Previously the reason for looking into a different bicooler was discussed. With the decision to make a change settled the search is on for a new intercooler that will be suitable for use on the GTI as the front mounted half of a bicooler.
Candidate Intercoolers
Candidates for the front half that are currently used on the GTI:
- CTS FMIC
- eBay FMIC v2 – current bicooler
- eBay FMIC v1
- ECS Tuning
- Forge Bicooler
- Mabotech Bicooler
- Neuspeed IS38
- Treadstone TR8L
- Vibrant 12810
From this list the top candidates are ECS Tuning, Treadstone, and Vibrant.
The decision to eliminate the others was made for the following reasons:
- CTS FMIC – 20% smaller core than the eBay FMIC that has been used up to now.
- eBay FMIC v1 – 38% smaller core than eBay FMIC v2.
- Forge Bicooler – Similar to eBay FMIC v1, likewise smaller than the FMIC currently in use.
- Mabotech Bicooler – eBay FMIC v2 appears to be a duplicate of this product. No reason to expect different performance.
- Neuspeed IS38 – Flow testing produced poorer results than the existing eBay FMIC.
The next step will be a more detailed comparison of the ECS, Treadstone, and Vibrant intercoolers.
I would actually like to see either the v1 or v2 ebay FMIC tested as the testing thus far has shown some interesting data. Case in point, the low airflow rate of the Forge FMIC intercooler (180 cfm) yet is currently the best at cooling using the testing scheme you are implementing. This might go some ways to clarify some of the oddities I am seeing. Such as larger units (Such as the APR) not flowing as well and not cooling as well as smaller units (Unitronic). The ebay units are also some of the most commonly purchased units. That said, I understand the need to minimize the testing and the demands on your time.
I will be testing the Majesty Bicooler, the larger version. It won’t be tested as a bicooler on the bench, just the Majesty core, but at this stage any data I can get is helpful to try and make sense of the results. The criteria I’m using for the comparison, temperature rise at 2 minutes, might turn out to not correlate well with the condition I’m interested in on the car, temperature rise after 6-7 seconds of full boost.
Nice. How will you hook these that aren’t specifically “twinter” setups to the stock location IC? I assume just use the special hoses that come with the Ebay/Forge units and just work with adapters to make them fit as needed?
If I find one to instal on the car I’ll need to modify the bicooler hoses. That could be a lot of modification, or little.