I want to upgrade to FMIC, from stock. I'd like some advice/input

[yudkib]

you can get a front mount without removing your crash bar - theyre not exclusive to one another.

if i remember - either your bumper or your crash bar will have to be trimmed if your core size is taller than ~6-6.5". trimming your crash bar probably wont be the end of the world, though i still wouldnt do it.
a core over ~10-11" means you have to remove the crash bar all together so the bottom of the core still clear the ground. this includes the perrin kit and the turbolife - both of which include replacement bars which are not NHTSA approved in any sense of the word, and where insurance problems are MUCH more likely to occur in the event you make a claim... the bar is supplied just so you have something to hang the IC on.

if you go with something like a 5.5" core, you dont have to trim the bumper (generally) or the crash bar, and youll see PLENTY of gain assuming you dont want to run 25+ psi.

 

[blazinrola80]

This was back in 06 cut my crash bar in half.. so intercooler wouldn't hang low.

my car was in a accident after Thanks to the crash bar frame rail was bent.. ... and it still manage to get radi support headlight.. ect ft end damaged.. soo over all its a big over priced i bought a new one to put the car on the frame machine put it back to spec.. pos.. is my life in danger NO.. would i rip it off if i knew it was going to bend the frame yes. is my insurance company going to drop me for not having it no.. what they don't know doesn't hurt.

Just in case i wasn't driving the car i let a family member drive it.. and a car jumped in front of him.. and he tried stopping but obviously stopped on top of the other car..

 

[blazinrola80]

hear is another kit i had tried after accident..

 

[Ricktalife]

damn, that first kit you had looked pretty badass.

 

[yudkib]

my car was in a accident after Thanks to the crash bar frame rail was bent.. ... and it still manage to get radi support headlight.. ect ft end damaged.. soo over all its a big over priced i bought a new one to put the car on the frame machine put it back to spec.. pos.. is my life in danger NO.. would i rip it off if i knew it was going to bend the frame yes. is my insurance company going to drop me for not having it no.. what they don't know doesn't hurt.

i wont argue that the crash bar occasionally causes more headaches than its worth, im arguing that its a mandated federal part.
if you had damage to your rad support etc. you would have had damage without the crash bar, and if your frame was out of spec or anything where you wanted to make a claim like that, the insurance would say wheres your crash bar, heres your premium back since you lied to us about the street legal status of your car, and have a good time fixing it and paying the damages to whatever else was in the accident.

 

[Spiced MSP]

To the OP, I would probably say you would be best off going the custom route unless you find someone selling a kit on the forum. Everything made by Corksport is great, so if you can get their FMIC at a good price I would say go for it. Plus I don't think it really requires any cutting to install. The HiBoost kit is also a good one (doesn't require any cutting as far as I know) but they're pretty hard to come by. Actually they're both pretty hard to come by..

The Turbolife is probably the best performance intercooler available but they are super hard to come by, require a decent amount of cutting and relocating to install, and eliminate the crash bar as previously stated. That's what I personally have and I love it, but if I was to do it all over again I would probably go the custom route and save $300.

Aside from those 3, the only other popular kit that comes to mind is the Altered Customs kits but you can pretty much make that yourself. It's pretty much a mass replicated custom kit, and I don't know if it's even sold anymore. The only one I know you can buy new for sure is the CorkSport.

I found one that I would approve of in the FS section but it does look like it requires cutting to route the pipes efficiently.
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/show...-pricing-lots-still-available!&highlight=fmic

Here's the Altered Customs one
http://www.alteredcustoms.net/Mazdaspeed-Protege-c6/

And you already know where to find the CS one..

Corksport kit requires a little bit of cutting for the pipes to clear

 

[SeR_Cyclops]

I have a set of MAM pipes I think I will be selling a little bit after christmas. I love them, they are great.

 

[blazinrola80]

i wont argue that the crash bar occasionally causes more headaches than its worth, im arguing that its a mandated federal part.
if you had damage to your rad support etc. you would have had damage without the crash bar, and if your frame was out of spec or anything where you wanted to make a claim like that, the insurance would say wheres your crash bar, heres your premium back since you lied to us about the street legal status of your car, and have a good time fixing it and paying the damages to whatever else was in the accident.

your probably right no argument there.. never had to have that argument with a ins company.. lol yea they had to pay for everything... radiator was sitting on top of steed manifold... all fixed tho..

 

[blazinrola80]

damn, that first kit you had looked pretty badass.

yea first one i made my self a long time ago.. second was after accident. new one is FTW.. modified a turbo life to fit the way i am building car.

 

[yudkib]

I have a set of MAM pipes I think I will be selling a little bit after christmas. I love them, they are great.

you should sell them before christmas, youd be able to cover all your gift costs with those pipes alone.

 

[blazinrola80]

any one think my turbo life pipes worth selling?

 

[squire0311]

depends on how much youre asking? lol

 

[blazinrola80]

ill make a 4 sale thread tom.. i have few things laying around..

 

[squire0311]

cool im deployed so looking for more goodies for the car.lol

 

[KrayzieFox]

any one think my turbo life pipes worth selling?

Yes & no. They're nice pipes but they're pretty specific to the Turbolife/Perrin FMIC, so there's not much more you can really do with them. You can always try though..

 

[yudkib]

the turbolife pipes by themselves are worth practically zilch - the cores have custom endtanks that are required to make use of the pipes.

 

[squire0311]

well thank god im a jack of alot of trades. i can weld just about anything.

 

[43975]

Here are some pics of my kit when I got it un molested. That "L" pipe comes right off the clocked turbo and into the "U" pipe as you can see the BOV lives there as well. I cut that L pipe up and added 90 degree couplers to make it run to the top then over into the stock turbo location. Now I'm back to how it was supposed to be!!

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showp...93&postcount=1

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showp...12&postcount=7

Actually I found a pic I posted of the cut out on the hot side!!

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/attac...7&d=1219787328

Here is the MAM write up


http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=110565

Here is a link to a pic of the pipe I was able to eliminate from the Hot pipe once I clocked the turbo down.
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/show...adiator-Room&p=5294613&viewfull=1#post5294613


That should do you well for now!!!!
Enjoy

 

[jbrewer4639]

interesting

 

[pomidor]

your threads are always so specific, over-researched and over-thought (im detecting an engineer), yet they lack some of the most important things - like whats your long term hp goal?....

I'm a software developer. I think that in some counties it's also referred to as a Software Engineer. So you're dead on.

I try to do lots of research so that I don't end up wasting people's time asking for answers that have already been provided elsewhere, but given that car stuff isn't my field of expertise, even with my 'over-research'd approach (btw, I'm taking that as complement), I'm bound to miss a lot of things. To be honest, the "what my log term hp goal is" part never crossed my mind, and if I did read something about it somewhere, I obviously missed its importance in this whole FMIC equation. But that's where this forum comes in: to educate my noob'ness

To answer your question, I don't know what the exact HP output will be after the mods I'm currently working on are completed, so I'll just tell you what they are and you can judge what the final HP output will be:


Mods that I will definitely be doing or have already done:

- Protephile's exhaust manifold

- Corsksport down pipe + one highflow cat + Vibrant 18" resonator + A'pexi "World Sport II Universal Muffler". All piping will be 2.5 inch

- SSAFC (with its default map)

- CAI

- FMIC (This thread will help in deciding which one I'll get).


Mods I'll probably do, but only after above mods are completed, and after I've consulted this forum for 'approval':

- step colder plugs

- up the boost to t 9 / 9.5 psi (or what ever the safe limit is without going forged)

- try some alternate SSAFC maps, or tune it myself if I can figure out how.


Mods I'd like to do sometime in the future, but I might not bother if the cost, and my involvement, is too high.

- forge the engine

- up to boost to the stock turbo's safe limit (14 psi, I believe)

...and hope I don't blow the transmission or the LSD.


So, lets say that I'd like to get a FMIC now that would fit all my mods' needs (even the ambitions future ones), would something like the Cork Sport IC be good enough?

----

BTW, I've read through the rest of this thread. Very informative. Thanks.

My favourite part is the insurance cat-fight part. LOL. Sorry, I just couldn't resist; it was kind of funny, although it as also very informative.

My $0.02 worth regarding the crash beam:

Where I live, cutting/removing the crash beam is a no-no. First, I'd prefer not to risk my safety, but more importantly, such a mod would void my insurance. Perhaps this is something one can get a way with in some part of North America, but not in the part I live in. Nicking a bit of the bumper I'm OK with, crash beam removal is a definite no-go for me.