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universal 27x7x2.5 intercooler?

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rosamond
#1
I was wondering if anyone is running the universal 27x7x2.5" intercoolers that go for under 100 bucks. I have one on my mazdaspeed miata and it has been rock solid for 8 years even at the track with no heat soak. I was wondering if the fiesta community was using these. Chinese intercoolers have proven to be 90% as good at 15% of the price of name brand intercoolers for the non pro race crowd. Seems like you could fir one of these for just over 150.00 and the size would be just right for the grill opening.

would make stage 2 much cheaper.
 


OP
MegaBuster
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Thread Starter #2
Very surprised nobody has tried this yet. Looks to me you can go from stage 1 to stage 2 for just the price of the intercooler since it seems intakes are not really needed. I'm hoping to finally take delivery of my ST this week so i will measure my other cars intercooler to see if it will direct fit. Some of the guidelines for the stages strike me as odd. It seems like many here are brainwashed by the vendors into buying high end bits where a cheap one will do just fine. All the high end bits are nice but i could not bring myself to spend 800 on an intercooler knowing how well the 60 dollar ones hold up and perform from experiance. People have been using these cheap intercoolers a long time and on the stock little turbo you don't need twice the flow. Guess I will see about doing it myself in the summer. Promised the wife I would not mod the ST until the miata is sold
 


FistSt215

Senior Member
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#3
I agreed with you as a lot of turbo cars sti , Evo srt4, mazdaspeed have universal/ cheaper brand intercoolers being use all the time . Don't really feel like paying 800 something dollars for Cobb , which is small a tad bigger than the oem .As long as it fits I don't see why it wouldn't work.
 


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M
#4
one of my favorite sources for accessories, pipes and such:

http://www.siliconeintakes.com/

site may look a little hoakie, but I've never had any issues with any of their products. I'm using one of their intercoolers on my project car. along with a bunch of their hoses, clamps, slim fans. all around a great source for a lot of stuff if you don't care about brand names.
 


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Ridge
#5
one of my favorite sources for accessories, pipes and such:

http://www.siliconeintakes.com/

site may look a little hoakie, but I've never had any issues with any of their products. I'm using one of their intercoolers on my project car. along with a bunch of their hoses, clamps, slim fans. all around a great source for a lot of stuff if you don't care about brand names.
I have also used them with great success in the past.
 


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Location
Newark
#6
I have used them too, and their sister site www.anfittingsdirect.com for a lot of things.

I have a 27x7x2.5" tube and fin intercooler sitting in the garage. I just don't have the time to mess with it right now.
 


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M
#7
Frozenboost is another sister site. same site structure, a lot of the same products.
 


OP
MegaBuster
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rosamond
Thread Starter #8
The silicone parts from upgr8 worked out well for my custom intake. The high temp silicone branded pieces are top quality but very expensive. A couple 4" leg 90 degree couplers is all you need for this so it looks to be a fairly cheap mod. I'll look at it this weekend perhaps and take some basic measurments since I'm getting my ST tomorrow. The opening in the grill is only about as big as one of these intercoolers. Big ones like the J line seem to be a waste if there is no air to run over the fins. Volume dose not matter as much if there is no air flow
 


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#9
My thing with running a large volume intercooler like the J-line on the stock turbo is, it has to fill all that extra volume to make boost and that tiny turbo will have to work harder than it already does to make the same boost pressures. The reason the charge temps are so high is because of how hard this tiny compressor has to work. Bigger compressors don't have to work as hard to make the same volume of air. Have any of you guys with the J-line noticed any extra lag? Is there a hot side charge temp sensor? I need to look at the intercooler threads and all the data.

I might have everything I need already laying around to install it. I just need to get this other car out of my garage and find time to mess with the FiST. I also need something that I can monitor the charge temps with as I don't have an AP and my OT-2 doesn't show me the charge temps.

Here is the intercooler I have:

 


iso100

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#10
My thing with running a large volume intercooler like the J-line on the stock turbo is, it has to fill all that extra volume to make boost and that tiny turbo will have to work harder than it already does to make the same boost pressures. The reason the charge temps are so high is because of how hard this tiny compressor has to work. Bigger compressors don't have to work as hard to make the same volume of air. Have any of you guys with the J-line noticed any extra lag? Is there a hot side charge temp sensor? I need to look at the intercooler threads and all the data.

I might have everything I need already laying around to install it. I just need to get this other car out of my garage and find time to mess with the FiST. I also need something that I can monitor the charge temps with as I don't have an AP and my OT-2 doesn't show me the charge temps.

Here is the intercooler I have:

I looked at some data logs before and after I put the J line on and it appears as though the fill time is either the same or nearly half the time as before. I don't have logs available for every type of driving but I looked at fill time for wide open throttle in 3rd gear on two very similar logs on the same road. Stock seemed about 1 second to get from zero to full boost while the new intercooler seem to take about point six seconds to go from 0 to full boost.

I probably need to examine a few more logs but I would a tribute the decrease in fill time to how much flow area there is in the new intercooler.
 


OP
MegaBuster
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Thread Starter #11
Its not fill time of the intercooler you are seeing. The less back pressure in the system the sooner it can get boost up. Intercooler volume dose not play as big a role in this but pipe diameter, bends, and length can play a bigger role.

The turbo has to fight the back pressure in the system more than the volume. Stock intercoolers usually have a lot of restriction in then which is why a larger intercooler with a less restricted design will spool up faster. Most aftermarket intercoolers are bar and plate designs which flow very well.
 


OP
MegaBuster
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Thread Starter #12
checking Ebay I also see cx racing has a 28x8x3.5 intercooler for 160 with free shipping. that's very close to the size of the J-line intercooler at half the price. I do wonder if it would be better just to get something the size of the air opening or if the airflow across 70% of the core would be enough to keep the whole thing cooled. A lot of people have opted for the J-line because of the articles about how well it cools but those articles consider that you will have airflow over the whole core and we only have a 5" or so opening.

the CX racing core is 1/2" taller and 1/4" thinner than the J-line and that 1/4" might make the difference when fitting it in so that you don't have to trim as much.
 


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#13
checking Ebay I also see cx racing has a 28x8x3.5 intercooler for 160 with free shipping. that's very close to the size of the J-line intercooler at half the price. I do wonder if it would be better just to get something the sixe of the air opening or if the airflow across 70% of the core would be enough to keep the whole thing cooled. A lot of people have opted for the J-line because of the articles about how well it cools but those articles consider that you will have airflow over the whole core and we only have a 5" or so opening.

the CX racing core is 1/2" taller and 1/4" thinner than the J-line and that 1/4" might make the difference when fitting it in so that you don't have to trim as much.
Found that CXRacing intercooler for half that price there buddy.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/CXRacing-Un...hed-/271538136742?hash=item3f38ef26a6&vxp=mtr

I'm probably going to end up buying one of those if I can get the back pay I'm owed. I actually think it will fit better than the Mishimoto. It's closer to the length of the stock intercooler, but taller and wider. We're looking at around 130 for everything from the intercooler, joiners, couplers and Tclamps delivered right to my door.
 


RAAMaudio

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#15
A taller IC than the J-Line will likely need more trimming to fit on the bottom.

The J-Line is a better quality unit than the CRX, I have had both brands but the CRX is pretty decent.

I would prefer a wider instead of taller core to expose more of the surface area to the direct airflow across the face of it.

If you seal the gap at the top and on the sides and force as much air through the core as possible it helps make up for the hidden top of a taller core in our cars.

Also, you can look for my threads on this, you can open up the lower radiator support and get far better airflow out the back of the core, any IC you choose.

J-Line on Amazon Prime for $255.33 shipped, a great value but heavy.

http://www.amazon.com/Mishimoto-MMINT-UJ-Universal-J-Line-Intercooler/dp/B00CJ6J1M6
 


RAAMaudio

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#17
Looks like something is amiss in the specs

Core Size, 6.5" X 26.5" X 3.5"
Overall lenght 27.5"

Tanks and ends are just 1" long?

Looks like an 18 or 20" core, way to short

-------------------

There is a point of just to cheap, you could end up with a worse than stock IC, size is not everything, specs that are incorrect or purposely misleading, this is a ricer grade IC at best and you are not driving a ricer;)
 


iso100

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#18
Even with nearly 40% of the J-Line obstructed by the bumper I only get a 3 degree rise in charge temps on a 3rd gear pull. With the stock intercooler it rose 29.
 


RAAMaudio

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#19
I know, I had one already, made at least 100 pulls with it:)

We have no solid data I recall for extended runs like up a mountain, on a road race track, etc...I expect it to do well or I would not of had one so we have to wait and see how it turns out, it will still be far better than stock.

I really see three IC options that make the most sense for most of us at least.

J-Line
Cobb
DHM

I bought all three, waiting on the DHM, did not install the Cobb as I was able to place the first order on the DHM before I was home to install the Cobb, which I bought for the weight savings more than any other aspect but the core width was a part of the decision.
 


iso100

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#20
I know, I had one already, made at least 100 pulls with it:)
I know. My response was for the benefit of the OP.

I'm not sold on the DHM end tank design nor the fact that it seems like massive overkill for our tiny 1.6 liter engines. The J-Line is already good for 500hp...
 


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