[s-cars] FMIC Alternatives

[Djdawson2 at aol.com]

In a message dated 2/25/04 3:11:25 PM Mountain Standard Time, 
tedebearp at yahoo.com writes:

> in fact, i saw a 400 hp mustang SVO sporting an intercooler made from
> two audi UrS4 intercoolers welded together.  maybe that's the hot ticket -
> buy used stock intercoolers from the guys who are going to custom FMICs,
> and weld them together to make mine.
> 

hmmm... wonder if there is room up front for a pair of stock ICs?  As much as 
the stock IC is badmouthed, I don't think it is an altogether bad unit.  Take 
one out and lay it on the floor.  It's no slouch.  Decent length and width, 
and certainly its depth is impressive.  Compared to earlier generation Audi 
hardware, it is large.  Unfortunately, it isn't in a very good position in terms 
of airflow.

I'm not sure where the ASW FMIC development stands... but the last time I 
talked to the guys there, they were planning on sticking with the side to side 
version, rather than a top to bottom version.  They said that they tried a top 
to bottom, but contrary to conventional IC wisdom, it didn't perform any 
better.  This seems odd to me.  He also said that the intercooler they are using 
(side to side) was rated at 290cfm.  That doesn't seem too good either.  In fact, 
I'd bet that the stock IC is rated at more cfm than that.  The guys working 
on the IC stuff at ASW aren't hacks either... they're young guys, but they're 
also all engineering grads.  So they have worked the numbers, and then tested.  
I guess I just don't understand the results.

Me... I'm going to try something different, but only after I install some 
thermo-couples so I can establish a baseline.
Dave in CO