AWE FMIC OR Racetec FMIC

[Goped220]

Which one do you guys think it better and why?

[Nico]

I would go for the AWE intercooler. AWE has done significant R&D on their intercooler and have shared their results showing significant temperature drops vs stock DSMIC and minimal pressure drop. Racetec has yet to post any data for their system, despite several requests from me and others. Although their intercooler is alot cheaper I think there is only minimal benefit gained vs stock DSMIC (but I guess until someone logs the data we won't know either way for sure).

AWE seems like the proven option so why not go for that!

[TonyD]

Racetec. We have a group buy on their intercoolers!

[redhott06]

I have racetec and i love it.. but then again, there is no way i was paying the cost of the awe one! awe always stands behind their work though.

[quattrosaint]

I would go for the AWE intercooler. AWE has done significant R&D on their intercooler and have shared their results showing significant temperature drops vs stock DSMIC and minimal pressure drop. Racetec has yet to post any data for their system, despite several requests from me and others. Although their intercooler is alot cheaper I think there is only minimal benefit gained vs stock DSMIC (but I guess until someone logs the data we won't know either way for sure).

AWE seems like the proven option so why not go for that!

Exactly, AWE all the way. If you NEVER want to worry about heat soak spend the extra money on the AWE. Fit and finish is great and for some reason I think its so cool that they etch your last name into the serial number. Plus the blowpop gives your mouth something to do when your hands are busy with the install.

[Sal_B7]

I would buy a AWE if i got one.

[roostboost]

I think the larger fmic where you have to remove the "crash bar" is overkill unless you're going all out race or over 350whp...this is from my personal experience with my 433whp srt4 and fmic in general. I think the Greddy or ATP direct fit fmic would be more than enough, but that is my opinion/experience

[LAS]

racetec 'should' be sufficient. unless you'll be running some serious BT boost, save some cash.

[tdavit]

awe is direct fit and you do not need to remove the crash bar, well you do for install but it goes back on

[Six Speed Turbo]

I have the AWE FMIC and I really enjoy it. The car feels alot stronger and pulls harder uptop!

[roostboost]

awe is direct fit and you do not need to remove the crash bar, well you do for install but it goes back on

so you're saying that the upper portion of the intercooler "sits" behind the crash bar and ends up being blocked by it? I know some intercoolers will include a "support" bar but will not do anything in the way of protection in a crash

[Nico]

so you're saying that the upper portion of the intercooler "sits" behind the crash bar and ends up being blocked by it? I know some intercoolers will include a "support" bar but will not do anything in the way of protection in a crash

No modifications required:

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...we+intercooler

[Nico]

I don't know why any one would buy an unproven FMIC. That just seems like a waste of money. AWE said themselves they added their B6 BT FMIC to the 2.0T and lost 10WHP. This just proves that you can't just slap any old intercooler on and it will be better than stock, there are alot of factors involved.

So if you want an intercooler that will actually do something for you car get the A.W.E one.

[supamannn99]

I don't know why any one would buy an unproven FMIC. That just seems like a waste of money. AWE said themselves they added their B6 BT FMIC to the 2.0T and lost 10WHP. This just proves that you can't just slap any old intercooler on and it will be better than stock, there are alot of factors involved.

So if you want an intercooler that will actually do something for you car get the A.W.E one.

i second that.

its costly but you can't go wrong with AWE. you'll definitely get what you pay for

if you're really serious about getting the most gains out of an intercooler upgrade, seriously save up for an AWE FMIC. Don't forget, you're not at a complete loss financial-wise because these things have a decent resale value due to its high quality assurance. so when and/or if you decide to go back to stock, you can just sell it for probably a little more than half of what you paid for and put your stock ones back on.

i honestly would not buy a used racetec intercooler.. one of the reasons being it's unproven results. but that's just me

[Vito Roma]

Awe....

[reggaemylitis]

I just had Euro Technik (forum sponsor) put one on, and the thing is great. We did a cruise for almost two hours yesterday through the one hilly part of Florida, doing LOTS of spirited driving and running through the gears at WOT, and never once felt any loss of power or heat soak. Oh, and it was 90+ degrees outside. At the end, did three pulls on the dyno in a row, and all three pulls were really consistent. AWE FMIC!

[SilverB7FL]

I just had Euro Technik (forum sponsor) put one on, and the thing is great. We did a cruise for almost two hours yesterday through the one hilly part of Florida, doing LOTS of spirited driving and running through the gears at WOT, and never once felt any loss of power or heat soak. Oh, and it was 90+ degrees outside. At the end, did three pulls on the dyno in a row, and all three pulls were really consistent. AWE FMIC!

I did the same cruise w/ my little racetec and never had any heatsoak problems. Didnt get to dyno though b/c the back rollers broke. Would have been interesting to see how the racetec and AWE compare since our cars are basically the same and went through the same conditions!

[reggaemylitis]

I did the same cruise w/ my little racetec and never had any heatsoak problems. Didnt get to dyno though b/c the back rollers broke. Would have been interesting to see how the racetec and AWE compare since our cars are basically the same and went through the same conditions!

Yep, I would love to have seen your results! That sucks about the dyno, especially after sweating your ass off for 5 hours waiting!

Next time. But there you go Goped, two almost identical cars and mods other than the intercoolers in question, and neither with problems from heat soak. I like to go big with everything though (even when unnecessary), which is the only reason I chose the AWE. I just wanted to be sure.

[roostboost]

for those who have the awe fmic...do you have to remove the power steering cooler and relocate it with the one awe provides? Did you lose alot of fluid as well?

[quattrosaint]

for those who have the awe fmic...do you have to remove the power steering cooler and relocate it with the one awe provides? Did you lose alot of fluid as well?

Yes and it comes with a new one. Fluid everywhere....... you have to cut the line. Be prepaired and make sure you have a can on hand.

[Nico]

Do any of you racetec owners have Vag-Com? If you do could you log intake air temps. It would be interesting to see what they are and if they change throughout the RPM its not entirely accurate but it could give us some idea of how effective it is. This would probably help people decide, at the end of the day if the cheaper option is just as effective then its the best option.

[RedS-line]

nico, what other factors are involved with a fmic that adding one could lose hp?

[Nico]

To big (volume) - there is a pressure loss therefore less air goes into the engine = less power

To small (volume/surface area) -there is too much pressure the air doesn't get cooled down enough = less power

To thin (thickness of core) - the intake air temps get really hot when the car is stationary and then take longer to cool down once the car is in motion (heat soak) fine for long drives or highway but worse in city traffic lights.

To thick - affects the functioning of radiator & A/c condenser

The trick is you want the perfect balance of all these factors to get the perfect intercooler. Big enough to cool the air effectively while driving and preventing the intake air temps from going up when stationary. But not too big to cause a pressure drop or affect the other cooling components of the car.

I'm not saying the racetec won't do this but it hasn't been proven. The A.W.E has shown it effectively cools, looses less pressure than the stock system and doesn't affect any other parts on the car. This is why I would choose A.W.E.

That being said I don't have an intercooler yet.

[RedS-line]

thanks for the info. didnt know there was that much to it.

[SilverB7FL]

To big (volume) - there is a pressure loss therefore less air goes into the engine = less power

To small (volume/surface area) -there is too much pressure the air doesn't get cooled down enough = less power

To thin (thickness of core) - the intake air temps get really hot when the car is stationary and then take longer to cool down once the car is in motion (heat soak) fine for long drives or highway but worse in city traffic lights.

To thick - affects the functioning of radiator & A/c condenser

The trick is you want the perfect balance of all these factors to get the perfect intercooler. Big enough to cool the air effectively while driving and preventing the intake air temps from going up when stationary. But not too big to cause a pressure drop or affect the other cooling components of the car.

I'm not saying the racetec won't do this but it hasn't been proven. The A.W.E has shown it effectively cools, looses less pressure than the stock system and doesn't affect any other parts on the car. This is why I would choose A.W.E.

That being said I don't have an intercooler yet.

you don't get crazy heatsoak from having the k04 and no upgraded intercooler????

[AAAA]

you don't get crazy heatsoak from having the k04 and no upgraded intercooler????

mine's not too bad either

[reggaemylitis]

I don't know what the weather is like in Sydney year round, and VA is pretty cool most of the year too I would imagine, but my KO3 was worthless from 10 AM - 8 PM as soon as March hit here in Florida. Now it's 100 degrees and it don't matter at all! Woooooo Hoooooo!

[AAAA]

va is far from cool. we are quite humid and it gets in the mid 90s consistently throughout the summer

[Nico]

you don't get crazy heatsoak from having the k04 and no upgraded intercooler????

I think you will get more heatsoak with a highly tuned KO3 than a KO4. Because the KO3 is working harder to achieve/hold the boost, the KO4 is a tiny, tiny bit larger so it doesn't have to work as hard.

I have looked at my intake air temps on the stock DSMIC and they are usually around 30 (86F) degrees at the moment but it's only 18(64.4F) degrees in sydney at the moment. When I sit in traffic The temps rise steadily about 1 degree C/30 sec to about 40(104) but as soon as I start to drive they drop back down to 30. The highest I have seen is 45(113). I was told on the B6 on stage 3 the intake air temps were around 90(194) degrees with the stock cooler. So I think these temps are ok. I haven't done the logs from stop to redline to see how much the intake air temps rise during hard acceleration yet as I only got Vag-Com 3 weeks ago. But the A.W.E is almost the next on my list. I have just had to replace my coilovers so I'm still waiting for them then prob A.W.E

[4flow]

Have you tried looking at http://www.atpturbo.com/Merchant2/me...egory_Code=AB7

This is what I am running in my car, as we speak.



With less the weight. ATPturbo sells them as well, as KMDtuning.

Here's my car.

[roostboost]

ATP and Garrett make a fmic that fits under the stock crash bar and are both rated to cool up to 400whp effectively. These are the one's I was looking at as I'm never going to need something bigger anytime in the near or distant future. I do like the fact that the AWE and Racetec sit behind the crash bar and are "out of sight/stealth". I wanted to know if anyone had "real" pics of how their car looked w/the ATP or Greddy as it looks like you can see it behind the grill etc. and I don't know if i'd like it or not?

[Todd/AWE]

ATP and Garrett make a fmic that fits under the stock crash bar and are both rated to cool up to 400whp effectively. These are the one's I was looking at as I'm never going to need something bigger anytime in the near or distant future. I do like the fact that the AWE and Racetec sit behind the crash bar and are "out of sight/stealth". I wanted to know if anyone had "real" pics of how their car looked w/the ATP or Greddy as it looks like you can see it behind the grill etc. and I don't know if i'd like it or not?

A "400hp" rating is quite generic and does not translate to much in the real world. Piping size and material, end tank design, and placement all have a bearing on wheel power gains/losses, so just rating a core alone at a given power level is more marketing pitch than science.

The combined core volume of the stock dual side mounts equals about the same as those "400hp" rated cores.

We tried a lot of the generic units during R&D of our system. There is a reason we went as big as we did with the core.

Even with a chip there is room for intake air temp improvement over what is seen with the stock intercoolers on the B7 2.0T. It is just not an easy task to accomplish.

[4flow]

I tried using the other types.. I like AWE, I ride with AWE pipe on my car. Garrett has been established, ATP has been established.

AWE is a great, but let us do the math. The two can provide the same function.. They cool ;-)) I don't put shitty stuff in my car, I tried the A.W.E.

I do not have anything bad to say that is why you will not see me writing anything bad about it, as anal, as I am when it comes to my car. I have to be picky and only report back what works for me through comparison of the two products.

Lets do the math, one will comes out less, and one has been used in the tracks more often than the other. FMIC by Garrett, kited and tested by ATPturbo.

[Todd/AWE]

I tried using the other types.. I like AWE, I ride with AWE pipe on my car. Garrett has been established, ATP has been established.

AWE is a great, but let us do the math. The two can provide the same function.. They cool ;-)) I don't put shitty stuff in my car, I tried the A.W.E.

I do not have anything bad to say that is why you will not see me writing anything bad about it, as anal, as I am when it comes to my car. I have to be picky and only report back what works for me through comparison of the two products.

Lets do the math, one will comes out less, and one has been used in the tracks more often than the other. FMIC by Garrett, kited and tested by ATPturbo.

You tried our FMIC on your B7 A4?

Sounds like you would be a great resource to show the forum some data between the two kits.

Perhaps there is something basic I am overlooked about the core you posted about. I'd love to see some comparison data that you gathered.

[4flow]

Tod,

I have more than what I expected in my car now than FMIC. I will be posting more informatin, and I still remember your post in a thread that I posted,I have not forgotten what you wrote, I did not reply to it nor I am not ignoring you. I am just gathering all information once all that I am doing for my car is complete, for I am doing more than just one thing.

KMDtuning is very knowledgeable, they sell both ATP (Garrett, and your FMIC) http://kmdtuning.com/store/index.php...ewCat&catId=88