First, a huge thanks to Phat for putting up with me and for doing the install. Not only was the work second to none, but the way he's made it very stealth as well as keeping all items in its original location as much as possible. His work is indeed incredible.
The only downside to this is I was out of car for 6 days, and my poor baby was left outside to endure heat, rain, and sun for the entire duration. Yeah, I pretty much cried every night.
It was worth it in the end though, as I got the following fitted on:
- GReddy front mount intercooler
- SARD fuel pump
- HKS Twin Power Ignition Amplifier
- Custom modification to the Blitz intake
Phat took a GReddy FMIC kit made for the Liberty and customised the heck out of it. By doing that he was able to:
- Invert the intercooler so that the piping does not interfere with the foglights and washer bottle (original kit as well as most front mount kits for the Liberty call for the re-location of the washer bottle in front of the passenger side wheel as well as the removal of foglights)
- Use less piping by curving it to a more direct path and ensured no contact with any other part (original kit calls for piping to go over some areas with contact with other parts)
- Make it not to obvious to the casual observer. If anyone were to lift the bonnet you wouldn't be able to tell it's a front mount setup.
The reason why I waited so long is because I heard about what a front mount does to the driveability. But after doing my own research, it turns out that if I kept the factory turbo and the piping was not a ridiculous diameter (maintain high velocity), lag should be minimal at best and driveability should be retained.
After nearly a week of driving, I am happy to report that there is no noticeable increase in lag. Low end power may have been reduced by just a tad, but mid to high end power has increased sharply. I'm hoping a re-tune will make it more effecient across the board. But for now, I'm another happy customer of Phat.
Here are some pics that Phat has given me permission to put up:
Test fitting to ensure all the pipes are in place and not interferring with anything.
Front mount and piping after they have been painted matte black
A close up of the GReddy intercooler. It's secured to the Cusco radiator support bar
Inside the engine bay after some of the CF covers went on. Except for the noticeable gap where the top mount used to be, the front mount setup is hard to spot
For the time being the opening where the top mount used to be has been covered with black mesh, making it harder to notice it's not a stock setup.
Front view of the car. Front mount is hardly noticeable I think!
Some more pics from the front.
should be sweeeeeeet, sounds like your happy! can you notice the diff between the top mount an now to the fmic? looks good that you cannot see any piping!! love it.. show a cop, see if they notice it hahaha
