Eventually i will be upgrading my intercoolers to bigger smic's or a front mount. I've pretty much decided on smic's but i was just wondering what everyones thoughts were on pro's and con's of each. I've noticed a couple people on here have ditched their fmic's for bigger side mounts and thought it'd be interesting to hear of peoples experience with either of the two
lol let the war begin if you are looking at side mounts what are you going for. i want bigger sides too and just interested in seeing what you have chosen
Use search mate, there should be heeeeaps of threads aimed at exactly the same topic I can remember a fair few since i joined
Just get the best of both worlds with a FMIC that's in two halfs like this: http://www.aus300zx.com/forum/showthread.php?t=256437
I'm pretty interested in the ebay ones for $450. They look ok and i remember a group buy for them on here recently so i guess a few Zedders have them. Actually what comments does anyone who bought these ebay ones have of them? Worth the money? Decent quality?
after cutting out most the bs. like fmics cut off all air to the radiator etc. the way i see it is, fmic gets more air to it, and it cools better... so it allows you to run more boost, but it also provides more lag, having your turbos come on at around 3000rpm. whereas smics dont cool as good, but are still definatly adequate to run powerful boost, and have less lag then fmics... come on at like 2500? the comparison i was thinkin with stock turbos and rounding off. p.s. i have a fmic, if someone wanted to trade me larger smics, for my fmic id probably think about it.... but another benefit of the fmic is having boost come on at 3000 i can drive around without boost on at like 2500rpm (normal cruising speeds) and dont chew as much fuel! but yah, search... think we discussed this, hmmm 264 times last year?
with my smics the car responds quickers, builds boost better. and yes it runs coolers, verified by my aftermarket water temp gauge, there are 10 second zeds running smics so why doubt.. FMICS are larger, heavyer and they do restrict the air 2 the radiator and also lag more .. dont doubt it because ive ran BOTH and i can tell you my smics are better
SMIC is the go if you want the best performance and cooling. i went with a front mount because im a shallow bastard and wanted it to look tough :zlove:
lol, well at least you can admit it i think the worst thing about the FMIC is that the left exhaust feeds the left bank. whereas with SMIC left exhaust feeds right bank, and so helps keep engine running in a balanced fashion.
Gotta disagree mate there is a thread on oz300zx comparing inlet temps with FMIC and SMIC over dyno runs etc.... FMIC colder every time
The Saga continues... There was a big discussion on this a few months ago...there always is... After a lot of research over the years, I went with larger side mounts. I wont go into the pro's and cons but basically, the Zed runs hot enough as it is and the first priority with any owner should be to have the most efficient cooling system for the car. This includes allowing all the available air to cool it, not restrict it. The other reason is to take advantage of the layout of the car. Unlike the rivals, we have the ability to have two intercoolers...why not just get two larger ones and keep the car the way it was designed? FMIC's work well on single intercooler cars. Personally, their only real benefit on a Zed is Bling. Depends what you want. There is no doubt that FMIC's still work well on a Zed no worries...even with big HP. But a Zed running a few degree's cooler every day will last longer later on and will perfom far better. That's the bottom line. Cheers Rob.
Mate, I can't believe no one has bought up the top mount intercooler. If it's good enough for Subaru, or was it Mitsubishi? I forget lol
