which upgrade?

[foild1]

Hi guys,

I just finished reading the best upgrades for a daily driver thread, but still have some questions lingering in my head.

I have a stock MSP - should i

A) get an injen cold air intake, and get a BOV (i just want one... ok!) to run dual with stock (to apparently eliminate any stalling issues)
b) get a SMIC upgrade (suggestions?)
or C) go the whole way, and get the corksport FMIC upgrade

can someone fill me in on the perks of these upgrades - and suggest whether i should do intake, or the intercooler upgrade first? - and, is it worth doing the FMIC? - seems to be better value, since you get the piping and everything.. cause a SMIC upgrade and a piping kit would run yah just under the cost of a FMIC... so im wondering about what the difference is in performance?

Which one is best bang for the buck?
thanks

 

[mspHtown]

what are your goals?

what kind of climate do you live in?



also, i do not recommend wasting $250 on an intake.

 

[neox.286]

get the smic

front mount is too much for a lightly modified car, it is useful if your pushing 10 psi but on stock boost, the stock turbo, and a daily driver it actually might hinder you more than help


the injen doesn't have very much (if any) gains, its just noisy...which I personally like but it can get obnoxious at times

youll only get stalling issues with a bov running vent-to-atmosphere, if you replace the stock bov with a bov that uses both of the rubber fittings that are there stock (in simple terms) then you wont stall

you can only use an aftermarket -bov- if you get hardpipes as about 90% of them require having a mounting flange welded onto the pipes, which you cannot weld to plastic (obviously)....if you don't go hardpipes you can only replace the stock bov with a bov that mounts in the stock location and one that uses both of the rubber fittings (meaning it recirculates back into the motor) or else youll stall

the dual bov setup is a fix for the stalling issue, but you could just buy a bov like the greddy or hks that has an optional recirculation fitting so you can run a hose from the bov back into the intake pipe, which will fix stalling......or you can relocate the maf sensor which is an entirely seperate topic all together

hope this helps!

 

[foild1]

Awesome. so the greddy or HKS will work in stock location without stalling, and still give that trademark BOV noise? which SMIC do you recommend?

Thanks so much

p.s. how about a unichip???

 

[neox.286]

no I did not say that those will work in the stock location, I said the hks or greddy have recirculation fittings you can get so you can run a rubber hose from the bov to the intake pipe, which will not cause stalling

these cannot be mounted in the stock location and will require hardpipes + getting flanges welded to the hardpipes to mount the bovs to

dont get a bov dude, its pointless worthless and more of a hassell than is worth

as for the side mount theres a few options, but I'm not one to ask about those....I know about various front mounts but not side mounts as I am not running stock at all

unichip: I liked mine, but its a b**** to find a place that tunes unichips as they have proprietary software....if you want something you can plug in and forget, then the unichip is for you

but be wary that the boost controller it comes with does not always work well....its been known to spike way over 10psi and then drop back down to 10....it should stay at 10.....but if you get a unichip I dont recommend installing the boost controller as it is optional and is dangerous to run on the motor stock

if you dont plan to get it tuned: unichip
if you plan to tune it: look into a different piggyback like the split second

 

[fr0st]

SMIC and catless mid pipe (or high flow mid pipe) from protege garage.

then buy a ATP wastegate actuator..youll be set aroun 9- 9.5 psi safely

this is gonna cost you less than 1K$ and you won't believe the diffrence.

 

[mazdaspeedwerx]

get a front mount, it will be worth it down the road. make a intake its cheaper

 

[mikeski]

CustomMsp SMIC and midpipe would be great first mods.

 

[fr0st]

get a front mount, it will be worth it down the road. make a intake its cheaper

depends... will he ever go that high ? does he need to ?

if he doesn't it's overkill and alot of lag.

 

[mspHtown]

what are your goals?

what kind of climate do you live in?

??????

depends... will he ever go that high ? does he need to ?

if he doesn't it's overkill and alot of lag.

i put the hiboost fmic kit on my car as the first mod. there was no noticeable lag from it. knox joe has been through a few setups and will say the same thing, no lag.

if you live in a warm climate, dont waste your money on a smic. spend a little more and get a fmic.

 

[foild1]

i live in a moderate climate... anywhere between 10 and 20 degrees celcius on average. near washington state. ack! dont know what to do! FMIC, SMIC?!??!?!!

 

[foild1]

highboost fmic has a a bov with it, right?

 

[fr0st]

i live in a moderate climate... anywhere between 10 and 20 degrees celcius on average. near washington state. ack! dont know what to do! FMIC, SMIC?!??!?!!

that ha sbeen debated million times.. below 10 psi, SMIC

above 10 psi you need to go forged to be safer.. still able to do it on the stock s*** but theres a risk.. and you need a FMIC..

mine was pulling 9.5 - 10 psi in cool weather (60 degrees F) and i had traction issues with only a SMIC and a catless mid pipe and a ATP WGA.

so imagine the rest..

 

[neox.286]

Ive been through 5 different custom piping setups with front mount intercoolers

everything from piping the length of the hiboost to the length of the perrin

and I can tell you there definately was a lot of lag with those setups compared to a smic upgrade below 10psi

theres no reason to go get a fmic over smic if hes not going to do a lot of hardcore modding....if your boosting 10+ psi then its worth it, but below that its not and you may have to cutup your bumper for some kits....its more of a headache than its worth

upgraded smic w/ hardpipes and a catless midpipe (as fr0st was saying) will get you 9-10 psi alone, Ive seen it in person and I can attest that it is a good enough setup for daily driven right there without worrying about damaging the car

 

[HighwayUFO]

I didn't even have the car in my possesion before I bought my FMIC and accessories.

Start of with an FMIC, it will help down the road. Wideband that ride, and get some sort of management. Then exhaust.

I guess the big question is how far do you want to take the car. Bigger turbo? Larger injectors?

 

[Matrix]

SMIC and catless mid pipe (or high flow mid pipe) from protege garage.

then buy a ATP wastegate actuator..youll be set aroun 9- 9.5 psi safely

this is gonna cost you less than 1K$ and you won't believe the diffrence.

I agree 100%. That's a great plan of action, and in that order. I did the Injen intake & hardpipes (w/MAF relocation) first, then my catted downpipe (strict VA emissions), then cat-back, then SMIC. With each mod I loved the car more and more...

 

[neox.286]

I didn't even have the car in my possesion before I bought my FMIC and accessories.

Start of with an FMIC, it will help down the road. Wideband that ride, and get some sort of management. Then exhaust.

I guess the big question is how far do you want to take the car. Bigger turbo? Larger injectors?

judging from what he was saying in the first post, our point is that he is not going to take it to the point where he would need a fmic

your case I could see it, his case not

 

[foild1]

well, eventually i may upgrade turbo, etc.... but the smic is only 500 bucks or whatever, so if i decide to upgrade turbo, etc etc, down the road i can get the FMIC. i dont want to sacrifice anything (if this is the case with doing a FMIC i dont want to do it until necessary). Is this a good mod to do first? Is there really a noticable difference to be seen with the SMIC upgrade on a stock car, or is it just going to run like it does when the engine is colder (i.e the first 10 minutes of driving the car in the morning)

 

[mazdaspeedwerx]

just go with a fmic. the sidemount isnt worth it. neox already said with a sidemount hardpipes and a midpipe you will already be at 9.5-10 psi. and frost said that at 10 psi you will need a fmic anyways. so even though they said side mount they also said I am right and you should buy the front mount

 

[neox.286]

I said above 10 psi
and the t25 doesn't flow enough to require a larger core than the upgraded sidemount intercooler

and later down the road if you upgrade the turbo and such its gonna be a lot more money....if you want to do it right youll need some protection for your motor and transmission, which costs a pretty penny as well

in the end it is up to you if you want to upgrade, but the argument between front mount and side mount has been around for quite a while

I speak from experience when I say that at 10 psi, having used 10psi on numerous different front mount intercooler setups (using various pipe lengths/diameters/cores) and on a side mount intercooler, the side mount intercooler DID perform the best and gave the best gains vs. lag