93formula

just curious wether its been tried, not sure if there is even any clearance. possibly an option to hacking up the front bumper frame??

and yes i know one would have to cut a hole in the hood

but just curious thats all

beepy

I tried using a top mount just to make the charge pipes as short as possible on the earliest turbo version of my car. I found out what the WRX guys already know: A TMIC is really inefficient. Many of the serious WRX guys scrap the TMIC in favor of a FMIC.

The main reason a TMIC sucks: When driving there is a lot more pressure in the front of the car than on the top of the hood, and the air ends up traveling up from the engine bay, through the TMIC, and out the hood. So you are "cooling" your intake air with air that has already passed through the radiator and across the hot manifold and engine.

boosted92

If you don't want to hack up the core support use an air-to-water cooler inside the engine bay, done.

93formula

good point guys.

i thouht the wrx was water cooled.

is the reason there ineffiencent because the air travels thru the bay first and out the hood??

how ineffecient is it though?? what hp levels would one have to make before the top mount would be scrapped for a front mount??

not that i want too, just saw a wrx with the intercooler in the hood and got curious wether or not it could work.

boosted92, is a air to water setup more costly???

Si Shane

its more expensive than a fmic (used for used)

it it also less effective.

nuff said. Just find a used JRC or soemthing.

93formula

but why is it less effective and to what point, like people who want to make over 400 whp?

would it be fine for people that make 300 whp?? i mean for people with ac it may be handy. i dunno just curious as to what makes it so much inferior.

Si Shane

You dont seem to know how an intercooler works. you should go learn it is fairly pragmatic, that is what about it makes it inefficient.

Location, heat, size... its got a large cross sectional area, most do, which is good... but not if the intercooler itself is hot. heat soak is something you can search for...

boosted92

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 93formula &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">boosted92, is a air to water setup more costly???

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes, there's some money involved for a heat exchanger, cell, pump, and fan but it's not outrageous.

93formula

well i like digging into things to find out why they work and why they dont. but that being said at what point does it become ineffiecent?? like why does subaru make a top mount from the factory rather then a front mount. im not sure what the stock hp levels of a wrx is, im assuming around 300, so wouldnt it be suffiecent for that hp level??

i understand what you mean by heat soak, the engine heat heats up the intercooler. in the front there is much less heat soak. just curious thats all. there must be some level of effeciency to it though.

boosted92

It's much easier and cheaper to get a car to pass crash test regulations when you don't have an intercooler in the front bumper, for one thing.

93formula

ah that makes sense.

would you guys know if the wrx guys make any gains from just swapping to a fmic and not touching anything else?

JalopySiR

Cripes, It's like the blind leading the blind in here.

Answers: A TMIC is not as good as a FMIC.

Will it (TMIC) work for your application? Probably.

Will you have to cut up your hood? Definately.

As long as there is sufficient ducting into, and out of (space behind), it will work fine.

Also, air does not travel "out" of the hood scoop when moving. Air comes in the scoop, and in from the radiator opening. It is then channeled under the car...

Subaru did not install a FMIC from the factory for a few reasons:

Longer plumbing=more lag/increased boost threshold. (+money)

Condenser+intercooler in front of radiator=bad for cooling.

It simply isn't nesseccary until you start making big power.

You could also look into a air water setup, but if you are asking these types of questions, I would think it might be a bit out of your league.

Also, look into Corky Bell's "Maximum Boost". There is an entire chapter dedicated to intercooling.

93formula

thanks for your reply i will google the corky bell.