Front Mount Intercooler Kit

[x3emotorsports]

Hi guys,

I am planning a simple approach for everyone in terms of the FRONT MOUNT INTERCOOLER:

Stage 1; Change the Intercooler to a Bar & Plate 600x260x76mm and Silicone hoses to fit this to the OEM pipings. TONS of BLING in the big mouth opening of the front bar! This is the simplest and MOST AFFORDABLE start, which you can upgrade when you feel the need or when your budget seems fit. Another choice is to use a lighter intercooler of Tube and Fins, 510x240x70mm but you will need to have a mesh in front of the intercooler to protect it from the debris that might damage it.
IMPORTANT: I can keep this Stage 1 kit to be about $300 only!

Stage 2; as Stage 1 but adds on the REINFORCED SILICONE HOSES to replace all the OEM hoses.

Stage 3; as Stage 1 but with all alloy pipings....most $$$

Throw your feedback into this thread and I can certainly review all needs. I would be targeting a trial fit for Stage 1 soon. Keep everyone posted on this thread.

Cheers, ivan

p/s: hope this is the correct place to post this. If not do move it to the correct section. Thanks mods.

 

[Hipsi]

Ivan, I'd be interested in the Stage 2. got a subject arranged for the trial fit?

 

[weeaazz]

no i like the sound of that,gives everyone a good range of options that you can easily upgrade from 1 to another.with prices it should sell great,i guess you could start at 1 and then down the track buy the piping seperatly and without buying another cooler

 

[Hotwire]

Stage 2 sounds good to me - with Black Silcone thanks

 

[mookers]

I'd be after Stage 2 once I get some funds back in the bank.

Purple silicone anyone?

 

[SU8TLE]

is 300x260x76mm as big as you can go without cutting into anything?
what seems to be the 'preffered' size on here?

i checked out the intercooler thread but its sooooo long.

 

[Hotwire]

^some 600x300x76 MAY fit if you angle the core and do all sorts of trickery, but a 600x260x76 will fit no worries...

And just reading Ivans post again, Ivan, do you mean 600x260x76?

 

[SiliconAngel]

Ivan, I think you'll have call for all three options, and even a fourth perhaps - hard piping without the IC for those who already have one or are sourcing elsewhere.

You'll always have heaps of interest in hard-piping kits as opposed to complete silicone hose kits, as hard piping has less flex and so won't collapse with low pressure / vacuum buildup. Obviously there'll be more work involved in developing such a product but I think it will be well worth your while.

I'm happy to leave this thread here for development discussions, but once you've got products available to sell start a thread in the Trader's sub-forum

 

[Peter_D]

Interested in the pros and cons of the reinforced silicon hoses against the hard piping.

 

[Nash]

I'd go Stage 3, if all the piping is done correctly (lines up) and all the welds are good.

 

[Mrk_VR4]

Ivan, what happened to the kit we discussed? New IC (600x260x76) and aluminium pipes at the front (basically a copy of the trust/Greddy kit) with your reinforced silicone pipes, that don't contract or expand, up the top to replace all the factory rubber hoses and the plastic elbow before the throttle body, keeping the stock metal pipes from the turbos. This approach gives the nice looks of the hard pipes and IC at the front of the car, still gets rid of the standard rubber pipes which expand and contract (which is one of the main reasons for replacing the stock IC piping), and will fit in in stock configuration allowing everyone to keep the BOV, airbox and vac pipes that come off the plastic elbow in the original condition. This would make a truly "bolt on" replacement front mount kit, whilst still keeping the cost very low.

 

[Guest]

interested in the full hard piping setup...

 

[BuzzPuppy]

Interested in the Stage 2 with the reinforced silicon ... red would be perfect.

Stage 1; Change the Intercooler to a Bar & Plate 300x260x76mm and Silicone hoses to fit this to the OEM pipings. TONS of BLING in the big mouth opening of the front bar!

I'm hoping it's also 600 x 260 x 76mm as well!

 

[Mac Dog]

For some, prices on each stage would be the deciding factor.

 

[jungle]

?Stage 2 Ivan with the larger intercooler if shell fit with no cuting of the reo?

 

[weeaazz]

wouldnt mind intercooler with silicone pipingf except a hard V and the long pipes,just so it looks a whole lot nicer under the hood than just bright colours

 

[naughtika]

in my opinion.. stage 2 & 3's the way to go.. I've used ordinary fiber reinforced silicon joiners and it still expanded on me..

stage 2 uses silicon hose with cable/spring reiforcement.. best mod for budget minded.. only downside is.. you can't stretch these hoses since its got metal in between silicons.. well you can try but.. GOODLUCk!! downside they do kink a little but that doesn't really matter since its almost always pressurized rather than air getting sucked in..

stage 3 all hard pipe and BLING BLING!! this is recommended for people upping their boost past 12psi.. like crazy me..

about the Intercooler..

Ivan.. I suggest you supply customers with 600x250x76 or 600x260x70 with 76 inlet & outlet.. reason for.. if you have cooler anything past 260mm in height.. you'll either need to bash your crash bar or cut it up for the cooler to fit.. (I wouldn't suggest cutting it or removing it for obvious reasons)

*EDIT*

I recommend replacing the factory metal pipes ('Y' Pipe, Before and After Cooler Pipes) since they are freaking heavy.. if you weigh the 'Y' pipe and compared it with the whole aluminum pipe kit.. the aluminum might still be lighter by a kilo or 2..

 

[x3emotorsports]

FMIC

Thanks for all the inputs....

Stage 1 is to allow everyone to get their BLING intercooler! plus the hoses to fit. If the hoses are kept short, there is no need to change to hard pipes. $300 easy.

Stage 2 is to add our existing STAINLESS STEEL reinforced hoses kit. Options are BLACK or RED colour. We will also make the silicone stiffer with thicker poly sheets. about $450. SILICONE will NOT CONDUCT the HEAT in the engine bay and allow the charged air to be cooler. A hard pipe kit would be a heat soak but i have no data to show the differences in charged air temps.

Stage 3 is to add the hard pipe kit, TOTAL ENGINE BAY BLING TOO! I would say it would be a complete replacement with short silicone connectors. about $600.

I will be testing some fitments this coming weekend and keep everyone posted!

Keep posting your feedback, I would like to offer kits that YOU want to buy.

Cheers, ivan

 

[x3emotorsports]

HARD PIPES Insulation

to avoid heat-soak into the pipes I want to wrap them / coat them in rubber (like the rubber / foam insulating material that's used for airconditioner copper piping)?

BEST IDEA: using the air-conditioner foam padding is that it is CHEAP and last well, we use it a lot in race cars for heat insulation. Only draw back is the bulk it causes.

NEXT STEP UP is using exhaust wrap

BEST HEAT BARRIER is using ceramic coating....but $$$

OUR PIPES are POLISHED ALLOY for weight saving and the polishing helps to REDUCE heat soak.

Another cheap idea: use oem steel pipes and use ceramic exhaust spray paint and paint the pipes. a good heat barrier too!

Cheers, ivan

 

[jungle]

BEST IDEA: using the air-conditioner foam padding is that it is CHEAP and last well, we use it a lot in race cars for heat insulation. Only draw back is the bulk it causes.

NEXT STEP UP is using exhaust wrap

BEST HEAT BARRIER is using ceramic coating....but $$$

OUR PIPES are POLISHED ALLOY for weight saving and the polishing helps to REDUCE heat soak.

Another cheap idea: use oem steel pipes and use ceramic exhaust spray paint and paint the pipes. a good heat barrier too!

Cheers, ivan

Ceramic coating isn't that expensive, i recently had my 3 inch dump pipe coated, around 80cm long, cost me $120 and thats in more expensive extreme black, not the chrome looking colour from Competition Coatings at Archerfield- Brisbane
If you're going to the trouble Ivan of getting hard pipes, then it really isn't that much more to get the pipes coated. Probably $300 max, but that's a guess based on lengths.
You can always send them as-is and let the customer coat them if he/she wishes.