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2J intercooler review

frankiefiesta

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#1
EDIT ***DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS INTERCOOLER***
A lot of people have fitment issues, and it does a terrible job at keeping charge temps down. When I had a hybrid turbo on my car I was seeing upwards of +27 degrees Fahrenheit of charge temps compared to intake temps. BUY AT YOUR OWN RISK!


*this post will be edited when I gather more data, this is just my initial impressions/review*

So, as a lot of you know, those of us who waited very patiently for the 2J intercooler finally got the good news that they shipped earlier in the week.

I received mine today, and decided to install it along with my Cobb hot side charge pipe. Here's my initial review, tips, warnings, etc.

The intercooler looks great, it was a total steal at group buy price. Here it is in the box



Once i got the bumper off and ripped out the puny stock intercooler I decided to take the obligatory side by side picture of the two intercoolers

Height difference


Birds eye view lol


Intercooler weighed in at 11lbs 3oz


Stock cooler weighs 4lb 11oz. This makes the 2J intercooler 6lbs 8oz heavier.


Tube & fin design



Will update with data at a later time
 


OP
frankiefiesta

frankiefiesta

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Thread Starter #2
Thickness of the 2J core 2.38"


Thickness of stock intercooler core 1.97"


2J core length just about 8"


Stock core length about 5 1/4"


2J core length 22"


Stock core length just over 27"


Here's the 2J intercooler properly installed, tucked behind the crash beam


This is measuring from bottom of crash beam to bottom of 2J intercooler. About 5 1/2" sticks out. This means about 2 1/2" is behind the crash beam. For those who were wondering.


Bumper on after proper install




Good point.

On 2JR's website:
http://www.2j-racing.com/2jr-full-race-intercooler.html



What 2JR advertises:



What we're really getting:




Makes me wonder if their specs listed on their site are based on the preliminary design. [scratch]
 


Hijinx

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#4
I already think I know where I went wrong. On their website it looks like the intercooler gets tucked in back of the crash bar. Well, I'll have to address that sometime this week and see if that helps.

I'm going to take it apart again tomorrow and try to make everything fit.
As I was reading, I thought of asking this; whether you'd tucked it behind or smooshed it in front of the crash bar.
 


WeTheNorth

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Man'o Man, I hope this isn't how it's suppose to be. I bought this on a whim due to the price as well but if it's a shoty product... Hope to see different
 


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frankiefiesta

frankiefiesta

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Thread Starter #6
As I was reading, I thought of asking this; whether you'd tucked it behind or smooshed it in front of the crash bar.
I honestly don't think it will fit behind crash bar with my Cobb hot side hard pipe. Will have to see later today
 


AzNightmare

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#8


:)

How was the weight difference between the OEM IC and the 2JR IC?

Which year is your FiST? Hopefully you can find time to install it again and let us know if there's any fitment issues.
 


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frankiefiesta

frankiefiesta

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Thread Starter #9


:)

How was the weight difference between the OEM IC and the 2JR IC?

Which year is your FiST? Hopefully you can find time to install it again and let us know if there's any fitment issues.
Yes I'm going after it again today. Installing my cyborg turbo as well so I'll be a happy man tonight haha :)

Mine is a 2015. And there is an obvious weight difference. It's expected, the stock intercooler is 1.5" thick, end tanks are plastic, and it's small. The 2J is much heavier, i don't know for sure. I can put it on my bathroom scale to get an idea.

There is much more benefit to having this intercooler than the lightweight stock junk cooler. I don't mind it being a little heavier.
 


WeTheNorth

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Yes I'm going after it again today. Installing my cyborg turbo as well so I'll be a happy man tonight haha :)

Mine is a 2015. And there is an obvious weight difference. It's expected, the stock intercooler is 1.5" thick, end tanks are plastic, and it's small. The 2J is much heavier, i don't know for sure. I can put it on my bathroom scale to get an idea.


There is much more benefit to having this intercooler than the lightweight stock junk cooler. I don't mind it being a little heavier.
.


Let's just hope the design isn't flawed by the Crash bar being the robbing factor here, [MENTION=759]Hijinx[/MENTION] had some very good questions on the 2j thread, that Joe dodged like a stray bullet, waiting to see your second try
 


AzNightmare

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Yes I'm going after it again today. Installing my cyborg turbo as well so I'll be a happy man tonight haha :)

Mine is a 2015. And there is an obvious weight difference. It's expected, the stock intercooler is 1.5" thick, end tanks are plastic, and it's small. The 2J is much heavier, i don't know for sure. I can put it on my bathroom scale to get an idea.

There is much more benefit to having this intercooler than the lightweight stock junk cooler. I don't mind it being a little heavier.
Thanks for the quick reply. If it's not too much trouble, please do weigh them on the bathroom scale. lol
I figured it would be heavier than the oem just due to it being bigger.

But the real question is comparing the weight of this IC to other aftermarket one's. (We'll have to dig up the weight for the other aftermarket IC's out there to compare afterward).

If we're talking 5-10 lbs difference to other aftermarket IC, then whatever. If we're talking 30-40~ lbs, then it might be worthwhile considering whether the extra weight is worth it over other aftermarket IC's in the market.
 


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#12
.


Let's just hope the design isn't flawed by the Crash bar being the robbing factor here, [MENTION=759]Hijinx[/MENTION] had some very good questions on the 2j thread, that Joe dodged like a stray bullet, waiting to see your second try
I hope so too. I owned a b15 sentra before the FiST and 2j is known for their quality among that community. I would like to think that quality carried over to us.
 


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#14
IC design on this is radically different from everyone else; so I am pretty eager to see what comes of the data and how well it is holding charge temps from spiking.

The question of weight came up and I can answer that with an alternative FMIC; which would be my MTC "Cobb knockoff" that I got from the UK. It weighs in at 13.4 lbs on my bathroom scale. I have not weight the stock FMIC, but I've heard it weighs 4 lbs or thereabouts. I'll trade 9-ish lbs of weight for the cooling I have gotten from it any day of the week.

I can't imagine the 2J weighs much more.

 


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frankiefiesta

frankiefiesta

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Thread Starter #15
So like I said I am also doing the cyborg turbo upgrade. I didn't get a chance to wrap everything up today. Going to try and finish up tomorrow. I'll be sure to weigh the stock and 2J intercoolers. The 2J intercooler is probably 15-20lbs, if I had to guess. I'm not that great at guessing weight, but I can say quite certainly it's not 30lbs lol

Edit: BTW I was stupid first time around installing intercooler. It fits easily behind the crash bar and shouldn't give any one an issue. I was able to hold it up and figure out exactly how it goes. Obviously had to keep intercooler off while doing my turbo but I'll take plenty of pics tomorrow.
 


RAAMaudio

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If you want to maximize any cooler you need to ensure as much air flows through it as possible.

If you take the time and use something easy to work with like ABS plastic sheet material you can seal up all around the grill inlets/coolers and on the top of the IC as well then the air that comes in will be of high enough pressure to flow through every part of the coolers even if behind the bumper beam.

I am on my 3rd IC setup and only 7k miles on the car but not much was available when I started the build, I even bought the Cobb but returned it before using it, a damn good IC, when I heard about the DHM race IC and bumper beam, 4lbs heavier that stock IC and bumper beam but it does cost a bit though a damn good price for what you get.

For the price of the 2jr it is going to be a great value but you will need to seal things up to maximize the results, just like any IC including the DHM race setup, just how things work.
 


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So like I said I am also doing the cyborg turbo upgrade. I didn't get a chance to wrap everything up today. Going to try and finish up tomorrow. I'll be sure to weigh the stock and 2J intercoolers. The 2J intercooler is probably 15-20lbs, if I had to guess. I'm not that great at guessing weight, but I can say quite certainly it's not 30lbs lol

Edit: BTW I was stupid first time around installing intercooler. It fits easily behind the crash bar and shouldn't give any one an issue. I was able to hold it up and figure out exactly how it goes. Obviously had to keep intercooler off while doing my turbo but I'll take plenty of pics tomorrow.
You must be so excited to finally have everything you need to install your parts. I can't wait to see the results/opinion of your cyborg setup. Seems like a great value for the money.
 


AzNightmare

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If you want to maximize any cooler you need to ensure as much air flows through it as possible.

If you take the time and use something easy to work with like ABS plastic sheet material you can seal up all around the grill inlets/coolers and on the top of the IC as well then the air that comes in will be of high enough pressure to flow through every part of the coolers even if behind the bumper beam.

I am on my 3rd IC setup and only 7k miles on the car but not much was available when I started the build, I even bought the Cobb but returned it before using it, a damn good IC, when I heard about the DHM race IC and bumper beam, 4lbs heavier that stock IC and bumper beam but it does cost a bit though a damn good price for what you get.

For the price of the 2jr it is going to be a great value but you will need to seal things up to maximize the results, just like any IC including the DHM race setup, just how things work.
Can you explain a bit more about sealing up everything?
When I decide to install the IC, it'll be a good time to do all the sealing
 


RAAMaudio

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Block the top of the IC behind the bumper beam so air does not go up over the top, has to go into the IC instead. Do the sides, bottom, etc around the lower grill inlet up tight to the bumper cover, air that is allowed to go around the IC will end up being of not much if any use to the cooling of the car, add drag, etc...

The more you force air through the coolers the better they will perform.
 


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#20
Its not so much the air - but the pressure drop. By building a tight box, you'll have a much more effective cooling area
 




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