you order and where did you get it? I have heard good things about CX racing and am looking for input....i want to get this stuff ordered so i can get to installing.

 

CX Racing pipe kit with 2 Js, 2 straights, 2 45s, also may need to order an extra J, I used three. Size of intercooler all depends how much bumper support you're willing to cut. Run of the mill size without having to cut is like 26x5x2.5. Mines 26x9x2.75 but required a lot of cutting. You completely get rid of stock intercooler system.

 

Sweet! Yeah when I do the front mount, I plan on completely getting rid of all the rubber lines so all I have is aluminum pipe and silicone couplers.

 

I used the 90* rubber couplers cause I didn't have enough 90* ones, but otherwise everything else has been replaced with aluminum/silicone.

Oh, and 2.25" piping.

 

Would you day doing fmic is better than just getting silicone (stock) intercooler hoses from ipd? This is my dilemma right now.

 

The way I see it is if I was going to go silicone for intercooler hoses I'd be buying Samcos, same as my coolant hoses, the fit/quality is amazing, and I've heard A LOT of mixed things about the IPD/FCP silicone hoses, especially with fitment of the IAC hose.

FMIC gets rid of all of the bends and curves of the stock system, gets rid of the stock intercooler that is sandwiched between the radiator and the condensor getting heat-soaked.

FMIC costs about 200 bucks, mine was more because my intercooler is about twice the size that most people run. And now you have an all metal tube/silicone set up with a more direct route from the turbo to the TB.

Just my 2 cents.

 

so if I would stay with the stock system it should be samco, is the ebay fmic durable or should I go with a "better" brand?

 

Most people I know running FMICs are just running eBay ones. For most applications an eBay one will be completely fine. I'm running an eBay intercooler.

 

ok, when I order the ebay kit, can I install it at home or do I need to take it to a pipe shop for cutting? Thanks for your responses so far.

 

I did it all at home. Any pipes I had to cut I used a hacksaw and file to clean up the edges.

 

cool, I guess a hacksaw is mow on my list of things to get. One more thing, what do you think of bar & plate front mounts? Are you using one? Ebay only sells bar & plate versions. I hear there are better versions but I guess bar & plate is entry level. Correct?