AWE FMIC install day

**eboosted** · 01-08-2011 10:32 PM

I installed the FMIC today after several months keeping it off the desk, I really thought it was going to be much harder that that but it really was a piece of cake. The main issue was the 19mm hole you need to drill at the crashbar, easy if you have a drill with 19mm drill bit or otherwise you will have to take it to the machine shop as I did. The rest was a piece of cake, I took almost 2 hours to install it with no major issues.

BTW I have ADS but no addaptive steering

Stage II+ customer reflash is going in tomorrow, here are some crappy iPhone pics:

**ddun** · 01-09-2011 12:05 AM

its a breeze! fyi for anyone doing this mod in the future. you don't need a massive ass drill bit. use a small pilot drill bit to drill through as marked in the instructions, then on the front of the crash bar use the step drill to enlargen it enough for the head of the bolt to go through. then on the back side of crash bar, englargen it enough for the thread of the bolts to go through! mount up the brackets and then the FMIC then reassemble and enjoy the IAT's.

if you're using some battery operated hand drill trying to drill through steel with a big ass bit like that will take forever.

**Kevins350z** · 01-09-2011 01:47 AM

Is there any noticeable difference in terms of power after install?

**quality_sound** · 01-09-2011 04:46 AM

Originally Posted by Kevins350z

Is there any noticeable difference in terms of power after install?

+1

More lag? Better IATs? Higher coolant temps?

**SupFly** · 01-09-2011 06:30 AM

nicely done taking the gig on yourself!

**fredjones** · 01-09-2011 07:00 PM

I did this myself in my garage. You don't have to have all of the professional equipment like used above. AWE has excellent instructions available at their site. The only really key piece of equipment needed to do this is the step drill bit they recommend. That and cool head and a load of patience and a couple hours. I wouldn't say exactly that a caveman can do it though.

**eboosted** · 01-09-2011 07:28 PM

Well, the car feels much more powerful and it's much much fun to floor it now, the power uptop is pretty impressive, I would say the most benefit comes at the top end.

I'll upload some before and after IATs charts tomorrow, as well as ignition timing logs

**Bairum** · 01-09-2011 08:14 PM

AWE states on their website that the FMIC doesn't affect the radiator or the A/C system....

I am concerned about that statement considering the FMIC essentially blocks the radiator. I admittedly have very minimal experience with FMICs, so it would be interesting to hear from people who have had this installed for a decent amount of time. I read through some older posts AWE FMIC related posts, and didn't find anything negative...

**A5MD** · 01-09-2011 08:25 PM

eboosted: What else do you have done on your car? I am contemplating between an FMIC or Exhaust in the next couple months. I know thw FMIC would give me more power but the exhaust would give me the look since I willl be doing the dual exhausts

**eboosted** · 01-09-2011 08:27 PM

I found some post that stated surging on the awe fmic for being that large, nevertheless I went ahead and bought it and I'm quite happy wityh the results, this will allow me to raise the boost a little bit more, increase ignition timing and lean the AFR to get smoother extra power uptop.

At the end, for me, being able to increase these parameters was the main purpose of a FMIC

**eboosted** · 01-09-2011 08:35 PM

Originally Posted by PG2373

eboosted: What else do you have done on your car? I am contemplating between an FMIC or Exhaust in the next couple months. I know thw FMIC would give me more power but the exhaust would give me the look since I willl be doing the dual exhausts

Well I'm not into looks much, so I focused myself on power mods, from my point of view I think it much more rewarding, I get a smile on my face everytime I press the gas pedal.

I'd go with 3" catless DP, sound is grumpy and mean but only when you push it hard, otherwise is quite as stock

Besides that I have a custom tune, cat defeated, speed limit off, inmediate throttle response and 4 programs to choose from, 93, 100oct, stock and economic, I use economic most of the time and 93 on the weekends. I have the eurocode IC pipe as well.

**A5MD** · 01-09-2011 08:48 PM

Thanks. Of course we all want both (power and looks) but I still have to decide. I currently have APR Stage 2 and a Ecode HFC

**dracolnyte** · 01-09-2011 08:49 PM

Originally Posted by eboosted

I found some post that stated surging on the awe fmic for being that large, nevertheless I went ahead and bought it and I'm quite happy wityh the results, this will allow me to raise the boost a little bit more, increase ignition timing and lean the AFR to get smoother extra power uptop.

At the end, for me, being able to increase these parameters was the main purpose of a FMIC

Could you explain how you can increase the boost and ignition timing with an FMIC? Is this done via VAGCOM?

**MiracleWhips** · 01-09-2011 09:47 PM

Originally Posted by Bairum

AWE states on their website that the FMIC doesn't affect the radiator or the A/C system....

I am concerned about that statement considering the FMIC essentially blocks the radiator. I admittedly have very minimal experience with FMICs, so it would be interesting to hear from people who have had this installed for a decent amount of time. I read through some older posts AWE FMIC related posts, and didn't find anything negative...

No issues here as far as IAT.

**MiracleWhips** · 01-09-2011 09:48 PM

Originally Posted by eboosted

Well, the car feels much more powerful and it's much much fun to floor it now, the power uptop is pretty impressive, I would say the most benefit comes at the top end.

I agree with this assessment. The car continues to pull longer and more consistently versus stock.

**eboosted** · 01-10-2011 06:47 AM

Originally Posted by MiracleWhips

No issues here as far as IAT.

you mean as far as water temps

**NickZag** · 01-10-2011 09:26 AM

It's good to hear all the postive reviews on this. This is probably going to be one of the next mods on my car. I'm just concerned about it blocking the radiator. I know they claim that it doesn't effect the engine temp, but as much tracking as I do awith my A4 mixed with the heat in the California summer I think I might be an extreme case.

**Alex/AWE** · 01-10-2011 09:54 AM

Originally Posted by NickZag

It's good to hear all the postive reviews on this. This is probably going to be one of the next mods on my car. I'm just concerned about it blocking the radiator. I know they claim that it doesn't effect the engine temp, but as much tracking as I do awith my A4 mixed with the heat in the California summer I think I might be an extreme case.

Nick,

That's a valid concern and we had the same concerns when we were testing this FMIC. Let me assure you that if it had any negative effect on the cooling system we would not have released it to the public.

Take a look at this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsQ0_SUSC6M.

The video is of our in-house B7 A4, with our FMIC and GT Turbo Kit, undergoing testing at Thurderbolt Road Course at New Jersey Motorsports Park. During numerous hard sessions at the track in the scorching heat, we never found evidence that the cars cooling system was effected by our FMIC. The car in the video is not a B8 however the testing still holds true for our B8 FMIC since the heart of the kit is similar.

In addition to the track testing, we did a lot of street testing to ensure that our large face FMIC would have no negative effects.

Does that help?

If you have any additional questions, please let me know.

**Alex/AWE** · 01-10-2011 10:06 AM

Originally Posted by quality_sound

+1

More lag? Better IATs? Higher coolant temps?

While our FMIC is much larger than stock, the turbo is able to pump air so quickly that lag is not an issue.

The factory IC heat soaks very quickly. Our testing showed a 30% reduction in IATs (resulting in an additional +21 crank hp +20 crank tq on a car with aftermarket software and a catback exhaust). That is massive!

Have you had a chance to check out the B8 FMIC section of our website? http://www.awe-tuning.com/products/a...we-b8fmic.html

If not, check it out when time allows. It might answer some of your questions.

Let me know if I can help in any way.

**eboosted** · 01-10-2011 10:39 AM

Originally Posted by dracolnyte

Could you explain how you can increase the boost and ignition timing with an FMIC? Is this done via VAGCOM?

No VAG-COM is not a flasher, if you need to program the ECU yourself you will need an EBF this device will allow you to reflash and tune your car according to your mods.

**MiracleWhips** · 01-10-2011 10:51 AM

Originally Posted by eboosted

you mean as far as water temps

Overall, no issues noticeable with heat.

**NickZag** · 01-10-2011 04:43 PM

Thanks for the info Alex. This mod is high on my to do list.

**Alex/AWE** · 01-11-2011 07:33 AM

Originally Posted by NickZag

Thanks for the info Alex. This mod is high on my to do list.

No problem Nick. Let me know when if you have any other questions down the road. I'm here to help.

**rippin'av** · 01-11-2011 08:05 AM

Originally Posted by NickZag

It's good to hear all the postive reviews on this. This is probably going to be one of the next mods on my car. I'm just concerned about it blocking the radiator. I know they claim that it doesn't effect the engine temp, but as much tracking as I do awith my A4 mixed with the heat in the California summer I think I might be an extreme case.

IMO, thats all the more reason to get the FMIC...heat sucks power and 30% reduction is solid!