Hi guys,

I have been slowly gathering the parts I need to get my Aristo up to the 400bhp mark and I was going to get a decent Front Mounted Intercooler (FMIC), but with the pound so weak against the Yen at the moment, the prices have shot up. I was talking to a knowledgeable friend last week and he told me that since my car has only done 70K mile and the previous owners kept it garaged (or used it as a 3rd car) my standard SMIC (Side Mounted Intercooler) should be in good nick. He said I should only change the standard SMIC for a FMIC if (as in most cases) the SMIC is in a poor state. The standard SMIC is well ducted and efficient according to him. The Supra users a slightly poorer design and some users get away with a small single turbo with the stock SMIC if it is working well!

I used some equipment that can read diagnostics from the car and I decided to do an experiment to see how it went.

I decided to monitor Intake Temperatures and got the following results:

[b]Outside Temperature was 2C (35F)[/b]
[b]
Started car and after 5 minutes (car parked)[/b] - (5.5C) 42F Intake Temperature
[b]10 minute drive to the shops (off boost) -[/b] (10C) 51F Intake Temperature
[b]15 minute drive -[/b] (15C) 60F Intake Temperature

Once the car was up to temperature I then went on the motorway for a few moments and after about 5 mins decided to do a few consecutive 30mph - 70mph+ runs (when traffic conditions allowed ). On the first run I hit 6.7C (44F), the second run was the same and I never really got intake temperatures higher then (8.3C) 47F despite quite a few runs.

So my SMIC seems to be in very good condition which is a pleasant surprise!

So if other Aristo owners are thinking of changing their standard SMIC, I'd say check your intake temperatures first; you might be pleasantly surprised

Saying all that............... I miss the bling of a nice big intercooler mounted upfront!

Anees

[quote name='Anees' post='611071' date='Dec 3 2008, 03:18 PM']Hi guys,

I have been slowly gathering the parts I need to get my Aristo up to the 400bhp mark and I was going to get a decent Front Mounted Intercooler (FMIC), but with the pound so weak against the Yen at the moment, the prices have shot up. I was talking to a knowledgeable friend last week and he told me that since my car has only done 70K mile and the previous owners kept it garaged (or used it as a 3rd car) my standard SMIC (Side Mounted Intercooler) should be in good nick. He said I should only change the standard SMIC for a FMIC if (as in most cases) the SMIC is in a poor state. The standard SMIC is well ducted and efficient according to him. The Supra users a slightly poorer design and some users get away with a small single turbo with the stock SMIC if it is working well!

I used some equipment that can read diagnostics from the car and I decided to do an experiment to see how it went.

I decided to monitor Intake Temperatures and got the following results:

[b]Outside Temperature was 2C (35F)[/b]
[b]
Started car and after 5 minutes (car parked)[/b] - (5.5C) 42F Intake Temperature
[b]10 minute drive to the shops (off boost) -[/b] (10C) 51F Intake Temperature
[b]15 minute drive -[/b] (15C) 60F Intake Temperature

Once the car was up to temperature I then went on the motorway for a few moments and after about 5 mins decided to do a few consecutive 30mph - 70mph+ runs (when traffic conditions allowed ). On the first run I hit 6.7C (44F), the second run was the same and I never really got intake temperatures higher then (8.3C) 47F despite quite a few runs.

So my SMIC seems to be in very good condition which is a pleasant surprise!

So if other Aristo owners are thinking of changing their standard SMIC, I'd say check your intake temperatures first; you might be pleasantly surprised

Saying all that............... I miss the bling of a nice big intercooler mounted upfront!

Anees[/quote]
Do you know what sort of temp drop if any, you would get with fmic ?
I know you king of bling

The main concern of reaching higher temperatures is when in boost conditions
and obviously the more boost the higher the temperatures, run it at full boost for a bit and then see what temperatures you get !

a front mounted bigger intercooler will always be better at cooling than a side mounted one, but that doesnt mean that in your application it is necessary
generally only if the turbos are being uprated or the boost is higher, will it really be necessary or have any performance advantages

i had my boost upgrade induction kit exhaust done with std SMIC...........had FMIC fitted and boost increased by .2bar...........

[quote name='Gord' post='611072' date='Dec 3 2008, 03:29 PM']Do you know what sort of temp drop if any, you would get with fmic ?[/quote]

Well mate, because many Aristos have knackered SMIC's it is really hard to tell if a FMIC is really better or if it just feels so much better because of the poor state of the standard SMIC. I was talking to Skeet94, and he has a Greddy 3 Row Intercooler and he had a massive difference (over 20C!) when changing to a FMIC, but saying that his standard SMIC was so brittle that it would just fall apart if you touched the fins!


[quote name='Bazza' post='611095' date='Dec 3 2008, 04:49 PM']The main concern of reaching higher temperatures is when in boost conditions
and obviously the more boost the higher the temperatures, run it at full boost for a bit and then see what temperatures you get !

a front mounted bigger intercooler will always be better at cooling than a side mounted one, but that doesnt mean that in your application it is necessary
generally only if the turbos are being uprated or the boost is higher, will it really be necessary or have any performance advantages[/quote]

Thanks Bazza. If the weather clears up abit at the weekend I will do a few more test runs. The week before the weather was pretty reasonable and I was trying to find out what max boost was on the boost guage I installed so I went out at night and did many runs from 30mph to (ahem) mph and dispite over half an hour of the car at just under 1bar (which is the most I can expect with the current rate of tune, the intake temperature hit a max of 104F (40C) however I can't remember what the outside temperature was.

You are right that at some stage a FMIC will be the step forward but at the moment I think I should get to 1.2bar (BPU) and then see how it does. If I feel I need a FMIC then I will get one (and hopefully the Yen will have dropped abit against the Pound!)

[quote name='Gord' post='611072' date='Dec 3 2008, 03:29 PM']I know you king of bling [/quote]

Despite all the sense talked above I really would like to get a FMIC just for the bling! I would cut out a section in the centre of the front bumper where the numberplate holder is so it could be exposed to more air and ducted properly and then I could move the numberplate to the side and I would have an excuse to get a smaller import one (rules say you can have them if the car is an import AND their is no space on the car for a standard UK plate) As Gord says....... I do like the bling!

I have seen a guy on the MKIVSupra club selling a quality 3 Row Greddy Intercooler that is top notch and am tempted to get it, but not sure who I could get to custom fabricate the pipework for the Aristo.