Fiesta ST Intercooler/Chargepipe upgrade... worth it?

[Mostlynotgay]

I've been reading posts about the intercooler upgrades, and I have a couple questions. Full disclosure: I'm a bit new to this whole "tuning" thing.

I've been looking at the Mountune intercooler and charge pipe upgrade kit, and I've read a few posts here that said that upgrading the intercooler doesn't actually add power. That doesn't... that doesn't sound right, but, again, new to turbo cars here.

 

[envyist]

Hey man welcome first of all
Second think of an intercooler like your radiator, it's job is to cool the cars coolant. So while a bigger radiator will allow a hard driven vehicle to run more stable temps vs smaller stock radiator. The larger/upgraded intercooler allows your car's air charge temperature to stay more consistent. Therein not making more hp/tq persay but making the most available hp/tq given ambient air temps and heatsoak etc.

 

[Mostlynotgay]

So would it be correct to say that, if you're just casually adding mods (cold air, exhaust), the intercooler can probably be skipped. but if you want to go a little more complicated (down pipe, Accessport, etc.), then put on an intercooler.

 

[JPGC]

It also looks cool and I would rather be safe then sorry when it come to the heat produced. ...

 

[EdwardFdz]

Installed the Accessport, an injen intake and the cp-e downpipe.... Yesterday I drove to my local drags and the car heatsoaked after two runs... NEED THE INTERCOOLER SOOOO BADLY! =(

 

[BlueBomber]

I've been reading posts about the intercooler upgrades, and I have a couple questions. Full disclosure: I'm a bit new to this whole "tuning" thing.

I've been looking at the Mountune intercooler and charge pipe upgrade kit, and I've read a few posts here that said that upgrading the intercooler doesn't actually add power. That doesn't... that doesn't sound right, but, again, new to turbo cars here.

Hey, welcome to turbo tuning. What you have read is sort of correct.

Let this soak in: An Intercooler does not make power - it allows you to make all of your power consistently - and by virtue of giving you a cooler air charge, allows you to safely run a more aggressive tune that delivers more power.

Intercoolers themselves do not make power, but instead allow you to make MORE POWER, and make it much more consistently. Heat soak sets in much faster than you think and you start to lose power as intake air temperatures go up. A bigger intercooler prevents this rise in intake temperatures from happening. By virtue of a cooler air charge you can run more aggressive tunes, allowing you to make a lot more power.

Like love and marriage, on a turbo car, you cannot have an aggressive tune without an intercooler and the intercooler can't deliver its full benefit without a tune that takes advantage of it.

Now the chargepipes - those IMO look pretty restrictive and I think there's 5-10hp in there simply by removing that stupid "resonator donut" thing on the chargepipe, you can easily see it from below - absolutely there is a gain to be had in chargepipes.

I think MBRP will be doing chargepipes, and since my friends at aFe finally copped to doing R&D on a Focus ST for an upcoming Takeda/aFe Intake and chargepipe setup, I would bet we see a Fiesta ST intake and chargepipes too. Now as far as what the best intake possible will be, my money is on aFe/Takeda- hands down. Cobb and Mountune are great but aFe's sealed airbox intakes are FANTASTIC.

There are other options besides Mountune for FMIC, but they do make a nice product.

Airtec has rolled out a pretty nice unit, as has Forge Motorsport and a few others.

I would bet we finally see the Cobb FMIC this month too.

 

[ryst]

Now the chargepipes - those IMO look pretty restrictive and I think there's 5-10hp in there simply by removing that stupid "resonator donut" thing on the chargepipe, you can easily see it from below - absolutely there is a gain to be had in chargepipes.

While I agree the charge pipes are probably restrictive, unless you are going for the look, most of the other mods are going to net you more power per $$$. For reference, the outlet on our turbo is 1.5", which is going to be the main bottleneck until you swap the turbo.

 

[BlueBomber]

While I agree the charge pipes are probably restrictive, unless you are going for the look, most of the other mods are going to net you more power per $$$. For reference, the outlet on our turbo is 1.5", which is going to be the main bottleneck until you swap the turbo.

dude, the chargepipe kits from MBRP are like $200 for the set. Pretty reasonable, esp if your FMIC doesn't include chargepipes.

But I have to say for someone living in SoCal, the FMIC is almost a must. The car DOES NOT like hot days where we get stuck at stoplights or stuck on the freeway. Cannot wait to do my FMIC.

 

[ryst]

dude, the chargepipe kits from MBRP are like $200 for the set. Pretty reasonable, esp if your FMIC doesn't include chargepipes.

But I have to say for someone living in SoCal, the FMIC is almost a must. The car DOES NOT like hot days where we get stuck at stoplights or stuck on the freeway. Cannot wait to do my FMIC.

ORLY? $200 isn't bad. I was thinking they would be $400-$500... are the MBRP ones out yet?

 

[Kip2MyLou]

Yeah, Mountune's charge pipe kit is $400. Where are the $200 kits?

 

[BlueBomber]

Yeah, Mountune's charge pipe kit is $400. Where are the $200 kits?

I said it'll be developed soon for Fiesta ST it ain't out yet- Focus ST is what's out- I just checked on it and MSRP is 397, The price I have on em for FOCUS ST is $299 actually - I remembered them being slightly cheaper but I guess my memory is off.

Focus ST MBRP Chargepipes $299 at ModBargains

Cheers
Nick

 

[Svvift]

good info for another turbo noob..

i want to do charge piping, intercooler, and downpipe (my FiST only has 472miles on it)
and i will be doing a sealed box intake (even though it doesn't look as cool as an open filter lol)

 

[Kip2MyLou]

Sounds pretty much the same as I want.

I'm going to get the Mountune box or Cobb's intake and either Mountune's intercooler or Cobb's, along with a charge pipe kit.

Are you just doing a exhaust too, or just the downpipe?

 

[Svvift]

I will do exhaust as well.. not sure which one.. only had the FiST a week
I just want to be careful with my mod choices due to my warranties.
(not trying to threadjack)

 

[envyist]

Here's the best hot side hard pipe upgrade imo for the money. as it's been shown the stock cold side piping is adequate for bolt ons and small turbo upgrades. Per atp of course who I'm sure would make/market&recommend full piping if it was deemed necessary.
http://www.atpturbo.com/mm5/merchan...tp&Product_Code=ATP-FIE-004&Category_Code=FIE

 

[Mostlynotgay]

That actually brings up a good question, which I may need to search for on the forum: is there a functional difference between the sealed-box and the open-air intake? You're right, the open air /lools/ cooler. but function > looks, in theory.

I'm looking at the same setup. Intake, intercooler/chargepipes, exhaust. Splitter... wing... STICKERS. Accessport somewhere in there. Although I might do exhaust first, just to get that sound.

 

[Svvift]

functionally, sealed box that draws air from outside the hood (grill) will perform slightly better and will help reduce (not necessarily negate) heatsoak.

 

[BlueBomber]

That actually brings up a good question, which I may need to search for on the forum: is there a functional difference between the sealed-box and the open-air intake? You're right, the open air /lools/ cooler. but function > looks, in theory.

I'm looking at the same setup. Intake, intercooler/chargepipes, exhaust. Splitter... wing... STICKERS. Accessport somewhere in there. Although I might do exhaust first, just to get that sound.

I am speaking strictly function, 100% of the time a sealed airbox will consistently draw in cooler air charge and will significantly reduce heatsoak and ingestion of hot air. This is why my eye is now on aFe Power/Takeda... so my order of best to just ok is aFe/Takeda, then Cobb or Mountune, then Injen or FS Werks and everyone else in that order.

The Mountune and Cobb setups are great but aFe is REALLY GOOD at intakes; they've got themselves a 3d scanner and printer and can rotomold plastic housings and the founder has a degree in aeronautics IIRC...

An open intake, even with a heat shield, speaking from personal experience, will suffer quite a bit in stop n go or idling at stoplights on hot days. This is why I want a sealed airbox intake SO BAD.

 

[EdwardFdz]

I am speaking strictly function, 100% of the time a sealed airbox will consistently draw in cooler air charge and will significantly reduce heatsoak and ingestion of hot air. This is why my eye is now on aFe Power/Takeda... so my order of best to just ok is aFe/Takeda, then Cobb or Mountune, then Injen or FS Werks and everyone else in that order.

The Mountune and Cobb setups are great but aFe is REALLY GOOD at intakes; they've got themselves a 3d scanner and printer and can rotomold plastic housings and the founder has a degree in aeronautics IIRC...

An open intake, even with a heat shield, speaking from personal experience, will suffer quite a bit in stop n go or idling at stoplights on hot days. This is why I want a sealed airbox intake SO BAD.

+1 on this... Love the way my injen intake sounds and looks... BUT... when my car is stopped at a red light or something... the Air Intake Temp shown in the Accesport just starts raising very fast!!! =/

 

[BlueBomber]

+1 on this... Love the way my injen intake sounds and looks... BUT... when my car is stopped at a red light or something... the Air Intake Temp shown in the Accesport just starts raising very fast!!! =/

Did you add anything to close the gap between the battery and heat shield? This is where most of the hot air gets in from. Adding some insulation to close that up and close up the gap around the intake pipe at the heat shield helped a lot.

In retrospect if I still had the Injen, I'd invest in a 90* bend coupler, omit the Injen heat shield and reroute the inlet/filter somewhere else with pieces from Spectre or something.