Personally I wouldn't run a fmic unless I was running a 20g or bigger turbo. A good tmic can handle some serious power. I've seen a rotated setup make over 500 on a tmic.
Depends on what you are using the car for. TMIC can handle a lot of power if done right. FMIC will not heat soak like a TMIC. I had TMIC first on my 18g setup but in the summer and in traffic it heat soaked like a madman and just killed the performance of the car hence why I went FMIC.
i was thinking of running a smaller frontmount i like the quick spool of a tmic but the look of a fmic..also i dont wanna loose my fog lights because i think they complete the look of a bug eye
OP mentioned he wasn't looking for anything big. So if a 18g or 20g is the biggest they will go, then a TMIC is more than adequate. If they stay stock turbo, then getting a FMIC will hurt where max boost comes in, thus hurting performance.
i heard somewhere that the farther away the IC is from the turbo, you get increased turbo lag? true? false?