Which FMIC is more efficient then the stock SMIC

[cpu77]

I am going to be buying a IC. I am only planning to ever go as far as a k04. What I want is a IC that has better flow characteristics then the stock one. So a car at stock boost on a K03 would benefit from this upgrade (better flow not just cooling).

My main concerns in this order are

1. Fitment
2. Efficiency
3. Price

I like the ASP and Raceworks Sport but not sure how efficient they are.

[pondside36]

The stock side mounted IC is as big as a lunch box, literaly, it is tiny.. the ones you mentioned will be better. Plus the stock unit has plastic ends, crap..

[cpu77]

I know the ones I mentioned would cool better. The question is do they out flow that tiny thing at stock boost levels?

[pondside36]

Well your sig says you have APR +1 so a FMIC is going to help your IAT temps alot... and since these IC are designed to allow for more flow I don't see how they could be less effective than the stock IC.

[Alex/AWE]

I am going to be buying a IC. I am only planning to ever go as far as a k04. What I want is a IC that has better flow characteristics then the stock one. So a car at stock boost on a K03 would benefit from this upgrade (better flow not just cooling).

My main concerns in this order are

1. Fitment
2. Efficiency
3. Price

I like the ASP and Raceworks Sport but not sure how efficient they are.

What about our unit?



Fitment:
Our B6 FMIC was designed to fit perfectly behind the front bumper support, ensuring proper crash safety in the event of an accident. There is only some very minor trimming necessary on the bumper needed.



Efficiency:
Our B6 FMIC is not only more efficient then stock, its also more efficient than many of our competitors.

This chart shows how much more efficient our FMIC is than the stock piece, it tramples the stock piece in terms of temperature drop and efficiency.


Here is a dyno chart showing gains for our system over the stock IC.


Dyno chart comparing our FMIC to a popular competitors IC. The only changes made to the car between the two tests was the removal of the competitors kit and the installation of ours.



Price and more information can be found on our website. Here is a link directly to the B6 FMIC section of our site.

[pondside36]

^^^ all true, I have AWE's FMIC and it performs and fits as advertised.

[zims666]

I am going to be buying a IC. I am only planning to ever go as far as a k04. What I want is a IC that has better flow characteristics then the stock one. So a car at stock boost on a K03 would benefit from this upgrade (better flow not just cooling).

wow youre really going nuts on upgrades. what TIP did you settle on?
as far as fmic, ive read that the Evolution Racewerks is best.
you can find a good price on it here: http://www.shop.dthaus.com/product.s...8&productId=51

[dantm]

What about our unit?



Fitment:
Our B6 FMIC was designed to fit perfectly behind the front bumper support, ensuring proper crash safety in the event of an accident. There is only some very minor trimming necessary on the bumper needed.



Efficiency:
Our B6 FMIC is not only more efficient then stock, its also more efficient than many of our competitors.

This chart shows how much more efficient our FMIC is than the stock piece, it tramples the stock piece in terms of temperature drop and efficiency.


Here is a dyno chart showing gains for our system over the stock IC.


Dyno chart comparing our FMIC to a popular competitors IC. The only changes made to the car between the two tests was the removal of the competitors kit and the installation of ours.



Price and more information can be found on our website. Here is a link directly to the B6 FMIC section of our site.

How much does it cost?

Thanks!

[maclem8223]

If you are not going bigger than a K04 I would also recommend looking at Evolution Racewerks Sport FMIC. Great fitment as well but to each his own; AWE's product is nice as well.

[demea]

How much does it cost?

Thanks!

Click their link - $999.95

[pondside36]

You also get a Blow pop in the box.. :)

[demea]

You also get a Blow pop in the box.. :)

True dat!

[maclem8223]

This is true, I forgot about the free blow pop lol.

[pondside36]

It's the little things that make it all worth it.. lol

[maclem8223]

Personally, though I'm only going to be running Stg. 1+ I went ahead and bought the ER comp. for bigger plans in the future. The couple pounds of pressure I will be losing for awhile is worth the extra 600 for later on.

[pondside36]

^^ I would agree, better to pay now and install once if your plans are to go BAT later on down the road. The AWE will accomidate thier GT28R kit and Eliminator kits at least, it's core is much larger than the sport FMIC on the market.

[demea]

Maybe I'm reading it wrong, but did anyone notice (Alex) that on the graph it shows torque gains over your compition's FMIC as +1.8 lb ft @ 3000 rpms, but in the stock tests shows a loss of 2.2 lb ft @ 3000?

So the way I'm reading the dyno output was that from stock SMIC>>>AWE FMIC, we'll lose 2.2 lb.ft.?

[AudiA4Style]

ER Sport

[maclem8223]

x2

[mike-2ptzero]

Maybe I'm reading it wrong, but did anyone notice (Alex) that on the graph it shows torque gains over your compition's FMIC as +1.8 lb ft @ 3000 rpms, but in the stock tests shows a loss of 2.2 lb ft @ 3000?

So the way I'm reading the dyno output was that from stock SMIC>>>AWE FMIC, we'll lose 2.2 lb.ft.?

Correct, there is a peak tq loss but the tq curve changes. The stock SMIC graph falls like a rock after 3800 while the FMIC graph doesn't start falling till 4500 and then falls at the same rate as the SMIC at 4700.

[absolutegtr]

Do you really get a Blow-pop?



Seriously? ..............................If so, thats awesome.

[pondside36]

^^^Yes you do, a nice treat while you check out your new FMIC.. lol, they also etched my first name into the ID#.. :)

[cpu77]

wow youre really going nuts on upgrades. what TIP did you settle on?
as far as fmic, ive read that the Evolution Racewerks is best.
you can find a good price on it here: http://www.shop.dthaus.com/product.s...8&productId=51

Trying to decide on a TIP I did decide I only want a hard one. Yeah I got the mod bug again. I want to do a couple of things to keep my wife happy:) The A4 is her car. Not that I don't like driving it:) It's actually one of the funniest cars we have owned. I want to buy a FMIC, K04 and a TIP. That should do it for a while.

[demea]

Do you really get a Blow-pop?



Seriously? ..............................If so, thats awesome.

With the GT28R kit, you get a blowjob

[Alex/AWE]

Maybe I'm reading it wrong, but did anyone notice (Alex) that on the graph it shows torque gains over your compition's FMIC as +1.8 lb ft @ 3000 rpms, but in the stock tests shows a loss of 2.2 lb ft @ 3000?

So the way I'm reading the dyno output was that from stock SMIC>>>AWE FMIC, we'll lose 2.2 lb.ft.?

You are reading the chart correctly, there is a small loss of torque at the low end. You will lose 2.2lb ft but gain 15.4 whp.

In this case, the small stock turbo at stock boost levels takes a little longer to fill the larger FMIC and get flow going.

However, the tradeoff in low end power loss is MORE than made up for with gains up top. The low end losses are so small compared to the gains up top that it really is not worth worrying about.

[Alex/AWE]

Do you really get a Blow-pop?



Seriously? ..............................If so, thats awesome.

Yup! We include a Blow-pop with every order we ship out as a thank you to our customers.

[demea]

You are reading the chart correctly, there is a small loss of torque at the low end. You will lose 2.2lb ft but gain 15.4 whp.

In this case, the small stock turbo at stock boost levels takes a little longer to fill the larger FMIC and get flow going.

However, the tradeoff in low end power loss is MORE than made up for with gains up top. The low end losses are so small compared to the gains up top that it really is not worth worrying about.

Yeah, I suppose that makes sense when your using the stock K03 turbo.
Thanks

[cpu77]

Anyone know who's got the best price on the AWE unit? It's about $150 more than my other two choices. I do like the idea of a vendor getting involved in discussions to earn your business:)

[pondside36]

If you decide to AWE you won't be disappointed.. I don't think you are going to find it any cheaper than what they have listed, especially since they just became available again in the last month.

[B6Lovin]

This is true, I forgot about the free blow pop lol.

free??? I thought I was buying a $1300 blow pop and getting a free clutch kit the last time I bought from AWE....

I keed, their service was awesome and the product held up pretty well (for awhile lol, it just didn't like the launches - but that's the nature of an organic clutch.)

[dchan189]

Are there any downsides to having an Intercooler such as AWE, on a stock car?

[dougyfresh]

Some more info to help you decide what you want:



My car has the ASP FMIC and I'm pretty far away from a K03 or K04.. It retails for $999 and includes a new power steering cooler that resides where your stock SMIC used to be.






13.5degF increase after many back-to-back dyno pulls (this is with a GT28RS installed)

\/ Those pictures do not show T-Bolt clamps but it does come with all T-Bolt clamps for all connections.

AutoSpeed is pleased to announce or new FMIC kit for the B5/B6 platform.



We have developed this FMIC kit for our GT28RS turbo kit. We decided to offer the FMIC for K03/K04 upgrades as well.

The kit comes with FMIC measuring (18"W x 10.25"H x 2.25"D) Bar and plate core (415.125in3). The core has 15 charge rows and features cast end tank with ultra smooth internals. The kit includes an upgraded Power steering cooler. Absolutely no modifications are need to the OEM bumper at all!

All piping is black powder coated alumunim. We use only high quality ASP silicon and tbolt clamps (Note pictures show worm gear clamps on prototype vehicle) for all charge connections

[9744RR]

I also have an ASP FMIC on the car w/GTRS. I got it for about $860. Fitment is great, so was thier customer service.

[cpu77]

I see the ASP is on sale for $850. It looks like a nice quality piece. The ASP looks HUGE compared to the AWE and ER sport. The ASP seems like alot of over kill for a K04. My original question about a IC that was more efficient at stock boost comes in to play. A large IC is great for a big turbo running lots of boost but not so great for a little turbo running a little boost. I don't think many of the other posters understand this. (This is not directed at you:) I am considering the ASP for two reasons quality and their summer sale price.

[Papachristou]

i got my racetec FMIC from [email protected]

it fit without any trimming and lowered my IATs nearly 100 degrees. roughly the same gains as the AWE.... they now stay within 5-10 of ambient and the car pulls much harder... great service too BTW


if you want a PS cooler, just go to autozone, get a hayden 4x8 tranny cooler and use that.. it was $20 i think and didnt take long to fix it up

[mike-2ptzero]

I see the ASP is on sale for $850. It looks like a nice quality piece. The ASP looks HUGE compared to the AWE and ER sport. The ASP seems like alot of over kill for a K04. My original question about a IC that was more efficient at stock boost comes in to play. A large IC is great for a big turbo running lots of boost but not so great for a little turbo running a little boost. I don't think many of the other posters understand this. (This is not directed at you:) I am considering the ASP for two reasons quality and their summer sale price.

Nice thing about the ER sport is that it is short but 3" thick, so more of the core is actually placed in the opening of the bumper and in direct air flow.

You are very right about the fact that you always want to match the size of the FMIC to the amount of power or air flow that the turbo can produce. Going too large is just as bad as going too small.

[04_A4_1.8T]

i noticed that awe said that you have to cut the bumper a little to fit... how much is a little exactly? i am looking for a fmic as well and have been shopping around... i am not running stock boost though so i am not to worried about lag time with a bigger intercooler

[a4darkness]

Great thread going here.

[mike-2ptzero]

i noticed that awe said that you have to cut the bumper a little to fit... how much is a little exactly? i am looking for a fmic as well and have been shopping around... i am not running stock boost though so i am not to worried about lag time with a bigger intercooler

They most likely mean you have to cut the bumper support(rebar). I know we had to cut the rebar on Greg's car when we installed the ER comp, as for the bumper we only had to cut a straight line on the bottom part of the opening of the center of the bumper for the 3" thick core. Took us less then an hr to install the whole thing.

[pondside36]

The little amount needed to be cut for the AWE is on the lower bumper cover at the bottom where the grill snaps in. There are two small molded plastic support pieces that you trim flush. If you read their installation guide it illustrates what needs to be trimmed.. very little and not noticable since it is on the interior of the bumper cover.