upgrading the intercooler?

[jst4show2.8]

i am looking in to replacing the factory intercooler on my 01 a4. I am curious as to which way to go, getting a side mount or front mount. What are you guys opinions as to which way to go. Along with what else i should replace while doing this.

[Davdraco1]

If it's in the budget, do the piping. Also, fmic are so cheap it's hard not to go with them. You may need cut the bumper a little, nothing too complicated.

[GOODBYNAAIR]

Its not to hard to put the front mount in Are you running a tune or anything? if you plan on keeping the car stock you dont need one. But if you plan to mod tune, bigger turbo ect get a nice core so you dont have to buy another one later on.

[redline380]

If I were running a stock turbo or pretty much anything with the stock turbo flange, I would personally get an upgraded side mount intercooler. I'm not a huge fan of the FMIC look. I say that, and I have a giant one on my sedan, but it is painted black so it isn't easy to tell. And The turbo on there is big enough to need such an intercooler. But if I ever upgrade the one on my Avant, it will be a good side mount.

[Davdraco1]

The only upgraded SMIC is 550$..... I'll opt for the 250$ fmic.

[redline380]

The only upgraded SMIC is 550$..... I'll opt for the 250$ fmic.

There's a reason it costs that much. Better quality, plus there is more than one option available. Don't know them off the top of my head, but used is always an option

[M-Hood]

The only upgraded SMIC is 550$..... I'll opt for the 250$ fmic.

But is that $250 FMIC a drop-in kit total cost or just a FMIC without any pipes, hoses and clamps? Best to compare apples to apples then apples to half a orange from China. lol

[redline380]

If you are getting an FMIC, treadstone tr18t. Done

[melomandn]

Best to compare apples to apples then apples to half a orange from China. lol

Love it hahaha

[Seerlah]

^This. Lmao!

[jst4show2.8]

Its not to hard to put the front mount in Are you running a tune or anything? if you plan on keeping the car stock you dont need one. But if you plan to mod tune, bigger turbo ect get a nice core so you dont have to buy another one later on.

the car is running a stock k03 right now but when i do the intercooler i am gonna replace the turbo with a k04 and the car is currently running a tune from daz.

[gearhead9992]

whats the link for the treadstone tr18t

[adam044]

Why do you need to upgrade your intercooler?

[redline380]

whats the link for the treadstone tr18t

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=treadstone+tr18t

[M-Hood]

Why do you need to upgrade your intercooler?

Because the stock SMIC was designed to handle the amount of air flow from the K03 at stock boost pressure. Sure it might work great in winter, but is pretty much being pushed it's limits in warm/hot summer temps, even upgrading to a larger aftermarket SMIC or small FMIC will really help keep the IAT's down.

Treadstone TR18T is a bit overkill for a K03 or even K04-15.

[01UA]

I still am new but my experience is its a lot more costly to do an upgrade smic than to do a fmic and I got one that's the whole kit and is a lot longer and short than some you can buy and got around the whole cutting your bumper deal...

[kk97]

Doesnt work too good with stock bumper

[Davdraco1]

Are the ebay fmic kits that bad? I figure they have to be better then the stock set up.

[Believer]

the car is running a stock k03 right now but when i do the intercooler i am gonna replace the turbo with a k04 and the car is currently running a tune from daz.

A decent SMIC (Apikol) is going to run you close to $500 new. The Treadstone TR-18 and the B5 A4 pipe kit from CXRacing on ebay can be had for just a little bit over that $500 mark.

That being said, if you truly will not be running anything larger than a K04-15, the Treadstone is not necesserily 'needed'. But, this is your car and you can choose to do what you want. You would be hard pressed to find any discernable negative performance impacts by using it. You should consider the extra work involved, not a big deal to some, but extra work none-the-less, to get the FMIC installed.

Are the ebay fmic kits that bad? I figure they have to be better then the stock set up.

If it were me, and I was hell-bent on getting an eBay FMIC, I would probably not look much further than this kit for the sheer fact that it appears to be fully bolt on.

This is my opinion so take it for that.

[xdewaynex]

Doesnt work too good with stock bumper

Thats because the intercooler is upside down.

[Seerlah]

And cutting the rebar is almost mandated with most cores.

[3 bar]

Had to use an S4 bumper with mine. The CX racing piping sits real low on the passengers side.

[adam044]

Because the stock SMIC was designed to handle the amount of air flow from the K03 at stock boost pressure. Sure it might work great in winter, but is pretty much being pushed it's limits in warm/hot summer temps, even upgrading to a larger aftermarket SMIC or small FMIC will really help keep the IAT's down.

Treadstone TR18T is a bit overkill for a K03 or even K04-15.

Correct. As far as I know his car is stock though, never mentioned any upgrades.

[M-Hood]

Correct. As far as I know his car is stock though, never mentioned any upgrades.

Actually he did 2 posts before yours.

the car is running a stock k03 right now but when i do the intercooler i am gonna replace the turbo with a k04 and the car is currently running a tune from daz.

[Believer]

Had to use an S4 bumper with mine. The CX racing piping sits real low on the passengers side.

My brother used the CX Racing B5 A4 specific kit and had no issue with getting it to fit behind the stock bumper (with much trimming) and even was able to get the piping to go over the AC lines instead of under how people typically run it.

[jst4show2.8]

Correct. As far as I know his car is stock though, never mentioned any upgrades.

Yea I am running a tune from Daz, along with test pipe,down pipe, turbo back exhaust and a 007 forge diverted valve so the next move is the k04 and an Intercooler


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[adam044]

Yea I am running a tune from Daz, along with test pipe,down pipe, turbo back exhaust and a 007 forge diverted valve so the next move is the k04 and an Intercooler


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Total overkill. The k04 really isn't that impressive for what you're paying for. I was going to upgrade to it but it's pointless I think.

[jst4show2.8]

Yea I can't really run anything bigger than a k04 on a tiptronic transmission with out blowing it and even this is pushing it


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[A1 A2 German]

Pffff....haha...April Fools?

As said before that's upside down. Also if it hits the inside rebar when placing upwards: It takes almost seconds to simply slice a the rectangle shape of the top of the fmic in the rebar so it rests in there. No hard core cutting, no hacking, nothing nasty. An angle grinder slices so well and you can produce a good clean cut. If you haven't done it before is super easy.

Doesnt work too good with stock bumper

[Believer]

Yea I can't really run anything bigger than a k04 on a tiptronic transmission with out blowing it and even this is pushing it


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For the price of a K04-15 you could simply get a Frankenturbo and run a slighly conservative tune to keep your trans happy.

[kk97]

Pffff....haha...April Fools?

As said before that's upside down. Also if it hits the inside rebar when placing upwards: It takes almost seconds to simply slice a the rectangle shape of the top of the fmic in the rebar so it rests in there. No hard core cutting, no hacking, nothing nasty. An angle grinder slices so well and you can produce a good clean cut. If you haven't done it before is super easy.

it doesnt really matter if its upside down or not... well might act as a catch can for oil in intake now lol but still itsnt the lowest point on my car, so doesnt matter, and yes the rebar was in the way, and actually wouldnt be to hard modding it

[Seerlah]

It actually does make a difference. Not significant, but can make a couple degree IAT difference. Heat rises, and you don't want your outlet on the highest point of the intercooler. Also, got the TR18T to fit behind my stock bumper while retaining all grills, fog lights, and AC. Lots of trimming involved (don't take this lightly).

[3 bar]

My brother used the CX Racing B5 A4 specific kit and had no issue with getting it to fit behind the stock bumper (with much trimming) and even was able to get the piping to go over the AC lines instead of under how people typically run it.

I'd like to see how he did it. Got any pics?

[ducksrunner25]

From the research I've done and speaking with people, if you're not going larger than a K04, then a FMIC is extra turbo lag. (More volume for the small turbo to fill up) And because of it's size (the turbo) A FMIC doesn't do a significant more amount of cooling than an upgraded SMIC because it's not going to produce a significant amount more heat than the stock K03. At least this has been my understanding, someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[Believer]

I'd like to see how he did it. Got any pics?

Sure thing.

[M-Hood]

From the research I've done and speaking with people, if you're not going larger than a K04, then a FMIC is extra turbo lag. (More volume for the small turbo to fill up) And because of it's size (the turbo) A FMIC doesn't do a significant more amount of cooling than an upgraded SMIC because it's not going to produce a significant amount more heat than the stock K03. At least this has been my understanding, someone correct me if I'm wrong.

They are actually wrong since a FMIC designed for a K03 will make a huge difference, that has been proven plenty of times. It is all about running the right size core for the turbo being used. Do you really think I could have ran 14.29 in the 1/4 mile with my stock K03 using a EVo Motorsports FMIC if it was causing lag? What you gain the most with a FMIC is more direct air hitting the front of the core and a FMIC will have more surface area getting that direct air flow which means the heat can be decreased quicker.

Sure if you go way too big of a FMIC you will see a good amount of lag, but that is why FMIC's are offered in different sizes rated for different air flow and HP. It would be pretty stupid to put a FMIC made for a 30r on a car running a K03/K04 seeing the volume of the core is way too big.