Intercooler - Myth? Or Fact?

[paulr33]

same shit different smell. as long as the core is reasonable size, ie: 450 is fine and more suitable than 600. and it has 2.5" pipework it should be fine

[Fangz]

Thats excellent Ben!! so considering my car is 165rw/kw at the moment, I should be hoping to see 180 - 185rwkw after the FMIC? then with cold air intake and 12psi i should see nearly 190rw/kw? Im wondering where all those sceptics are? hahha

Cheers

i have the hybrid gt spec cooler kit

after fitting the cooler i noticed smother acceloration

power fc

12psi

3'' cat and cat back exh

stock injectors, pump turbo

and made 192.2rwkw

awesome coolers and value for money!

[QRI05E]

Thanks for your opinion Paul! I think for $400 the Gktech one sounds very tempting.. unless someone can prove to me the Hybrid is any better, I might order a Gktech FMIC kit.. and considering m going to bump the boost to 10 - 11psi after the FMIC, ill stick to a 600 x 300 x 75 core...

Cheers

[siddr20]

Lol the only thing i can see hybrid being better is the marketing..

That is the resale vaule will be a lot better than other copies..

Also when it comes to selling your car, someone purchasing it might have more appeal of knowning you got a hybrid kit than a copy..

[QRI05E]

i have the hybrid gt spec cooler kit

after fitting the cooler i noticed smother acceloration

power fc

12psi

3'' cat and cat back exh

stock injectors, pump turbo

and made 192.2rwkw

awesome coolers and value for money!

Nice power output... but i dont see why the Gktech FMIC wont perform as well as the HYBRID.. there pretty similar in specs from what i have read... the only difference is that HYBRID have claimed and shown their product to improve performance... and GKtech hasn't

[QRI05E]

LOL if marketing is all the difference then i'd rather save $200 and buy a GKtech and spray TRUST on the front hahaha

Wouldn't HYBRID also be classified as a 'copy' cooler? I honestly think the Gktech is the way to go so far... its states to hold upto 25psi steadily and up to max 45psi... and only 0.2psi drop at 15psi EXACTLY the same claim of HYBRID...

[Pal]

think i paid 150 bux for my cooler of ebay, bought and fabricated my own pipes same as the pic on first page, went from 215rwhp to 256 rwhp with small increase in boost - from 10 to 12 psi. cost 300 bux all up for cooler and pipework. put a bit of effort in and you get alot for nothing

[siddr20]

It just all depends on what you want to do to your car??

What are your plans??

What mods would you like to have and know you will have..

A friend of mine who installs coolers for 33s, 34s, etc etc and claims that these copy coolers do the same job..

I think you will only notice the difference on big HP type cars..

[Fangz]

Nice power output... but i dont see why the Gktech FMIC wont perform as well as the HYBRID.. there pretty similar in specs from what i have read... the only difference is that HYBRID have claimed and shown their product to improve performance... and GKtech hasn't

when i was looking around for a cooler my mechanic said this to me, (comming from a guy that does twin turbo conversions on ferrari's)

''if your gonna get a cooler get a hybrid as there a direct copy of the blitz item and , dont get hks,greddy, blitz and pay $2000 if u wanna spend that much money get a arc''

[paulr33]

as you can see, everyone always makes another change when fitting a FMIC. its never just fit a FMIC and gain power. its always fit a FMIC and change something else at the same time and gain power

[QRI05E]

Ha-ha I like the cut of your jib Pal... Nice to see some creative effort with a decent outcome! I got my uni holidays coming up in about 1 month... im going to order the Gktech FMIC Kit and spend a day or two fitting it neatly.. (im VERY fussy) lol

Thanks for the input guys! Feel free to try and persuade me in buying another brand...

[siddr20]

Another brand?? well ARC.. proven to be best of the best!!!!!

[Sydneykid]

This such an old question and the arguments are still the same.

The R32GTST wastegate actuator is 10 psi.

But R32GTST don't get 10 psi at the plenum (more like 8.5 to 9 psi)

Because the take off for the wastegate actuator is at the compressor outlet ie; before the intercooler and pipework.

The R33GTST wastegate actuator is 4 psi.

And R33GTST get 4 psi at the plenum

Because the take off for the wastegate actuator is after the intercooler and pipework

When the solenoid opens (bleed off) they get 6 psi, but that's not the point.

So if you change to a freer flowing FMIC and pipework on an R32GTST then you get 10 psi at the plenum. Hence you get more power from just fitting the FMIC without changing the BOOST SETTING (but the boost changes).

This of course doesn't work on an R33GTST because you still get 4 psi at the plenum. The wastegate actuator takes its feed AFTER the freer flowing intercooler and pipework. So the turbo itself is producing less boost then it was with the standard intercooler.

But on an R33GTST, surely it is fair to say that you should return the boost to the same level at the compressor ie; add 1-2 psi at the plenum. So that the turbo itself is producing the same boost as it was with the standard intercooler.

It depends an your opinion as to whether that constitutes MORE boost or not.

cheers

Edited May 18, 2006 by Sydneykid

[Fangz]

id still go for the hybrid

heaps easy 2 fit, comes with instructions my galah could understand

[Sydneykid]

Another brand?? well ARC.. proven to be best of the best!!!!!

Personally, I have found the standard R33/34GTR intercooler to be better than any brand of aftermarket intercooler of the same size.

cheers

[QRI05E]

siddr20, yea i have read great things about ARC coolers however im more looking into "bang for you buck" and considering my car is fairly stockish... i think a Gktech or even HYBRID will do wonders compared to my stock cooler... and to save $200 the Gktech so far takes the cake

Example: From experience, GFB and Turbo smart manual boost controllers range from $90 - $120... and the Turbotech for $35 Delivered is heaps better then both GFB and turbo smart! Therefore cheap does not necessarily mean inferior..

Edited May 18, 2006 by QRI05E

[Coupe-This]

when i was looking around for a cooler my mechanic said this to me, (comming from a guy that does twin turbo conversions on ferrari's)

''if your gonna get a cooler get a hybrid as there a direct copy of the blitz item and , dont get hks,greddy, blitz and pay $2000 if u wanna spend that much money get a arc''

Sorry mate but your mechanic is wrong. The hybrid kit is not a copy of the blitz kit AT ALL. it uses a completely different piping setup, and for that reason, i would not waste my money on a genuine hybrid, as the piping setup makes it no better than hybrid copies, or the gktech kit.

FYI: the blitz/arc kits for the R33 are in the $1300-$1500 price range, and use a completely different (better) piping setup than the genuine hybrid.

The Gktech kit is not a hybrid copy...its a gktech kit, and thats what its sold as.

The Gktech kit also comes with easy installation instructions

[Roy]

We will never know which one is better. So buy whichever makes you feel better. Seriously.

Noone is going to back to back them with one another, measuring pressure drop at a sensible flow. Noone is going to test the effeciency of the cooler. No one is going to back to back the water temp increase from the compromised air flow through them.

Noone is actualy going to test the recovery of them after they have been heat soked etc...so buy whichever one you liek the look of, for most of our applications it will be fine.

I suspect the cheaper cores flow well, but dotn cool that well comapred to the higher price coolers. You cant have it both ways, and at the price they are offered at, i need to believe they will never match a more expensive locally made intercooler or high end Jap brand

[rob82]

Seeing as my next step is to install a FMIC on my R33 GTSt, I have been trying to research wether a FMIC would actually increase my cars current power output or not. Many sceptics say that a FMIC won’t increase any power but will only be a supporting modification to allow higher power output. Interestingly enough, I was looking into fitting a Hybrid GT spec kit and thought to share some of the claims Hybrid have made.

www.hybrid-power.com

Claims that with their Monster Bar & Plate Cooler kit for a skyline, have achieved a typical Gain: 25-30 rear wheel kilo watt (RWKW) with no other mods!

www.powerdigger.com

Claims:

MY01 Subaru WRX with the factory ECU boost controller gained 15aw/kw (40kw gain at engine)

Holden Calais VL Turbo gained 50rw/kw in the mid range of about 3250rpm with only 12 psi of boost.

Ford BA XR6T gained a massive 17% power of 30kw (about 50kw power gain at the engine) with standard boost.

Please visit the Hybrid websites to view their full claim along with dyno results.

Would anyone like to comment on these claims? Im intrested to see what your opinions are on this issue.

Regards,

Sarkis

What an absolute crock of shite where are they getting these figure from? An XR6T will gain nothing with an aftermarket intrecooler running standard boost. I know that for sure. If thats anything to go by then their figures are just BS!!!! The only car that would really benefit from an IC change would be the subi's as they have active ignition.

[paulr33]

im with roy. the stocker fmic on the xr6 is a garrett OEM core and is fine for stock boost