He's not referring to methanol, he's talking about an air-to-water intercooler...similar to old celicas. It's basically an intercooler that uses water to cool the charge instead of air. It's an enclosed unit that allows you circulate water through the fins as boost goes through it...



I don't think solitaire would be interested in an air-to-water IC based on his posts about location. If he was considering air-to-water...location isn't so much a factor...

Yeah, thats what threw me too.

Indeed not really interested in an air to water intercooler since air is lighter then water and weight saving is going to be the main item during the tune up.



(even managed to find someone to make CF paneling for the inside of the car)



I think that with the information here I'll go for the FMIC then.

Still thinking about welding my own piping or buying a complete kit.

The intercooler is coming from Corksport. Decided to go for the largest one they have to have some reserve when deciding to exchange the stock turbo later on.



How about manufacturers for intercooler piping kits?

I saw one or two kits but they did not really leave many options available if thinsg do not fit perfectly and seen the fact that I'll add some custom built parts to the engine bay I would not like to ship over a kit from US to germany only to find out it doesn't fit.



How much adjusting space do these kits normally offer?

The best bet you have is to make your own "kit." Then it will fit perfectly. I did my entire FMIC for about $300, including the intercooler.

That was one of the things I had in mind.

I could build my own kit for $500 including shipping and intercooler and parts or I could spend $1200 for a complete intercooler kit.



Think I'd prefer the first solution since I'm on a tight budget for the moment.

Personally, I'm not aware of a piping kit for the FC3S chassis to fit an FMIC. Your best bet will be to buy a universal IC piping kit and start cutting and welding away. It's the only way to get the fit and flow you want. I had the GReddy FMIC kit on my car for a while. Well worth the money for the quality and saving headache trying to get all my pipes to work. But that was w/ stock turbo and stock TB/intake mani setup.



I'm in the same boat as you now though. I have a custom intake setup with dual ITBs, a plenum, and a larger T4 turbo. No kit that greddy makes or any mfg for that matter will bolt up. I'm just buying a pipe kit, and I'll have to measure/cut/weld all the pipes for that perfect fit..



At least in the end you'll have something that you built and is completely custom... I'm using a GReddy 32R 3Row intercooler for my new setup though. I like the GReddy cores.

That for sure.

Any noticable gain/advantage in polishing the inside of the pipes after welding to remove any welding lines?

I am not sure if you would be able to feel the difference, but there would be one.



A cool trick, if you have a pipe bending shop near by, is to buy some flexible ventilation pipe, put the bends in it that you need, then go to the shop and have them bend a piece of pipe for you the same way. That way you will have a solid, non-welded piece so you wont have to worry about flow. Or, if you are really good with a saw, as long as all your joints are perfectly flat, you should be able to get around it.

You can use the flexible exhaust pipe if you have it. I didn't realize your in Germany, so I'm not sure if you guys sell that stuff or not as it may not be legal there. Another option is to draw out templates and take them to a pipe bender...not as easy as the flexible pipe, but still works...

The flexible exhaust pipe I never heard of. That'd probably mean it's not legal in either netherlands belgium or germany.



I'll manage to weld/cut an airtight duct with the bent and straight pipe parts that are available in aluminum though so either that or I'll just buy me a straight pipe long enough and try my luck at bending it myself.

The princple for mandrel bend is not that hard to reproduce with means available to almost everyone.



Best trick would be to fill the pipe with wooden inserts with a rather exact fit before bending the pipe around a well prepared mold with the right angle plus a bit.



I do think though that welding up the whole thing migt be the easiest solution.

Will go through the trouble of removing weld excess anyways I guess.



Thanks for the usefull input anyways.

Definately decided fo front mounted now.



I've seen most manufacturers offering 2 sizes of piping. 2,5" (55-60mm) and 3" (70-75mm)

Is there any risk of pressure loss or turbulence when the pipe diameter is 3" when using stock boost pressure (or a little over it. considering to raise boost pressure with 50% or so)