ok I'm sick of the heat soak issue that the crappy stock tmic has and it gets hot as hell in the summer and works ok in the winter. I've got a clark tuned map on my wrx and want to add a ssac fmic that I can get reallllyy cheap. Will it be lag city or will the cooler air offset the longer piping? I normally wouldn't consider it but the price is right. Anyone got first hand experience with this? My car is a 2003 wrx and stage 2.
A FMIC is a waste on the stock turbo, and honestly, any small/medium turbo. You don't want to lose any spool on that TD04, as your powerband is small enough already, and yes, a FMIC will cause you to lose spool. You have the stock scoop and splitter/bellows?
you would probably better off by getting a big tmic or even an sti would yeild better power delivery then a fmic
Under what conditions are you experiencing such a drastic heat soak issue? I iz still learning but you can run much larger turbos with larger TMICs pretty effectively before jumping to the $$$($?) FMIC.
I have an ssac intercooler and ran it with my td04. I lost some spool but I guess it doesn't bother me. I have a vf39 now and am happy with the car. The only thing I hated was the install and cutting the front bumper up.
That's your problem. TMIC's need the proper splitter and bellows to ensure your airflow goes through the IC to cool your intake charge. Get the correct splitter and bellows for your application, and you'll likely notice a major decrease in heat soak. TMIC's should only heatsoak when sitting still. When you get above 40-50 MHP, both FMIC and TMIC's will cool down very quickly.
Agreed! I only experience heatsoak in stop and go traffic. I installed a sti sprayer to combat the heatsoak. It helps speed up the recovery from heatsoak, or so I've noticed. The true experience of the tdo4 is the quick spool. Adding a fmic and you'll loose the greatest part of that turbo. get a sprayer, get a bigger tmic with proper bellows & splitter, and even maybe a bigger scoop...but not a fmic.
x 3 Heat soak kind of gets overplayed by people who don't seem to understand... or are looking for any excuse to switch to a FMIC. TMIC 4 LIFE
FMIC would be a waste for you. Do the DIY intercooler sprayer. That would help out a bunch too. And dont get a ssac fmic. If you are going to get one get a real one.
well if your running the stock tmic then the splitter should be fine you should just need a bigger bellow to allow more air in from the bigger scoop....at least i think :laugh:
Ok, I bet $100 you don't have the heat soak issue that you think you do. Also, if you are with the stock tmic, you want to run the stock bellows. You match the hole in the bellows to the surface area of the tmic. The scoop is just a scoop. The only other thing you can do is add a splitter to the stock bellows (I can make you one). What that will do is cool it down quicker (from heat soak). The stock turbo and stock tmic is a good match. I was running my td02 at 20psi and then let it scream its brains out on the top end, and I never had heat soak until I was in stop and go traffic. I was running about 325 or so after the turbo and ambient plus 5-10 after the IC, and that varied with what I had on for a intake. So Bullwinkle is wrong, you have the correct bellows if you have the stock IC. The only thing you can try to do is match the top side a bit better, but really its not going to help any. The sti scoop will help it cool off quicker, but not get any cooler. I did SOOOOO much air temp testing back when I was swapping scoops, bellows, splitters, tmics, it was crazy. Russ
Hrm, I never said he had the wrong bellows. I said that he should get the correct splitter and bellows pair for his scoop and TMIC combo. I don't know firsthand, but the splitter that fits the JDM STI scoop may need different sized bellows then stock. This combo, as you mentioned, would help him cool down faster once the car gets moving.
I had a FMIC on my car with a TD04 for a while, i only did is cuz i got it really cheap and i was planning on upgrading turbo later. i had no problem with the lag and noticed a difference in the heat soak, but thats just me:roll:
He has a stock IC, so the stock bellows is what he needs. The scoops do not matter. The only thing that will be different is a little gap between the scoop and the top part of the splitter. Again, that doesn't matter. What matters is sealing the hood to the ic. If you are running a sti IC (jdm or usdm), you will want the jdm splitter/bellows, regardless of the scoop. you want the rubber part of the bellows to be right on the edge of the fins. But again, it just help is cool down. I noticed the same post ic air temps with no scoop and bellows as I do with a sti scoop and a large tmic. One just cools back down quicker than the other. Russ
02 wrx with aps dr 525 with stock td04 with 153xxx miles.... cb invidia...stock up/dp. MINIMAL lag.......... never iced over last winter and all it did down here in roch last winter is rain and freeze. readymix has driven it and i didnt hear any complaints. bla bla bla and im pretty sure bellows wont do a damn thing to quell any serious ammount of heat soak.
If there is anyone I trust about IC's and turbo's its Russ. He has a pretty informational thread on Nasico about what he is talking about.
Guess I'll keep the stock tmic, I talked to a friend of mine and I can get his old APS tmic for $250, should I even bother? Its a hella good price considering they go for $600+ I just got my tune from clark though would a more efficent ic matter as far as that goes?
