WRX 2008 STI top mount fitment?

[cynner]

Decided to bite the bullet... I'll have a PW top mount fitted shortly. Will be able to give you a pretty good review of whether or not the car feels different or not. Possibly will also have a dyno sheet before/after (car is already tuned with the current mods (cold air intake and exhaust).

I knew I should have got a H6... the GT's are too easy to modify

[peadya100]

Decided to bite the bullet... I'll have a PW top mount fitted shortly. Will be able to give you a pretty good review of whether or not the car feels different or not. Possibly will also have a dyno sheet before/after (car is already tuned with the current mods (cold air intake and exhaust).

I knew I should have got a H6... the GT's are too easy to modify

Hahaha.. i nearly did the same thing last night!!
Im glad you bit the bullet.. looking forward to seeing how it goes.

I was looking at the perrin cooler so that i could keep the stock look.. but im hearing good things about the PW cooler.

[Sean82]

I was looking at the perrin cooler so that i could keep the stock look..

I implore you to NOT buy one mate! I had one on my Forester and the fitment was terrible. It eased up a bit after I installed the AVO TB inlet and bored out the holes in the turbo flange (necessitating high-tensile bolts and nuts), but it truly was a bitch to fit.
AVO and Hyperflow (if you can find one, I've heard they're not made anymore??) keep the stock look but fit way better.

Sean..

[alexxxz]

I was looking at the perrin cooler so that i could keep the stock look..

I implore you to NOT buy one mate! I had one on my Forester and the fitment was terrible. It eased up a bit after I installed the AVO TB inlet and bored out the holes in the turbo flange (necessitating high-tensile bolts and nuts), but it truly was a bitch to fit.
AVO and Hyperflow (if you can find one, I've heard they're not made anymore??) keep the stock look but fit way better.

Sean..

Yea Hyperflow are kaput now.

I had a PW TMIC on my 06 2.5 WRX and the fitment was great, especially with the shroud.

[Manaz]

Decided to bite the bullet... I'll have a PW top mount fitted shortly. Will be able to give you a pretty good review of whether or not the car feels different or not. Possibly will also have a dyno sheet before/after (car is already tuned with the current mods (cold air intake and exhaust).

I knew I should have got a H6... the GT's are too easy to modify

Did you go for the black version?

[alexeiwoody]

Decided to bite the bullet... I'll have a PW top mount fitted shortly. Will be able to give you a pretty good review of whether or not the car feels different or not. Possibly will also have a dyno sheet before/after (car is already tuned with the current mods (cold air intake and exhaust).

I knew I should have got a H6... the GT's are too easy to modify

Did you go for the black version?

LOL

[Manaz]

LOL

Funnily enough, I think they misinterpret their own results, but the results DO say something. And for day-to-day driving on public roads, particularly in traffic, I expect a black intercooler will be more effective than a bare metal one.

Add a water spray that works intelligently, and the problem of heat-soak should be greatly diminished...

[alexeiwoody]

LOL

Funnily enough, I think they misinterpret their own results, but the results DO say something. And for day-to-day driving on public roads, particularly in traffic, I expect a black intercooler will be more effective than a bare metal one.

Add a water spray that works intelligently, and the problem of heat-soak should be greatly diminished...

I watched this video when it first came out, and have to say I'm really not convinced by the results (as I have a silver tmic... ). They really should have done testing while driving.

You'll benefit more from the water and it will still need decent airflow to function properly.

Don't forget to bring ice for your tmic, to the drags guys!!!

[cynner]

Fitted the Process West TMIC.

Have taken it for a good spin with a revised tune from Matt. It's hard to say if it's made much difference. It possibly pulls slightly harder but the difference is slight.

I'll see what the dyno has to say in a few weeks...

Kim

[peadya100]

Fitted the Process West TMIC.

Have taken it for a good spin with a revised tune from Matt. It's hard to say if it's made much difference. It possibly pulls slightly harder but the difference is slight.

I'll see what the dyno has to say in a few weeks...

Kim

Wow thats all happened quickly! The dyno may not be definitive either as that can vary slightly from day to day. Bum dyno is the best guide

[cynner]

Yeah, as far as "bang for your buck" goes... I would rate an aftermarket TMIC fairly low... probably theoretically a good improvement, and probably a good thing if you're thinking of upgrading the turbo down the track - but for the stock turbo I couldn't really tell the difference...

[peadya100]

Well thats interesting. I really thought theyd make a difference of some sort. At least youve safe guarded yourself for future mods.

[Sean82]

Yeah, as far as "bang for your buck" goes... I would rate an aftermarket TMIC fairly low... probably theoretically a good improvement, and probably a good thing if you're thinking of upgrading the turbo down the track - but for the stock turbo I couldn't really tell the difference...

Agreed. On VF turbos, stock TMIC is sufficient in most places in Aus. Some cheaper precautions can be taken (some pretty nice home made TMIC spray systems floating about, and I know of one SH owner with VF52 in Sydney that has a small radiator fan on top of his TMIC, works brilliantly!)

[Shaheenis]

Can someone please tell me once and for all whether or not there is a performance gain with after market top mounts?

Simply - yes but gains would start on a scale of not even being noticeable to significant based on size of turbo and boost you are running.

You would get an aftermarket TMIC because:

a) You want to run high boost which not only generates more heat (and needs more cooling) but tests the strength of the stock IC which is not designed for high boost,
b) You run a larger than stock turbo and want increased airflow (aftermarket typically have a larger core which means increased flow capacity without sacrificing cooling).

Just remember that the bigger the IC, the longer it takes to reach peak boost as there is extra space to fill between blower and IM so actually reduced not improved response - same concept as larger aftermarket headers and up-pipes introducing lag as it takes longer for pressure to build behind turbine. The benefit is when you are on boost you will get improved air flow (assuming your IC was a restriction in the first place which wouldn't be the case with a little VF46 and stock IC) and improved intake charge temps = more power for a given airflow (which should be of minor benefit even with stock turbs but moreso if running higher in efficiency range - more boost as the extra heat generated will be dealt with better. Whether any of this is noticeable (good or bad) to the driver without high boost and bigger turbo is hard to say unless you have one .

If I upgrade to a VF52 @19psi and I find one for the right price I think it would be worthwhile but shame they aren't more affordable.

[peadya100]

Thanks for that Tim!
Good write up.

I have a VF52 running 19psi, and my tuner still tells me its not worth upgrading the cooler.. So im guessing it may be more of an issue if we went bigger than the VF52.. say a blouche or similar. I know my tuner recommends a front mount when going up to bigger turbos like the blouche or gt-pumps on wrx's, so i can only assume he'd recommend the same for liberty's.