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Hey ppl,

This is my first time on here so I apologise straight up if I posted in the wrong section! Basically I just bought a series II R33 GTS-T and I want to fit a front mount intercooler on it. I am a bit confused with the intercooler market at the moment as some are made in China, some are part made in China and part elsewhere, and some are made in Japan. I don't know what to believe when I speak to a sales person at the end of the phone because they all tell me different things! I am after a good quality tube and fin one (preferably not from China), nothing over $1300 though.

Can you please give suggestions of a good brand, or tell me anything I should be aware of for the brands below? At the moment I am interested in possibly:

Hybrid

Plazmaman

ARC

Saber

Also, I have found some decent 2nd hand cores, is there anything I should be aware of before buying a used one?

Please feel free to add any other info/warnings you may feel necessary!

Thanks

Edited by ryan_33
Hey ppl,

This is my first time on here so I apologise straight up if I posted in the wrong section! Basically I just bought a series II R33 GTS-T and I want to fit a front mount intercooler on it. I am a bit confused with the intercooler market at the moment as some are made in China, some are part made in China and part elsewhere, and some are made in Japan. I don't know what to believe when I speak to a sales person at the end of the phone because they all tell me different things! I am after a good quality tube and fin one (preferably not from China), nothing over $1300 though.

Can you please give suggestions of a good brand, or tell me anything I should be aware of for the brands below? At the moment I am interested in possibly:

Hybrid

Plazmaman

ARC

Saber

Also, I have found some decent 2nd hand cores, is there anything I should be aware of before buying a used one?

Please feel free to add any other info/warnings you may feel necessary!

Thanks

Plazmaman are Aussie made, ARC is Japanese, and both Saber and Hybrid are the same thing and come from China.

Both ARC and Plazmaman would be a good choice if you are looking for something top shelf and don't mind spending the money, however for the majority of street cars, a typical cheaper kit like the Cooling-Pro kits from Just Jap will be more than ample, have been proven 100's of times over, and have an Aussie warranty anyway if something does go pear shaped :(

Plazmaman are Aussie made, ARC is Japanese, and both Saber and Hybrid are the same thing and come from China.

Both ARC and Plazmaman would be a good choice if you are looking for something top shelf and don't mind spending the money, however for the majority of street cars, a typical cheaper kit like the Cooling-Pro kits from Just Jap will be more than ample, have been proven 100's of times over, and have an Aussie warranty anyway if something does go pear shaped :(

Aren't cooling pro from China too? I do hope to take my car to the track a bit though so that is why I set myself a budget of around 1300...

Aren't cooling pro from China too? I do hope to take my car to the track a bit though so that is why I set myself a budget of around 1300...

Cooling Pro are from TAIWAN. I have one and am quite happy with the product. Just be prepared for a little bit of fuss when mounting to your car as some of the brackets may not line up with your car. Other than that, it doesn't disappoint. Also, you can spend the extra money you save on an EBC or exhaust.

depends on power needs what size youre after. i find it hard to believe there is much difference between brands of intercoolers however, certainly nothing to justify paying $1000+ (unless youre building a monster car). its just a friggen radiator for the intake. ive got a hybrid.

i must say though, invest in good strong hose clamps. i have blown off three seperate sections of hose in the last few months, one of which had been leaking for ages because of a shit clamp. now im going to replace them all with t-bars.

  • 2 months later...

I agree it's not worth speding up big. I am about to get a justjap fmic. I am curious about the difference between bar-plate and tube-fin... any thoughts?

the Just jap cooling pro will do the job for up to 360rwkw

it is made in the same factory as the Trust M-spec

I had one in my car when i had 300rwkw

but make sure you get the tube and fine intercoooler

lol street car wont see the difference between a chaina one and the best money can buy.

Unless its a serious track car just get the old basic cooling pro from just jap, nice and cheap and are good to.

+1

^ This is true.

For me i like the fact that the fitting is guaranteed.

In my case buying a JJR stealth before the world economy fail was going to end up very close to what the blitz cost being a sheep shagger and having to pay outrageous Australian shipping.

It was CHEAPER to have the blitz shipped from Japan than it was the Stealth from Australia! Wierd.

You could say the same about most exhausts too. Muffler design cannon wise is pretty similar. And how much can a 3 inch straight pipe really change? :) But i bet theres alot of members here rocking HKS/Trust/Kakimoto etc exhausts saying "buy the cheap FMIC its the same"... know what i mean?

all i can say is the best kit on the market right now is the new tube and fin GT kit from hybrid. hands down this kit wins in every way posible!!!

its around $550, its tube and fin, its very well made, fits perfect and is a lot lighter than the 'china' kits.

im not 100% sure where they are made but the quality is leaps ahead of all the other cheap kits.

i just put one in my car and was blown away but the quality and spot on fitment.

i have nothing to do with hybrid or the guys that sell them...

all i am saying is that for $550 you just will not do better and unless you are racing or being sponsored or just have money to waste and burn, then there is no other alternative...

ie if you want quality on your car...

all i can say is the best kit on the market right now is the new tube and fin GT kit from hybrid. hands down this kit wins in every way posible!!!

its around $550, its tube and fin, its very well made, fits perfect and is a lot lighter than the 'china' kits.

im not 100% sure where they are made but the quality is leaps ahead of all the other cheap kits.

Hybrid are another China/Taiwan Kit, with a different name.

You can get the same kit without the Hybrid name from traders on this forum for ~$150.00 less

I recently bought the same car and picked up an Apexi cooler with piping that suits my car for 350. I say stay put and wait for bargains..dont rush into anything. I got it off this site too by the way.

I have a blitz return flow fmic, very happy with it.

If your in melbourne i would recommend getting a return flow (uses the standard cooler piping route) as rwc guys are clamping down on holes in the inner gaurd and are asking for engineers certs before they will pass it.

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