Well I think this is a pretty good product. I did the install today and I am pretty impressed. It took a bit of modification, but overall not too bad. It came with the intercooler, y pipe, silicon connectors, BOV, worm drive clamps for the silicon, and the supporting bolts, gaskets and hardware. The only thing it did not come with is a bov gasket. I was able to reuse my own with some careful use of a razor blade. I received the item and it was a bit dinged on both ends. It looked like someone drop kicked the IC box and both ends were a bit dented in with some of the fins bent in. I decided to install it anyway as I didn't feel like spending the cash to ship it back and get a new one. (Partially lazy, and partially because I did not feel it would effect the IC that much). The ends being bent in only really had an effect on the install. I had to drill out the bracket on the intercooler a bit in order to get it to line up with the mounts. There were no instrucations, but being fairly mechanical I was able to get off the factory one and replace this with nothing more than a 10 mm wrench, a socket set, some dead dish sockets (also metric) Let me start by saying this thing is HUGE. Hold it up next to the stocker and you will see the difference. It also came with all the hoses except the throttle body hose. I had already purchased a samco silicon set so that was not an issue. It did come with it's own y pipe and silicon hose that went to the turbo. I had no issues with remounting the stock recirc BOV. Before this install I had a max boost of 14.4 After I reached 15.3. This is on stage 2 which is supposed to be running at 15.8 +- .5 So it did flow .9 psi better than the stock TMIC. That in and of itself is pretty amazing for $227 Not only that but I found absolutely no change in spool up. Some said it would cause it to spool slower being that it had a larger volume to fill...I did not see that in the least. No additional lag, no change except it is less restricitve than the factory TM. It came with new pipes for the front of the IC as well...although I am not sure what those pipes are for. Anyone know? They are now polished instead of the factory look. Not sure they really needed to be replaced, but they were new so I put em on. It also came with some kind of adapter in case you want to mount an after market BOV. I did not use this piece as I did not want to use their after market BOV. I was fine with the factory one...not much into the atmo blow off scene. All in all I have to say that I saw more boost and no real issues with heat soak or anything like that. It seems to me to be a quality part that fits almost like factory. I really have no complaints and can not imaging having paid $750-$1500 for a name brand one. Now if I could just get the boost where it is supposed to be with stage 2!!:fawk:
i actually experienced quicker spool when i upgraded my TMIC to a bar and plate core... i guess thats because of the reduced flow restriction
No problem with the ac lines. It is close, but not touching. I plan on getting a foam insulating cover, but that is just an in case, me being over anal type thing. I don't have one now and it works fine. I do not have a strut bar. I have a GT spec splitter for 02-03 STI spec. It does not touch, but again, me being anal, I plan on getting something to form a perfect seal. If it were the stock splitter you would have to trim the rubber. It is close, but not touching. Personally I think to see full gains from this I would upgrade scoop and splitter. I went to a carbon STI scoop and a GT spec splitter I think the name was. It direct air over multiple parts of the IC rather than just one little area like the stock splitter. As for spool, seems a bit better and like I said .9 psi of boost at same general temperature outside. I still can't seem to get the full 15.8 psi of boost. Are you guys that are hitting this with cobb stage 2 running the stock restrictor pill?
Where did you get the splitter and scoop? I just put on a SS TMIC as well and modified my splitter for now, but I will be looking for an upgrade soon. Thanks.
I am getting this TMIC installed this Friday @ SOG + meth. I bought it off of Jonnyboy (I think the Ebay one) cause it was already drilled for meth. I am hoping for a qucker spool myself on the VF39.
the TMIC + meth combo improved spool significantly on my WRX with the super 16g... without the 2, i could feel torque at ~ 3800rpm but with the meth and bigger TMIC, i could feel it around ~3400.... u will love the setup
yeah, that is how I am with the VF39 about 3800rpm...lately in this heat 4000+. I understand this IC is much larger than my STI TM I am stoked about Friday.
It really was an easy install. I got the splitter from ralleyspec.com I think it was. The scoop I bought from a local member...Jonnyboy0150 for $150. I think the same scoops sell for around $200-$300. It's a nice carbon piece. But even the rallyspec splitter is not quite big enough. I noticed that it still is not getting air to the back 1/3 of the intercooler. I am going to have to get a bit creative with some sheetmetal I think! Edit: price of the splitter was only like $125 or so. I also just noticed that SSautochrome is no longer an ebay vendor...not sure if they are gonna try and go main stream and up thier prices or what the deal is. But they are no longer a registered ebay vendor.