Yesterday I installed the AMS Upper Intercooler Pipe and Mini-Battery kit and I figured I would post my results. FYI my car is almost exclusively AMS parts.

1. AMS Turbo back exhaust
2. Ams Resonated test pipe
3. Ams lower IC pipe
4. AMS Upper IC pipe
5. AMS FMIC
6. AMS Mini Battery

I saw no reason to get the Upper IC pipe and mini battery as they have dyno'd to give almost no gain. Buschur tested a gain of 3WHP on his short route kit. I finally got a REALLY good deal on these items and I figured I would post up my results.

My engine bay before hand....



It looks rigged to me and I hate it .
I had to loosen the stock recirculation hose and clock it to just BARELY fit the BOV. It fit but JUST fit. There was stress in the unit and the BOV was resting on the radiator pipe. Look at the blue HKS coupler on the turbo and how bent it is.




As you can see it clears barely. The intake is rotated so the BOV has room, it just looks ghetto to me.





And now with the AMS unit installed.


As you can see I moved around a lot of stuff.




The battery clears up a lot of room. The Upper IC pipe fit very well and has a bracket to support itself. You get proper T-Bolt clamps as well. This particular Upper IC pipe has a flange for the Synapse it it bolts right on, no clamps there.

I moved the HKS Catch can up front and re-plumbed it back into the intake to make it a closed system. Before it was a boost leak.

Notice the extremely long return hose. We had to make it longer and expand it to a different size to make it fit.






Spool-up is much faster. Couldn't believe it. So much faster. maybe it was me fixing my boost leaks as well. The Catch can was a boost leak which is why we routed back to the intake. The Throttle body was leaking, then the EGR blew off so some zip ties later we have a closed system.

What I didn't like?

The return line is a joke. It was too thin to even fit the intake annd too short to return. We had to place a metal tube inside both of them and then put the wider unit to return the spent boost. Other then that it is great, way faster spoolup and better throttle control.

I highly recommend it.


P.S.

AMS states that the HKS Suction will not work with their mini battery kit. Seems to fit fine.

 

Looks nice. What king of upper rad pipe is that?

 

KING? I am King. KIND? Evo Power mods made that upper Rad pipe for me. He also makes my 02 Dump for me.

 

Omg way to many things going on in there..You need to clean up the tubing it would look much better it hiding that nice pipe....

 

yea way to much going on in the bay

 

one of the ugliest engine bays i ever seen. that upper rad pipe is rediculous and completely unneeded

 

 

It's spelled ridiculous. And yes there is a lot going on. I am not too happy with the catch can but it works. The plumbing for the catch can is needed as it needs to be a closed system. I used to have a massive boost leak, now I don't. The other wires are the grounding kit, ugly yes but my voltage is much more stable. It is function over form for me but maybe one day I will hide that catch can, that seems to be the major issue.

The other issue is the long return hose for the BOV. If I ever go SD, it'll clear up a LOT of piping as I could VTA.

Upper Radiator pipe works fine, it doesn't expand and it doesn't rot like the OEM unit.

 

Good review. I'm also contemplating on the AMS UICP. However, as much as I like scaring grannies w/ my BOV, I had to kill the ricer in me by removing my BOV--that long hose to your BOV is your enemy. Go back IX DV, you'll be happier.

 

The IX DV was leaking on me. After adding the Synapse unit my Boost went up, problem solved. It also works better then the OEM unit. Drivability is much better. best BOV I have ever had, probably the last one I'll ever use.