Smic

[mspHtown]

im planning on upgrading my intercooler to an smic and i just wanted to know everyones opinion on smic compared to fmic. i know for a fact i cant afford an fmic. i already have a manual boost controller set at 9 psi. thanks

 

[chkmgnt58]

the best smic (turbohoses) will hold at the most 250whp... expect to be payin 600ish for a good quality smic... although i'd say wait, save another 300, and say hello to a hiboost. you'll get hardpipes with that as well, whereas the turbohoses you have to pay more for hardpipes, making it actually more than the hiboost.

or do what i'm doin, buy hardpipes first (dsm makes good steel ones for 200, i chose aluminum ones from turbohoses.com for 400 for the heat dissapation), then go to san antonio and get corky bell to custom a fmic for you. just mentioned this b/c you're a fellow texas brother and all...

 

[Bhamsan]

the best smic (turbohoses) will hold at the most 250whp... expect to be payin 600ish for a good quality smic... although i'd say wait, save another 300, and say hello to a hiboost. you'll get hardpipes with that as well, whereas the turbohoses you have to pay more for hardpipes, making it actually more than the hiboost.

or do what i'm doin, buy hardpipes first (dsm makes good steel ones for 200, i chose aluminum ones from turbohoses.com for 400 for the heat dissapation), then go to san antonio and get corky bell to custom a fmic for you. just mentioned this b/c you're a fellow texas brother and all...

I'd be doing this too, except I don't like in TX, and I don't really have the time to be getting parts custom fabbed. I love my turbohoses hardpipes, as they're second to none. Even with a stock SMIC, I can feel the coolness of my coldpipe after a hard run. However, I am selling my pipes and going with a Perrin FMIC because I want to run higher boost soon after I get an MPI tuner.

What other parts do you have on your car? I'd stay away from boosting even 9psi until you at least have a DP on. Theres a video of an engine getting blown at around that psi I believe, and he had a CAI and FMIC. Just warning you too, because Turbo magazine ran a project MSP with a CAI, FMIC, and TB exhaust from iON, and got pinging at 10psi, so just be careful, thats all.

 

[jersey_emt]

the best smic (turbohoses) will hold at the most 250whp... expect to be payin 600ish for a good quality smic....

CustomMSP's is excellent, and is only $465. Low pressure drop, much greater flow than stock. Can easily support 250whp.

 

[ONRAILS]

I have a hiboost fmic... couldn't be happier. $840 shipped. Gonna hit the dyno next week probably, so I'll have a before and after run.

 

[Bhamsan]

You can also get a BEGi FMIC for $749. Although, it does use the stock soldpipe, so you might want to upgrade that for another $100 I think, but it is not necessary, as they said...

 

[Bhamsan]

Hey ONRAILS, you're missing a titanium grey and laser blue MSP in the pic, otherwise you'd have the complete collection.

 

[ONRAILS]

haha...actually we do. unfortunately the pic was taken on the way back from nopi, and speedoc (blue) didn't come back with us. Also... streetmafia (titanium) had his car in the body shop from an accident.

Hey ONRAILS, you're missing a titanium grey and laser blue MSP in the pic, otherwise you'd have the complete collection.

 

[MSP#735]

i have the yellow one!! hehe

 

[Bhamsan]

Fitment has been an issue with some SMICs if you try to do a full upgrade with hardpipes and SMIC, unless you combine a turbohoses SMIC and hardpipes.

I still haven't seen a sunlight silver or laser blue MSP up close yet. Actually, I take that back, I saw a sunlight silver MSP in the Ala Moana shopping center in Honolulu when I went to Hawaii last month. It had an exhaust and thats it.

End of threadjack, please continue with SMIC discussion.

 

[low_psi]

A SMIC is going to be a waste of money, especially once the hot Houston summer hits. There is no point in upgrading a bad stock IC with a nicer IC if its not getting airflow. Save your money and buy a BEGI intercooler when you can.

 

[chkmgnt58]

i call corky bell a while back, he said he'll build an ic to fit my hardpipes in the $500 range. that makes the whole kit 900ish, and that's comparable to a hiboost, but with aluminum hardpipes, and more importantly, the devine master of all things boost building the fmic

 

[EnjoyMinuteMaid]

A SMIC is going to be a waste of money, especially once the hot Houston summer hits. There is no point in upgrading a bad stock IC with a nicer IC if its not getting airflow. Save your money and buy a BEGI intercooler when you can.

I'm just wondering if you're speaking from experience because everyone I have seen who has gotten one loves it, plus there is some good reasons to get an smic over an fmic:
- lower pressure drop
- 1/2 hour installation time as opposed to all day
- proven dyno gains of 10-20 whp
- helps heat soak enough that you won't notice it as a problem anymore
- cheaper
However it doesn't look as badass as an fmic. (hippy)

 

[low_psi]

I don't believe any sidemounts have been tested in summer weather, especially not Texas summers, like the thread starter and I have to deal with. I haven't used an upgraded sidemount on my car and I don't care to:
-its still hidden in your bumper receiving minimal airflow
-any well engineered FMIC kit should offer low pressure drop aswell (BEGI's is .5psi)
-a SMIC + hardpipes combo is finacially unsound IMO
you could have a FMIC for just a tad more
-I'll give you dyno gains on any part you want!

Is a SMIC an upgrade? Yes. Is it worth it to me, when for just a little more money you could have a much better kit? No, not to me.

 

[LaserBlueMSP]

for me, half the reason i want an FMIC is for the look. lol i absolutely love to see any MSP witha huge shiny intercooler right up front. (but who doesnt) so i look at it as a performance/appearance mod in one. people spend $500 for front bumpers (painted) and $500 to get 15-20hp.. so why not spend $1000 and have the same effect. a mean looking front end, and the performance gains.

 

[Bhamsan]

I think now that BEGi has come out with a pretty inexpensive FMIC kit, its worth just getting that instead of a SMIC. Before, the cheapest kit was HiBoost I believe, for approx $850 shipped. a SMIC will run for approx $500-$600, and for those who are looking for mild as opposed to wild in the modding dept, a SMIC will yield gains comparable to a FMIC kit at low boost (9psi or lower) with a turboback exhaust and intake as well. However, if you're planning on going wild with a disco potato and bigger injectors, high boost, etc, then a FMIC is necessary.

In my case, I wasn't planning on going wild, so I was going to purchase a SMIC for the easy mod and power increase. But, my aspirations got a bit higher and I'm going to upgrade to a full 3" turboback exhaust and Perrin FMIC so I can handle 15psi after I get an MPI tuner as well. So it all depends on what your final goal is, and your budget. No one should discredit a SMIC, because it has been shown to have big gains, and people's testimonials have only backed that up. So I say, if you want a SMIC, get a SMIC, its your car, so do whatever makes you happy.

 

[mspHtown]

if i were to get a fmic which would u recommend?
begi, perrin, hiboost, ion, etc?

 

[lamp3]

I'd already have a hiboost on my car if it werent for the damn mild steel charge pipe. I was sceptical. Then I've seen quite a few posts about the inside of the pips rusting =(. now the begi is intresting....

 

[chkmgnt58]

price of the begi is unbeatable for a whole kit. and lets face it, corky bell is the best in the country. then again juan is the best protege tuner... but one of those two

 

[lamp3]

i think corky has set the standard. a front mount with a .5 psi preasure drop. good pricing. and design it smartly. no cutting, and car use stock piping is u want.