do the front mount intercoolers make a big difference in the performace. ive heard that they lower boot levels. is this true?
fmic make a huge difference, when i installed mine you could feel the difference right away, and that was running the same boost. There is no such thing as a fmic that lowers boost, yes they have a boost drop or something like 0.1 psi at really high boosts this is cooler specific though
they wont make any difference unless you increase your boost or the stock intercoolers are leaking. its a supporting mod, not something that gives you power increase by itself really
Intercoolers as such don't really add horsepower. They do however allow you to run higher boost levels safely so this is where the horsepower comes from. They are to provide protection, just like larger injectors etc. They don't directly increase horsepower but they assist in allowing other parts to work more efficiently or more safely and thus allow you to create more horsepower elsewhere. At least, that is my understanding of it. As to decreasing boost levels, a large FMIC will increase the pressure drop and as my understanding of it goes, will cause you to generate more turbo lag.
Don't they also allow the air to cool more, resulting in greater O2 density? I might be totally wrong here.
The 2 above comments are very good and are spot on. And yes by lowering intake temps u r increasing air density thus more power. Just remember that ur turbo will b working harder to supply the same amount of boost due to the extra volume As its been said its a SUPPORTING mod so dont expect to get an improvement like u would get from an exhaust or intake
