Renault FMIC & S3?

[jcs356]

Met up with a load of Seat Ibiza Turbo drivers at the weekend. A few of them had fitted Renault Laguna 2.2 TDi FMIC to their cars. I appreciate the 1.8T in the Ibiza is only 156 bhp and only has a single intercooler anyway, but wondered if this was a cheap mod for an S3 when compared to a Forge item? Anyone heard of this being done?

 

[The Slug]

I have heard about the Merc Sprinter intercoolers fitted, there huge! lol

 

[Markb]

Mentioned this to jojo the other week as I've heard about this and seen the pictures of the Renault Laguna intercooler on some Cupra's, and as it happens I've been thinking about having a go at carrying out the modification myself. £200 inc the pipes etc... seems a bargain to me.

The only thing is the size of the I/C it looks huge! Maybe it will create more lag then benefit the car?

 

[Markb]

I take it that's the one you are on about?

 

[jcs356]

Yep - thanks Mark - not seen quite how big it is when you remove the bumper!. The guys told me that it didn't sit in the middle of the car and wasn't as aesthetically pleasing as a Forge - but at 1/3 of the price....

 

[Markb]

Yep it's huge!

But for 1/3 of the price I'm willing to give it a go! Who is going to be the first person to try it on an A3 / S3?

Also some people are talking about using a frontera I/C which is smaller. Might be interesting?

 

[jcs356]

Who is going to be the first person to try it on an A3 / S3?

Looks like it might be you!

 

[nervus]

Just spray paint it black and it will hardly be noticable on an A/S3

 

[dummi]

get a bigger turbo to go with that a k03 will struggle to fill that its huge

 

[nervus]

Can't be a bigger volume than existing S3 I/C's + FMIC can it? Or on S3, does the FMIC replace the two little ones?

 

[Grant]

You should remove one of the SMIC when fitting the FMIC. I think it's the nearside (passenger side) you remove.

 

[dummi]

what size is that intercooler, can't see its thickness, another thought on what pressure its good for if it were to be used with a big turbo, being for a diesel and probably by reason it is stronger than petrol ones i guess

 

[nervus]

Any details on a sprinter IC? I'd imaging there will be a few of these in salvage yards the way they are driven about.

 

[ChriS3]

You should remove one of the SMIC when fitting the FMIC. I think it's the nearside (passenger side) you remove.

That's for the Star Performance FMIC, which has a very small core size so it needs to retain one of the side mounts (but fits nicely between the crash bar and the radiator). Most of the purpose made ones, such as Forge or O.CT, have a bigger core so the SMIC isn't needed at all.

I'd be wary of a pressure drop with something the size of that laguna FMIC, and how the hell would you mount that thing? Smaller ones already need the crash bar removing or modifying, and they restrict the air going to the radiator...

 

[Markb]

I've been told the Laguna I/C is good for 25PSi.

 

[dummi]

I've been told the Laguna I/C is good for 25PSi.

plenty then

 

[jojo]

That's huge!

 

[RichA3Turbo]

Thats huge! Way too big for a K03 i think. I'd be wary about running that with the IHI. Size, doesnt necessarily mean efficiency.

Rich

 

[Markb]

That's huge!

Yeah.

Remember me telling you about it at GTi International?

 

[jojo]

Yeah.

Remember me telling you about it at GTi International?

Yup, and that's waaay too big IMO, would be interesting though, to run this size I/C and a custom remap.

 

[god_thats_quick]

I'd like to see how big that actually is volume wise compared to the two S3 side mount intercoolers as it's hard to tell next to the joke one on the ibiza and the size of the car.

 

[AL_B]

Surely it all depends on the efficiency of the cores of these intercoolers, and how much air you can hit it with.

They look way to big IMO. Half of it will be behind the bumper. Plus its covering almost the whole of the radiator - what will that do to water temperatures?

Won't a bigger intercooler mean, more surface area of pipe work for compressed air to travel through, and perhaps mean a pressure drop (like someone else mentioned).

Were's Ess_Three (Glen) when you need him?

AL

 

[RichA3Turbo]

Yeah.

Remember me telling you about it at GTi International?

Yep i do.

Its just too big IMO. Would be intersting to get a volume or it and compare to standard A3 intercooler. It may be that its not THAT much biger in volume, but it sure looks it!

 

[Tallpaul]

One Ibiza Cupra that i know runs the Laguna FMIC has noticed no additional lag from it.

He runs an uprated turbo (k03s) and has tested it stock ECU v Jabba Remap and even in stock gave improved results. Remapped the turbo held 15psi boost to the redline. Something it was unable to do prior to fitting it.

This FMIC is good for at least 25psi.

Although it big (tall and wide) it's only 2" deep so it's volume isn't as huge as it appears.

Ugly? Yes!
Cheap? Yes!
Effective? Yes!