Turborevs Side Mount Intercooler Install

Markeyboy

Markeyboy

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been asked by a coupple of people to do a write up on this, so here we go

purchased from turborevs from that wonderfull place that is ebay, for about £105 delivered!

the only ones they had in stock were the smic's for the diesel for the a3, there built the same but has a smaller diameter hole for the map sensor, mine needed to be opened up to 18mm, but the flange bolt holes are the same!

here she is
fab27cb1.jpg



so the first job is to remove the front bumper,
6c0f9175.jpg


then the drivers side headlight
191529a1.jpg

theres 2 torx bolts on top and one that is tucked just inside the wing

heres the origional,
c1100819.jpg


theres 2 jubilee clips to remove,
one above
e79ad8e6.jpg


one below
9ec435f4.jpg


warning* there was a fair amount of oil sitting in the bottem of my old ic,due to the PCV problems i had in the past. made a nice stain on the drive!

then there are 3 bolts to remove which hold the ic to the car, two above and one underneath

comparison of the old and new
0e28609d.jpg


swap the map sensor over
b4c82e5a.jpg


bolt new one onto the car and connect up the two hoses
74992d55.jpg


you can just about see the to bolt locations on this photo


much nicer
44ef0ca8.jpg



the ducting needed alot of trimming, which i did using a dremel, had to take about an inch off the ducting nearest the ic (no pics im afraid)

running without the ducting is not recommended as the logs i ran after fitting showes very high temps compared with the ducting fitted!


Logs
sorry for the pic quality

the origional ic logs were done at 8degC inthe rain, i have not been able to get testing done with the same weather condidions yet, all other logs have been done at the temps stated on the side legend in the dry
f47e05e9.jpg


no ducting is really not an option

d765ff1b.jpg


all the logs were done in 3rd gear WOT on the same road, trying to replicate the pre log driving condtions

so all in all, very easy to fit, took about 1 1/2 hours all in. seems to boost harder but it may just be the placebo effect but im happy
 
Last edited:
what kinda power can these run, i'd be more obliged to get this done than a FMIC
 
Id rather run a front mount. I did a custom jobby on my golf (Forge Style) and worked well. I find this one over priced... Could get a FMIC and pipes for £150 and better results. (IMO)
 
audi upgrades
i spoke to Rtech this morning and they said its not really big enough for stage 2 but will be ok for stage 1.5, will let you know in a coupple of weeks when iv paid them a visit and had the remap done
 
Markeyboy said:
i spoke to Rtech this morning and they said its not really big enough for stage 2 but will be ok for stage 1.5, will let you know in a coupple of weeks when iv paid them a visit and had the remap done
Click to expand...

im not gonna be happy til i run 250 all day long, but it would be good to know. where about's is R-tech btw?
 
i was shocked with how high the temps were without it, i was contemplating cutting the wheel arch out behind the ic to allow even more air flow, but thats still plans atm, need to find some mesh and a little more ducting, and a spare wheel arch to play with
 
also whats up with the boost hose from Intercooler to inlet? looks... unwell :p
 
RyanS3MTM said:
also whats up with the boost hose from Intercooler to inlet? looks... unwell :p
Click to expand...

erm yea, was hoping no one would notice that, it was another "un-edecuated project" fitted a baliey dv26 there along with the bosch dv in its origional place, didnt go tremendiously well, dv26 now removed and bk to standard,
 
then the drivers side headlight
191529a1.jpg

theres 2 torx bolts on top and one that is tucked just inside the wing

Sorry to butt in mat, but where is the last bolt under the headlight please. Been needing to remove my headlight from the s3, but cant find that bolt :(. Where about in the wing is it lol

Thanks for any help
 
If you look at the photo, it's just infront of the larger bolt you can see, it's down a hole and you need a long torx bit to get to it,
It can also be gently tugged at to get the light out as this particular bolt has rubber mounts that will give, I'd recommend the unbolting route first above yanking
 
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Reactions: Darren4
Alais DJA said:
Yeah man, it's known as a hybrid. KO4 parts within a KO3 housing. good for 280 bhp
Click to expand...

Thanks for that.

I was more implying that a k03s isn't good for 250bhp, as posted above. Your one will be, the 'hybrid' as you call it, but that's because it's not a stock turbo.
 
audi upgrades
Reesy said:
Thanks for that.

I was more implying that a k03s isn't good for 250bhp, as posted above. Your one will be, the 'hybrid' as you call it, but that's because it's not a stock turbo.
Click to expand...

Not a ****** stock price either :bye:
 
Out of interest in regards to the SMIC upgrade did you replace both sides??
 
DOH! I did this last year but realised that the duct would need a LOT of hacking to make it fit. I decided it wouldn't make much difference, so just left it off. I've since moved house and I think it was thrown out! How should I go about fabricating a new one?!
 
Cheers didnt spot it was an A3.

So if this was done on an S3 and you replaced both SMIC`s would that be similar to an FMIC?
 
vrbob said:
Cheers didnt spot it was an A3.

So if this was done on an S3 and you replaced both SMIC`s would that be similar to an FMIC?
Click to expand...

For the cost and hassle, surely it would be easier and cheaper to just fit an FMIC?
 
If those SMIC`s are about £100 ea and almost a direct replacement for the OEM`ones and keep a stealthy look and less hassle fitting them but with a similar gain as an FMIC eg enough for Stage 2 (possibly) maybe then i would think of spending the extra £50 as the FMIC inc all the pipes etc is about £150 if i remeber correctly.

Am a bit of a novice in regards to intercoolers so am just gauging what others think as not seen anyone do SMIC upgrades on either an A3 or S3 before
 
vrbob said:
If those SMIC`s are about £100 ea and almost a direct replacement for the OEM`ones and keep a stealthy look and less hassle fitting them but with a similar gain as an FMIC eg enough for Stage 2 (possibly) maybe then i would think of spending the extra £50 as the FMIC inc all the pipes etc is about £150 if i remeber correctly.

Am a bit of a novice in regards to intercoolers so am just gauging what others think as not seen anyone do SMIC upgrades on either an A3 or S3 before
Click to expand...

There's a guide on here for a front mount install,

I never really looked into front mounts because I thought they were really pricy, knowing what i do now I would have probably gone for a front mount, but it would have needed to get one or modify one so that the fog lights could still be kept

For the price I paid, the simplicity of the fitting and retaining the standard look I'm happy, and will hopefully see some half decent results when it goes to rtech
 
vrbob said:
Cheers didnt spot it was an A3.

So if this was done on an S3 and you replaced both SMIC`s would that be similar to an FMIC?
Click to expand...

I'm afraid that even 2 of these on an S3 wouldn't be as good as a front mounted one. The problem is the small surface area of the smic. The smics suffer from heat soak which is where they become very warm from cooling the charge air. The problem is that because they are small and the amount of cold air getting to them (even with the vents) isn't enough to keep them cool.

A FMIC has a large surface area that is constantly being hit with cool air. Even if the smic were at the front, behind the bumper they would still struggle due to their size.

It's a balancing act to get an intercooler big enough to do a good cooling job but also not too big that it will effect turbo spool and pressure drop. I tried using a small eBay FMIC alongside 1 of my SMICs and it just wasn't up to the job of my stage 2 map.
 
Fmic allthe way in my opinion. Its tried and tested.


There is a guide and shopping list for it that's almost idiot proof. Yeah it takes a day of your time. But it's well worth it.

Why spend more than you have to for less ?

Its a no brainer to me ;)
 
I have the ducting if you need one. It's from an s3 though.

nick4501 said:
DOH! I did this last year but realised that the duct would need a LOT of hacking to make it fit. I decided it wouldn't make much difference, so just left it off. I've since moved house and I think it was thrown out! How should I go about fabricating a new one?!
Click to expand...
 
How easy would a front mount be to fit on a BAM S3 for someone like me who is not mechanically minded more office based lol
 
Prawn said:
He's back!!!!!

We missed you dude, don't go away for so long again!
Click to expand...

Haha. Thanks mate. Will try to stay more active. I see from your sig that you're now up to 291 bhp?! Nutter. I wouldn't mind another trip out in it next time I'm over there... :D


Thanks for the offer, Ryan. Nick - do you know if an S3 duct would fit?
 
do you know if an S3 duct would fit?[/QUOTE said:
if the drivers side smic on the s3's are i the same place, it should work, looking at the front bumpers it seems the ducting sits in the same place (just to the right of the driver side fog as looking from the front)
Click to expand...
 
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