These are a list of my mods.. I honestly am on a budget right now and have a lot going on but going in for a tune for my car and was wondering if upgrading my intercooler was necessary?

I NEVER have tracked my car, and never will.. I don't race, and do plan on driving often... Only time I ever step on the car WOT is on the highway..

I am running on e85.



Perrin Intake System
Buschur Ported Intake Manifold
Buschur Ported Throttle Body
Buschur Ported Exhaust Manifold
GSC S2 Cams
GSC Beehive Springs and Retainers
ARP Head Studs
o2 Housing No name
Megan Test Pipe
Megan Downpipe
Tanabe Cat Back
Muse Complete Intercooler piping kit
1120 FIC Injectors
Walbro 400lph Fuel Pump
Samco Radiator Hoses
Hallman Pro Boost Controller
Stage 2 Competition Clutch


Help me out here.. And if I need to upgrade would the vrsf 3.5" be okay or must I go ETS 3.5"

THANKS!

 

Upgrading the I/C does free up some hp and doesn't heat soak as quickly as the stock unit. With the stock turbo it is not a must do, especially with e85. If you have more pressing things to spend the money on, then the stocker will be fine. As far as a choice between the two you listed, the majority of folks on here will say ETS. With what you do with your car the VRSF will do well too if you're wanting to upgrade and save a little as well.

I run the VRSF on my track Evo and it does well. It does heat soak a bit faster than the ETS but does what it is intended to do for my purpose.

 

AGP is one of the best intercoolers on the market. They're currently selling them for $395 for Black Friday.

 

Can't go wrong with ETS or AMS.

However, if you are on a budget and haven't already I suggest you upgrade the intercooler piping, especially the lower part.

 

I'm seriously tempted by that intercooler for my IX but have not long had my car modded and mapped (cams, intake, rods, EBC, tbe), would this intercooler be a good addition, would it really throw off my map and if so, would my tuner just need to touch up the map or am I looking at another full tuning session?

Thanks

 

I am looking towards this now and reading reviews never heard of the AGP. thanks!

 

Just a touch up

 

Thanks for the response. When my car was being mapped the tuner said he basically ran out of injector capability (duty I think he called it), does that mean if I did buy this intercooler I'd want new injectors because it's no use having denser cooler air if I can't add more fuel?

Thanks

 

He's saying you're at 100% duty cycle, you've exceeded what your injectors can handle/flow. In short if your injectors will not be able to flow the required amount of fuel given the air charge being taken in. So yes it would be best to upgrade injectors.

 

And then because I'm changing the injectors adjusting the map would be a lot more difficult wouldn't it, rather than just a touch up? I'm just trying to weigh up whether I should get the intercooler now or just wait until I do the turbo, manifolds etc at some point down the road

 

No, you do not need to upgrade your intercooler. Stock intercooler is good for extended pulls at ~400whp. You are not going to heat soak it with highway pulls unless that highway is the autobahn.

 

Oh, well then maybe I didn't need to buy one just now then lol even if I didn't need it, it will go well with my red and black theme I've got going on so I'm happy. Seeing as mine is an fq340 that comes with a hks hardpipe kit, does that mean I should be alright to not buy new IC pipes?

 

The LICP with worth replacing, the stock one is pretty restrictive. UICP will only give very slight power gains unless you are running some serious boost.

Consider getting a LICP that has the "bolt" attachment point to prevent it from blowing off. Like the AMS design http://www.amsperformance.com/cart/A...-Polished.html